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  • Essay / Mastering Food Language - 1430

    The experience associated with preparing and eating food always promotes a certain method of communication. Even without words, food provides information about a person's religion, lifestyle, wealth and culture. In Babette's Feast and Eat Drink Man Woman, this experience of food is primarily how the characters communicate and always involves everyone coming together. In each film, communication revolves around the consumption or preparation of food. With the (sometimes unwanted) help of Babette, Martine and Philippa realize how good food is actually nourishment for the mind and body and break away from their jaded habits. The Chu family uses food as the one unifying force that brings them together. Whether they're chatting at the table or doing the dishes afterwards, Sunday dinner gives the characters an opportunity to express their ideas and feelings. Each Sunday dinner helps the Chu family resolve their communication issues and helps each member realize what truly makes them happy. Food is an outlet for their emotions and a way for them to communicate without even speaking; Throughout both films, food and characters evolve in unison to unite a community and a family. Usually, social events revolve around the consumption and enjoyment associated with food, and in these films, food is a common force that brings everyone together. In Babette's Party, Martina and Philippa work very hard to preserve their father's old religious habits. Eating food is a religious ritual that accompanies their worship. Although EN Anderson, author of Everyone Eats, may seem cliché when he says: "the group that prays together stays together, especially if its members share religious holidays" (155)... middle of paper. .... transforms into a means of improving community in worship and in life. For Martina and Philippa, food is a spark they can use to save the church and keep their father's dream alive, while improving what he built. For the Chu family, the ritual of Sunday dinner allows them to learn to accept themselves while fulfilling and discovering their individual passions. This experience provides the characters with an opportunity to communicate. The meals they share together open their minds to new ideas about religion, family, and culture, and the transformation of stale, flavorless food into tasty, healthy food symbolizes this change. EN Everyone eats. New York New York University Press, 2005. Babette's Feast. Real. Gabriel Axel. Orion Classics, 1988. Movie. Eat, drink, man, woman. Real. Ang Lee. World films, 1994. Cinema.