Final Thoughts on Fried Green Tomatoes

In conclusion I would like to say that the story of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café is a tale that has some factual merit, and is one that defines what true friendship really is.  The main character Idgie is one that almost everyone would describe as the best example of a true friend.  She was willing to sacrifice her freedom to protect Big George from the electric chair.  Idgie also helped to provide a loving and caring environment for Ruth and her son. 

            Idgie defied violence in the south and refused to go along with how society thought she should act, which in my opinion greatly contributed to her identity and her persona.  Idgie chose her friends based off of how she felt and was blind to race or gender which in the 1930’s was very uncommon for a young women and it is because of this I feel that she sets a positive example for other women especially Evelyn Couch.      

Idgie's "Real" Identity

Idgie’s Identity Revealed

            After reading the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café and watching the movie Fried Green Tomatoes one could get a good idea of what author Fannie Flagg intended Idgie’s identify to be, or at least so I thought.  I felt overall Idgie was truly a wonderful person and her friendship with Ruth was truly inspiring.  They had a close relationship and exhibited a fine example of what “true” friendship really means. 

            When doing research for this project I learned that my opinion was not the same as others when it came to the analysis of Ruth and Idgie’s relationship.  A review titled Fried Green Tomatoes:  Excuse me Did we See the Same Movie, written by Vickers (1994) implies that Ruth and Idgie were really a lesbian couple even though Ruth may not have been fully aware.  Roger Ebert (1992) says that “ It’s pretty clear that Idgie is a lesbian, and fairly clear that she and Ruth are a couple, although given the mores of the South at the time a lot goes unspoken, and we are never quite sure how clear that is to Ruth” (pp 1).  This implication never really crossed my mind as a plausible theory until I read the review.  I do not believe this was Flagg’s true intention when writing the script I feel that Flagg wanted to convey a story of friendship.  I also believe that Idgie was just a girl who questioned authority and did what she “felt” was right and not what was expected of her. This questioning or defiance also was in my opinion why she felt the need to protect her friends Ruth and Big George. 

Were Idgie’s and Ruth’s Characters Based off of a Real People?

            A blog written by Tracy Reyes titled Fried Green Tomatoes. Blog Spot:  Movies Based off of True Stories (2009) tells that the story of Fried Green Tomatoes was based off of real people.  Reyes (2009) says that “The Whistle Stop Café was purchased by Bess Fortenberry during the depression” (pp 1).  Tracy Reyes describes Bess Fortenberry as an individual that enjoys hunting and playing practical jokes over prissy things (2009).  She tells a story that “On one occasion Bess Fortenberry showed up at a Halloween party in a rented hearse and then stayed up all night playing poker with the boys” (Reyes, 2009).  These depictions of Bess Fortenberry gives us an idea of where Fannie Flagg got the idea of Idgie’s character.  Bess Fortenberry also had a close partner and friend named Sue Lovelace.  Reyes (2009) says that “Bess was more tomboyish and Sue was the complete opposite, very feminine and dainty” (pp 1).  This is a true description of what Ruth and Idgie’s relationships were like and gives us more insight as to how Flagg created the characters that everyone so dearly loves.

Idgie Stands Up for What She Believes

The death of Buddy (Idgie's Brother):

This tragic event changed Idgie, Mrs. Cleo said that “she was never the same after that, not until she met Ruth, then she started getting back to her old self’ (Flagg, 1987, pp 37).  Idgie and Ruth became best friends and it was together that they eventually opened up the Whistle Stop Café with a little help from Idgie’s dad.  Idgie and Ruth ran the café, Sipsey and Big George two colored folks that stayed with the Threadgoode’s cooked.  The Sipsey began working for the Threadgoode’s when she was ten or eleven and momma Threadgoode allowed Sipsey to stay with them.  Big George was Sipsey’s adopted son.  Between the two of them Sipsey and Big George had some of the best food around.  As word traveled about the Whistle Stop Café word got out that Idgie was also serving colored folks out the back door of the café.   Mrs. Cleo told Evelyn about Idgie’s encounter with the Ku Klux Klan in regards to her selling to the coloreds.  Cleo said Idgie stood right up for herself and wouldn’t let them stop her (Flagg, 1987).  Then in 1933 Idgie agreed to give food to the colored’s that worked on the railroad.  Sipsey was very worried that Idgie was going to get in trouble again with the Ku Klux Klan.  After Sipsey gave the boys from the railroad barbecue she mumbled under her breath “You gonna get yourself in a whole bunch of trouble with the Ku Kluxes, and I’m gonna be gone. You ain’t gwine see me aroun’ no more, no ma’am” (Flagg, 1987).  Sipsey was terrified of the Klan I think partly because her mother was a slave and she knew what they were capable of. 

