The Appearance of Change in 'Fried Green Tomatoes.'

An examination of key symbols and structures of the recent film, "Fried Green Tomatoes," reveals the nature of the process of coding representations of the real world and its effects. The movie depicts two parallel stories of female friendship. Changes and development of the characters are primarily portrayed through changes in their appearance. The clearest message of the application of change is in the change in the appearance of the character Evelyn to a more tasteful and controlled "look." Other visual symbolism is provided by food, which at times represents love and social worth. Understanding such symbolic messages is vitally important for today's consumers of information. In daily interaction with mass media, however, the encoding and decoding of the world is overlooked because the visual images look real. Examining the film gives insight into coding and decoding. (Contains 4 references.) (SLD)