This summer, I’ve been perusing Leger Grindon’s The Hollywood Romantic Comedy as research for my book.Grinder conducts in-depth analysis of films from the 1930s to the early 2000s.Out of those, the only pro-single one was 2007’s Waitress, which I was fortunate enough to encounter not long after it was released on DVD.
Keri Russell plays Jenna, gifted pie maker and titular waitress at Joe’s Pine Shop, one of those nice Southern greasy spoons where the waitresses know your name.When we meet her, she’s unhappily married to an abusive, controlling lout named Earl.She has two close friends, fellow waitresses Becky and Dawn, who are supportive in her life.
Grindon’s analysis indicates that Jenna lives in a world controlled by men, and her demanding a divorce from Earl just after she’s birthed her child, Lulu, symbolizes her embracing her identity as an empowered woman.This relates to the pro-single theme in that Jenna finds herself a happy singleton by film’s end.Repeated studies show that single women are happier than married women, and the film follows that idea.
For much of the film, Jenna has an affair with Jim Pomatter, the new doctor in town.Their scenes together have a sweetness and, for a while, represent the “ideal” relationship for Jenna, where they make pies together and engage in intimate conversation.However, he is married, and after Jenna meets his wife, who appears to be loving, her thoughts of running away with Jim are squashed.Shortly after dumping Earl, she tells Jim, “Your wife is trusting.Let’s just let this one go.”I have two thoughts: 1) romances don’t have to be forever; some of my most meaningful ones have been very short-term; and 2) while Jim is presented to be what 1990s romantic comedies would portray as “the perfect guy”, he likely has feet of clay.If he’s cheating on his wife, there either must be some hidden problem in the marriage, or he’s working out some personal inadequacies.Chances are, if Jenna and Jim were to pursue this union, it might end up being toxic or dysfunctional in a different way.
The film’s marriage critique continues in the courtship of Dawn and Ogie, whom Dawn refers to as a “mad stalking elf” until she dates and marries him, saying “he grows on you.”She also mentions “nobody else wants me,” which is a terrible reason to be with someone; Becky and Jenna both agree.Becky, in turn, is having an affair with Cal, the manager of the pie shop, while her husband is an invalid.She tells Jenna, “I love havin’ me an adventure after many years of lots of nothin’…”For the most part, these are all sad, lonely people, trapped in loveless marriages in a sheltered environment; small-town life is another critique of this film.
At the end, Jenna’s opened up her own pie shop, named after her daughter.While it is pro-single, it’s also pro-parenting, as Jenna’s empowerment comes the moment Lulu is born.The writer/director, Adrienne Shelley, felt a burst of creative energy after her child was born, so it feels true to life.And it is.