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This reflects the way many LGBT people build communities of love and care when society denies them acceptance.
3. Back in late 1991 and early 1992, AIDS was the sole political issue on LGBT activists’ minds — the idea of same-sex marriage felt like an impossibility. It went on to make more than $82 million domestically (that’s more than $181 million adjusted for ticket price inflation).
Yet beneath its gentle storytelling and Southern charm, the film carried a quiet but powerful resonance for the LGBT community. Their lingering glances and on screen chemistry helped turn FRIED GREEN TOMATOES into the queer classic it is today.
Fried Green Tomatoes felt like the answer to a wish. Perhaps trying to piggyback on the success of Thelma & Louise — a huge hit (and cultural phenomenon) from earlier in the year — it was marketed as a story of friendship.
Yes, Evelyn and Ninny are friends; Ruth and Idgie, however, eye-fuck each other.
AIDS was an international catastrophe, the economy was in recession — things were dark. There’s a scene when they’re swimming in a lake in their underwear, and Ruth kisses Idgie on the cheek, and — come on, man, give us something! Idgie and Ruth create their own home, supported by friends like Sipsey and Big George, outside of traditional norms. Representation in a Time of Silence
In the early 1990s, openly queer characters were almost invisible in mainstream cinema.
Healing Through Love and Resilience
Their story is not without hardship—Ruth escapes an abusive marriage, and together they face the prejudices of their time. When Idgie goes to rescue Ruth from the villainous Frank, Ruth tells Idgie she’s pregnant. Yet their resilience and devotion to one another became a source of inspiration for LGBT viewers, showing that love can be both healing and revolutionary.
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Its deep value lies in the hope and recognition it provided, and in the way it opened doors for future generations of queer storytelling.
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Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
In the original book by Fannie Flagg, 1987’s “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café,” Ruth and Idgie are lesbians.
It was a sleeper hit, playing in theaters from Dec. 27, 1991, through June of the next year. This optimistic movie about love felt good.
I wasn’t alone in my Fried Green Tomatoes fandom. I was 22, and had been out since my first year of college. For many, it was a starting point to question why Hollywood often erased or softened queer relationships, and it helped pave the way for more honest depictions later on.
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Mary Stuart did, Fannie Flagg did, but not the director, not the producer, nobody else."
Despite the obstacles in their path, both Masterson and Parker undeniably succeeded in adding to the film’s subtext. I was embarking on my post-college life, which felt full of possibility. A Story of Chosen Family
The idea of chosen family is central to queer life.
In scene after scene, Masterson and Parker make it clear that Idgie and Ruth are in love — just by how they look at each other. In the 1991 film their relationship became sapphic subtext.
This was fairly common in Hollywood film adaptations; even as recently as the early 2000s, studios would water down queer stories from their original source material and either make the characters straight, cut them out completely, or turn to queer-coding.
Mary Louise Parker stated to AfterEllen in 2008 that she tried to make the lesbian relationship more apparent:
"I really tried to push it at the time, and they didn't want to go there with me.
Avnet never makes their flirtation and obvious lust for each other sordid or designed to titillate male audience members.