35 Years of Laughter and Tears
Sony Pictures/Tristar Pictures (1989).
Steel Magnolias is one of those movies that I put on when I need a good laugh, followed by a good cry.
Sometimes it feels good to put a movie on that you know will make you feel all the feels, and Steel Magnolias has been doing this for 35 years. Yep, it’s hard to believe that this 1989 release has entered into full on adulthood. I consider this movie to be a classic dramedy; one that is timeless because the jokes still hold up and the drama still breaks hearts.
Steel Magnolias was adapted from a play by the same name and focuses on a group of women who navigate life in a small southern town. Mother/daughter duo M’Lynn (pronounced mah-lynn) and Shelby, played by Sally Field and Julia Roberts, are always seemingly at odds. Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis play best friends Oiuser (pronounced wee-za) and Clairee, who trade quips and jabs like old sports rivals. And the amazing Dolly Parton is Truvy, who runs a beauty salon where the women like to meet up, get freshened up, and gossip about their lives and the lives of people in the town.
Field and Roberts were both nominated for Golden Globe Awards as Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress (respectively), with Roberts taking home the award for her supporting role. Up until then, Roberts was known for starring in Mystic Pizza, but her career really took off after Steel Magnolias.
In the film, Roberts’ character suffers from Type I Diabetes, and her mom is always worried about her health as Shelby overexerts herself one way or another. This tension between the two seems to always be bubbling over; Field and Roberts are so good at playing the women who have immense love for each other, but also immense annoyance, too.
Anyone who hasn’t seen the film should know that Shelby dies towards the end from complications of her diabetes, which is based on the real life event of the author losing his sister to the same disease. This is where the concept of a steel magnolia rings true: magnolias are fragile by nature, which is supposed to represent the women, but these magnolias are tough as nails, as seen in the hospital when M’Lynn stays by her daughters side until she takes her last breath while the men in Shelby’s life can’t handle this sight.
The funeral scene for Shelby is the part of the film that wrecks me each time. Field’s has to have an emotional breakdown at the graveside of Shelby in front of her faithful friends. Her acting in this scene is so heartbreaking as she screams about how unfair it is that her daughter has been taken away at such a young age. The other women look onwith tears in their eyes, and Field’s shows the heart wrenching feeling of losing a child. How she didn’t get nominated for an Academy Award for this moment alone is beyond me.
But it’s not all gloom and doom in this film; there are so many hysterical moments. MacClain does the best job at playing a grumpy, aging woman who is pissed off at almost everyone and everything. She rants and raves about the inconveniences of life, and it cracks me up to no end. With Dukakis by her side, these two bring much needed comical relief amongst the tears.
As for Parton, she is witty, funny, sweet, and sassy all in one, kind of like how she is in real life. Truvy was a role that she could easily play because of the similarities in character. One moment she’s doling out funny advice, the next she’s taking care of the people around her without hesitation, and then she’s back to comking up with whip smart one-liners all while doing nails.
I know some people might look at a plot like that and think it’s all fluff, but Steel Magnolias is about the importance and power of friendship. How friends can lift you up from the depths when life is trying to tear you down and carry you through it. This theme is universal and unchanging, which is why it’s a movie that can be enjoyed so many years later.