Thursday, August 26, 2010

Julia Robers neither Eats, Prays nor Loves

Julia "eating?" 
[Image downloaded from Elle.com.
You can view the slide show at Elle.com]

I recently typed down the National Post's funny take on Eat, Pray Love - an Oprah Book Club selection, and now a movie featuring Julia Roberts.

Here is a synopsis of the film at imdb.com:
Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having - a husband, a house, a successful career - yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.
Roberts is featured in the September 2010 issue of Elle Magazine, where she is photographed in various poses which are meant to signify her eating, praying, or loving. I don't think she does any of these. Love looks more like lust, and she is sitting on a kitchen table, obviously not eating, and looking gaunt and underweight. I may be harsh on the "pray" part. Julia (being a convert to Hinduism) clearly does pray...

So much for a movie and a movie star which are meant to be celebrating the simple things in life. Julia, in these photo shoots, demonstrates none of that joie de vivre which one would expect from a movie with such a title.

And for a character who is trying to return to the simpler things in life, all the dresses that Roberts is wearing in the ELLE photos cost thousands of dollars (OK, it is a fashion magazine). Still, she's wearing "her own rings," which I suppose includes her wedding ring. But, here's how she met her husband (from Wikipedia):
Roberts met her current husband, cameraman Daniel Moder, on the set of her movie The Mexican in 2001. At the time, Moder was married to Vera Steimberg Moder. He filed for divorce a little over a year later, and after it was finalized, he and Roberts wed on July 4, 2002, at her ranch in Taos, New Mexico. Together, they have three children, twins Hazel Patricia Moder and Phinnaeus "Finn" Walter Moder (born November 28, 2004) and Henry Daniel Moder (born June 18, 2007).
Anyway, here's what she's wearing in the above photo:
Cotton and lace dress, $4,795, silk and lace bodysuit, $1,295, both, Dolce & Gabbana, at select Dolce & Gabbana boutiques nationwide. Platinum and diamond bracelet, Bulgari, price upon request. Her own rings.
I guess one way for someone to recover from a divorce is to buy expensive clothes and go to India.

The frightening thing about this movie is that it is a memoir. In other words, it is supposed to be a true story (the expensive clothes and jewelery are the creative license of the director, I presume). And, as I mentioned above, it is given the full force of Oprah's approval.