Mr Beeche's Magical Realism Class at SHCP – Spring 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Like Water for Chocolate
What do you think the title "Like Water for Chocolate" signifies? What do you think it means? Do you think it is an appropriate name for the movie? Why or why not? If not, what would you call the movie?
What do you think the title "Like Water for Chocolate" signifies? What do you think it means? Do you think it is an appropriate name for the movie? Why or why not? If not, what would you call the movie?
I didnt have the chance to see the complete movie since i was at retreat but thinking of what the title of the movie meant, i came up with one reason. In the movie, it was clear that Tita's relationship with her family wasnt quite strong and it didnt have the aspects of a loving family. Like the quote goes "blood is thicker than water," for tita cooking was much more essential for her. Cooking allowed Tita to express how she felt which she magically transfers to her cooking. If she was mad, people who ate her food would also feel her pain and madness. Whatever she cooked, it was always good if she wanted to be good. Even like water, if she put love and passion into it, people would see water as something indulging and rich like chocolate.
I think the title "Like Water for Chocolate" signifies what the entire movie was about, emotions and substitutions. Water and chocolate are both things that all people either enjoy or need. Water is simple and pure while chocolate is sweet and flavorful. When the word "Like" is used, it is as if it is a substitute. There are many circumstances in life where people make substitutions. Mostly, people do so for little things, that are not life changing. A key "substitution" in the movie was when Pedro took the eldest sister of the family, Rosaura, instead of his proclaimed love, Tita. Pedro says that did this in order to get closer to Tita because there was no other way. At a young age, Tita took on a lot of responsibility, even more than her two older sisters. She also had to bare and live knowing that she must never get married and has to take care of her mother in old age. Knowing that could set off a lot of feelings, mostly negative. With this burden, Tita is disappointed, which affects her cooking. Later, we come to see that the food that Tita prepares hold the emotions that she had while making it. When she was making the wedding cake for her sister with her grandmother, Tita was feeling sad and began to cry. Accidentally, a tear dropped into the mix. Consequently, all who consumed the wedding cake bursted out with tears. I think "LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE" is a fine name for the movie. It covers the main aspects and themes of the movie.
“Like Water for Chocolate” is definitely a symbolic term for the emotions that Tita represents in the movie. Water, a common liquid that satisfies a person’s necessity, is tasteless compared to the sweet taste of the common dessert, chocolate. If we take this into account, Tita’s personality has definitely changed like water for chocolate. Her former lovable and charming spirit develops into a bitter and insensitive feeling once she discovers that her sister, Rosaura, marries her love, Pedro. Once the bitter feeling surrounds Tita’s inner self, she is nonetheless found creating magical spells and blaming her mother’s actions in hope of having her love return to her.
Not only does water replace chocolate in terms of emotion, but it also substitutes for Pedro’s absent presence. When Pedro leaves for Texas, he also leaves Tita unaccompanied and isolated many miles away. To recover from this, Tita replaces her “chocolate”, Pedro, with “water”, Dr. Brown.
As a result, no matter how hard Tita strives to replace anything, the outcome is always the same. She returns to the chocolate she begins with. Her selfish and bitter attitude changes once she has Pedro again. Her feelings for Dr. Brown end up being a realization for how much she loves Pedro.
Como agua para chocolate (Like H2O for Chocolate) is a Latin American refrain that is used specifically to identify a messy, tawdry situation...just like in the movie.
I have enjoyed the contributions posted by Jaime, Mariezen and Charles, and found them very deep and insightful!
I think the title of the movie is very interesting because it can have many different meanings. The most clear meaning is that water is pure while chocolate is dark. To me both water represents Tita because during the movie I can see Tita being a very loving and caring person. Tita can be very dark as well because she is worried about follow her mother who is very strict instead of following her heart. Another similar aspect in that chocolate is dark/not clear is that Tita doesn't know when to follow her heart because she is to busy listening to her mothers every single command.
What do you think the title "Like Water for Chocolate" signifies? What do you think it means? Do you think it is an appropriate name for the movie? Why or why not? If not, what would you call the movie?
ReplyDeleteI didnt have the chance to see the complete movie since i was at retreat but thinking of what the title of the movie meant, i came up with one reason. In the movie, it was clear that Tita's relationship with her family wasnt quite strong and it didnt have the aspects of a loving family. Like the quote goes "blood is thicker than water," for tita cooking was much more essential for her. Cooking allowed Tita to express how she felt which she magically transfers to her cooking. If she was mad, people who ate her food would also feel her pain and madness. Whatever she cooked, it was always good if she wanted to be good. Even like water, if she put love and passion into it, people would see water as something indulging and rich like chocolate.
I think the title "Like Water for Chocolate" signifies what the entire movie was about, emotions and substitutions. Water and chocolate are both things that all people either enjoy or need. Water is simple and pure while chocolate is sweet and flavorful. When the word "Like" is used, it is as if it is a substitute. There are many circumstances in life where people make substitutions. Mostly, people do so for little things, that are not life changing. A key "substitution" in the movie was when Pedro took the eldest sister of the family, Rosaura, instead of his proclaimed love, Tita. Pedro says that did this in order to get closer to Tita because there was no other way. At a young age, Tita took on a lot of responsibility, even more than her two older sisters. She also had to bare and live knowing that she must never get married and has to take care of her mother in old age. Knowing that could set off a lot of feelings, mostly negative. With this burden, Tita is disappointed, which affects her cooking. Later, we come to see that the food that Tita prepares hold the emotions that she had while making it. When she was making the wedding cake for her sister with her grandmother, Tita was feeling sad and began to cry. Accidentally, a tear dropped into the mix. Consequently, all who consumed the wedding cake bursted out with tears. I think "LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE" is a fine name for the movie. It covers the main aspects and themes of the movie.
ReplyDelete“Like Water for Chocolate” is definitely a symbolic term for the emotions that Tita represents in the movie. Water, a common liquid that satisfies a person’s necessity, is tasteless compared to the sweet taste of the common dessert, chocolate. If we take this into account, Tita’s personality has definitely changed like water for chocolate. Her former lovable and charming spirit develops into a bitter and insensitive feeling once she discovers that her sister, Rosaura, marries her love, Pedro. Once the bitter feeling surrounds Tita’s inner self, she is nonetheless found creating magical spells and blaming her mother’s actions in hope of having her love return to her.
ReplyDeleteNot only does water replace chocolate in terms of emotion, but it also substitutes for Pedro’s absent presence. When Pedro leaves for Texas, he also leaves Tita unaccompanied and isolated many miles away. To recover from this, Tita replaces her “chocolate”, Pedro, with “water”, Dr. Brown.
As a result, no matter how hard Tita strives to replace anything, the outcome is always the same. She returns to the chocolate she begins with. Her selfish and bitter attitude changes once she has Pedro again. Her feelings for Dr. Brown end up being a realization for how much she loves Pedro.
Como agua para chocolate (Like H2O for Chocolate) is a Latin American refrain that is used specifically to identify a messy, tawdry situation...just like in the movie.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed the contributions posted by Jaime, Mariezen and Charles, and found them very deep and insightful!
I think the title of the movie is very interesting because it can have many different meanings. The most clear meaning is that water is pure while chocolate is dark. To me both water represents Tita because during the movie I can see Tita being a very loving and caring person. Tita can be very dark as well because she is worried about follow her mother who is very strict instead of following her heart. Another similar aspect in that chocolate is dark/not clear is that Tita doesn't know when to follow her heart because she is to busy listening to her mothers every single command.
ReplyDelete