Three days later the local sheriff a friend of Idgie and Ruth’s named Grady Kilgore came in upset with Idgie.  He sat down in a booth and when Idgie brought coffee to him.

Grady said:

 Now, Idgie, you ought not be selling those niggers food, you know better than that.  And there’s some boys in this town that’s not too happy about it.  Nobody wants to eat in the same place that niggers come, it’s not right and you just ought not be doing it. (Flagg, 1987, pp 53).

            Idgie was upset by this she went on to tell Grady that “it’s funny how people do things they ought not to do” (Flagg, 1987, pp 54).  She then questioned him about cheating on his wife and the absurdity of the Klan members hiding behind white sheets but do not have the sense to change their shoes (Flagg, 1987).  Ruth eventually stepped in and tried to ration with Grady by saying that “They’re not hurting anybody” (Flagg, 1987, pp 54).  Eventually Grady backed down and said he would talk to the boys.  “After that day, the only thing that changed was on the menu that hung on the back door; everything was a nickel or dime cheaper.  They figures fair was fair….” (Flagg, 1987, 55). 

            It is my opinion that this example in the story was a great depiction of Idgie’s true identity.  She appeared rebellious and defiant as a child however, as an adult the stakes of her defiance were a little higher.  It was not uncommon in 1930’s for the Ku Klux Klan to try and strong arm businesses into not serving and giving equal right to Black Americans.  Cantor (1969) writes about the Ku Klux Klan in the novel Black Labor in America stating that: “The Georiga Ku Klux Klan declared war upon the Textile Workers Organizing Committee in 1939 for its interracial program” for trying to organize interracial worker unity (pp 155).  The Klan would threaten workers or owners to prevent them from having contact with the Black Americans. 

            Idgie was unlike many people of that era she did not fear the threats imposed by the Ku Klux Klan.  In the movie Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) the Ku Klux Klan from Georgia comes to Whistle Stop.  One of its members Frank Bennett was married to Ruth and tried to take her baby away because she left him after he abused her.  The Ku Klux Klan takes Big George and tie him up in the middle of town and begin to beat him Idgie goes to where they have him with her friend Grady and demands that he be set free.  Big George is freed and the Klan leaves town.  After this event Frank Bennett returns to Whistle Stop again however he was by himself this time.  Again he tries to steal Ruth’s baby but Sipsey tries to stop him and he hits Sipsey in the face knocking her to the ground.  The movie Fried Green Tomatoes implies that Frank is killed by Sipsey and Big George cooks his body as barbeque but never really comes out and says for sure.  Flagg (1987) write in the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café  that Frank Bennett’s truck is found several years later around 1950 of 1956 while the police were looking for a drowned body in the river.  Grady still the sheriff at the time has to arrest Big George and Idgie and take them to Georgia to stand trial for Frank Bennett’s murder.  It turned out that “Idgie and Big George had threatened to kill him a couple of times, and the Georgia police has that on record, so when they found his truck, they had to bring them in..” (Flagg, 1987, 336).  Everyone was in fear that “if Big George was found guilty of killing a white man, he’d wind up in the electric chair” (Flagg, 1987, 336).  Idgie especially knew this, she knew that Big George’s only chance was that if she provided him with an alibi for that night (Flagg, 1987).  The trial was not going well for Big George and Idgie neither of them had a solid alibi to prove that they were not responsible for Frank Bennett’s murder, that was until Herbert Scroggins testified. (Flagg, 1987).  Herbert Scroggins was a pastor at the Whistle Stop Baptist Church, and Idgie’s sworn enemy that she had tormented for years (Flagg, 1987).  Idgie thought for sure when the pastor testified she was going down for sure and she could not understand why “her” lawyer would call him to the stand because he had nothing good to say about her, or at least so she thought (Flagg, 1987).  Mr. Scoggins told the court that Idgie and Big George could not have murdered Frank Bennett because they were at the church’s tent revival that lasts three to four days (Flagg, 1987).  This statement by the pastor was enough to get George and Idgie off the hook for Frank Bennett’s murder even though it was not true, but who was going to question a pastor and his congregation (Flagg, 1987).

