The movie Waitress, by Adrienne Shelly, is a timeless film that focuses on the struggles of an American woman who, despite living her passion of making pies, is stuck in a horrible marriage, ends up pregnant with no money to be able to leave her husband, and has an affair with her obstetrician. The film tackles two very large topics, feminism and motherhood, and reflects on these ideas through the metaphor of her pie baking.
Throughout the movie, Jenna, played by Keri Russell, struggles with the reality that she is pregnant with her pathetic excuse for a husband, Earl. She’s constantly reminding herself and the audience that “I don’t want no baby!” Yet we understand that her relationship with her mother to have always been a loving one and represents the time in her life when she was most content. It’s likely that she simply doesn’t want Earl’s baby given how appalling he is. This is depicted in the scene when he finds out Jenna is pregnant, and we are told that he would not love the baby the way he should. He insists that if they were to have the baby, Jenna must always put him before the baby and that she could never love it more than she loves him. But with a more in-depth look at her life, it’s possible that she’s worried she won’t be able to provide the support her baby needs. First of all, she wants nothing more than to leave her husband which would mean relatively no money for raising a child since she works for little pay at a diner. Second, for the majority of her life she has been without a mother. Jenna could be worried about doing what her mother did to her. Granted, she harbors no distaste for her mother given that she only ever speaks fondly of her and the passion for pie baking they shared, but her understanding of motherhood is tainted by this fact. On another note, it is feasible that Jenna fears bringing a baby into this world because of her experiences in life. She doesn’t even have her own life together. In the end of the movie, Jenna has her baby and the moment she gets to hold it, she instantly understands what’s most important to her. She tells Earl to leave and that she wants a divorce. Despite the fact that she had decided to stay with Earl this whole time for the baby, this was essentially her first act as a mother. By telling Earl to go, she is putting her baby’s needs before her own in that the baby deserves a happy mother more than anything else.
A large part of the movie is about Jenna’s affair with Jim Pomatter, played by Nathan Fillion. The moment they meet it is love at first sight. However, both are married. Granted, Jim is happily married, although upon meeting the love of his life, Jenna, he feels as though he isn’t. Jim’s character is so important in Jenna’s journey through her pregnancy because not only is he a mental/emotional support for her, but a physical one too. He also provides her with the conceptual ability to “run away with him.” Thinking about how she is having her baby with a man she hates, it’s likely that the driving force behind her infatuation with Jim is the possibility of providing a better life for her unborn child. This is also seen in the fact that his role as her obstetrician is a symbol for his saving her, or rather ability to. In fact, it isn’t until she actually has her baby that she even considers Jim’s wife’s involvement in the situation. Jenna’s primary concern has been how to get away from Earl with a baby on the way and Jim as the perfect solution. When she finally has her baby, she sees the love Jim’s wife has for him and her commitment. Before he dies, Joe gives Jenna the diner which provides her with the means to leave Earl without the worry of financial stability. And so she decides to also leave things with Jim. This shows us that her infatuation all along has been, for the most part, based on the need for her child rather than herself. Which may seem like the best thing a mother could do but in the end, as previously mentioned, personal happiness evokes good parental relationships.
Jenna’s pies are an overarching theme and metaphor for her life. This passion for inventing and baking pies, specifically new ones, comes from her mother. When Jenna was a little girl, her and her mother would bake pies together. Throughout the movie, there are moments when Jenna becomes lost in thought as a pie recipe materializes in her mind. We are taken to this external image of a pie being crafted as Jenna narrates the ingredients. It is quite obvious that these pies are a reflection of her emotions and serve as a physical representation of how she is feeling given that the names are relevant to the people and situations going on around her. And as the film goes on, we gradually get a deeper look into Jenna’s thoughts and emotions. We see new pies being invented as her situation slowly reveals itself in its entirety. Normally, a film would unravel the complexity of characters or a story line through causes and effects. Where Waitress differs is that the progression of events are brought on by Jenna’s habit of making the same mistakes repeatedly. There is a beautiful moment in the show where Earl has found money Jenna’s been hiding to to be able to leave him and when he asks her what it’s for, she chooses to lie again. I think that this moment is a perfect picture of the main theme of the movie. It shows us that what’s best is not always easy or even feasible in the real world. Life is messy and the road to happiness is never simple.
Sources:
Waitress. Dir. Adrienne Shelly. 2007.
Looking at Movies, Fifth Edition. 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110: W. W. Norton &, 2016. Web.
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