Food as Communication
From what I have seen from movies and other documentaries, food is a big part of New Orleans culture and is a very distinctive part of the culture as well. So when reading this chapter, a lot of questions about how we would film and what questions we would ask to avoid some of these problematic views arose.
Janet M. Cramer et. al. mentioned that "food itself is made palatable for mainstream audiences." She talked about how foods such as chitterlings (a food with cultural significance in the African American community) and barbacoa de cabeza (a food with cultural significance in the Mexican community) are not shown in media because they are not palatable or they might make those without that culture uncomfortable. One of the questions I had was would we choose to show those things? The things that might not be so appealing to those outside of the culture. I am aware that it would be kind of a tug of war, for lack of a better phrase, between wanting viewers to watch and learn more about the culture and wanting to authentically represent the true culture of New Orleans.
In all honesty, everything in the media is romanticized but I was surprised at how much food is romanticized, and it is a heteronormative romance almost always. I know in films time is limited and even though sometimes it's supposed to be reflective of reality, they can't go into too many side plots; some diversity in attraction would be more realistic. I guess because everyone wants a happy ending, it wouldn't look too good to have a character that doesn't get the happy ending because they aren't attracted to the love interest. I mean, they could also make the main character part of the LGBTQ+ community, but that would possibly only be marketed to reach the LGBTQ+ community.
Janet et. al. wrote, "Collectively as a genre, food films try to remind us of the beauty of food, how it can make us connect with each other and how it can help us to overcome differences." (p.10) Since we are going with options that highlight food for the documentary, I'm assuming this is the goal that we would be trying to reach. How would we film this in a way that "food as an object of consumption" would not mask "food as a source of community?" (p. 10)
Just like these films reinforce heteronormative narratives, it also reinforces the idea that women are to be in the kitchen and use the kitchen as an empowerment for women. How would we work to undermine or soften these ideologies and place power back in the hands of the women we are highlighting?