            Critics of this story specifically Lu Vickers in the review Fried Green Tomatoes Excuse me, did we see the same movie?, say that Flagg tries to appeal to whites’ attitudes about blacks and straight peoples‘ attitudes about same sex partnered ships (Vickers, 1994).  I disagree with this assumption I feel that Flagg was simply trying to tell a story about true friendships regardless of color or sex.                         

Was Idgie always a Rebel?

Idgie as a Child

The story begins in 1929 announcing the opening of the Whistle Stop Café and describes the type of food on the menu.  Parallel to this another story is being told, this one taking place in 1985 at the Rose Terrace Nursing Home.  At the nursing home a visitor by the name of Evelyn Couch was visiting a relative when a resident at the home by the name of Mrs. Cleo Threadgoode sat beside her and began to tell her about her life at Whistle Stop.  Mrs. Cleo came to stay at Rose Terrace Nursing Home with her friend Mrs. Otis.  However Mrs. Cleo said to Evelyn Couch “she doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going back home just as soon as she gets settled in good” (Flagg, 1987, pp 6).  Mrs. Cleo Threadgoode went on to tell Evelyn Couch about how her and Mrs. Otis lived in Whistle Stop with the Threadgoode’s for most of their lives.  Mrs. Cleo talked lovingly about the Threadgoode family & she spoke of her marriage to one of Idgie’s brothers Cleo (Flagg, 1987).  Mrs. Cleo took to Idgie the fondest however, she describes keeping up with Idgie’s life as “better than a picture show” (Flagg, 1987, pp 12).  As Mrs. Cleo went on with her story she told about Idgie’s defiance began earlier in her life and described how Idgie was not a proper young lady instead she was a prankster that enjoyed doing things just to make you laugh.  Mrs. Cleo told about the time that Idgie refused to wear a dress right before her sister Leona’s wedding. 

Mrs. Cleo said:

Idgie was about ten or eleven at the time and she had on a brand new white organdy dress that we’d all told her how pretty she looked in. We were having a fine time and starting in on our blueberry cobbler when all of a sudden out of a clear blue sky, Idgie stood up and announced, just as loud….I’m never gonna wear another dress again as long as I live! And with that, honey, she marched upstairs and put on a pair of Buddy’s old pants and a shirt. (Flagg, 1987, pp. 13).           

            When it came time for Leonna’s wedding Idgie wore a green velvet suit with a tie that her momma had made special for her (Flagg, 1987).  This example is the first account of Idgie’s lifelong struggle with what she felt was “right” as to what was “expected” of her.  As the story progressed there was another account of Idgie’s defiance Mrs. Cleo told of an old chinaberry tree in the front yard of the Threadgoode house and Idgie’s mom always told her not to put chinaberries up her nose, the first chance she got Idgie put chinaberries up her nose & in her ears to the point the doctor had to be called to remove them (Flagg, 1987). 

            Another example of Idgie’s rebelliousness is when Mrs. Cleo talks about Idgie always wearing overalls and being barefoot.  Mrs. Cleo said it was a good thing because Buddy was always taking her hunting and fishing and she would have just ruined any dress that she wore (Flagg, 1987). 

            As I read this story I envision Idgie’s identity as a “tom-boy”.  I do not believe that she intended to be different from other girls she just wanted to feel comfortable and be herself.  The story talks about her being pretty and funny however she was not stuck on her appearance instead she was just out to have a good time.  Later on in the story Idgie’s older brother Buddy gets killed by a train.  Mrs. Cleo told of how Idgie was simply devastated by this she said “You never saw anybody hurt so much.  I thought she would die right along with him” (Flagg, 1987, pp 37). 

What was the story of the "real" Fried Green Tomatoes

Some may argue that this story is about lesbianism.....I beg to diagree this story is about two best friends that have different views about how a lady in the south during the 1930's should act.. I recently wrote a research paper that both discusses and proves my theory.