The Pleasures of Chocolate: Four Weeks, Four Films

I'm not a chef.  I mix foods together in odd proportions just to see how they taste, but I don't always follow recipes to the letter or experiment as often with dishes as other people.  Sure, I'll watch a show on Food Network now and again to try something new (or simply to admire darling Giada), but most often, I stick with what I know.  Whilst Shortcake and Sandwich may often have posts showing their newest culinary creations, you'll have to settle for simple satisfaction from Sonic (alliteration FTW!).  Unlike Joey from "Friends," I will share my food.  But I would also like to look at cinematic cuisine: films specifically about or featuring food in important roles.  More importantly, the role that chocolate plays in specific films.  Throughout the month of August, I'll look at chocolate from the following perspectives:


Food as Comfort - How does food affect us - the viewer and the character - in an emotional or mental situation?  How do we react towards food in such situations?  There are plenty of films that address this, but one particular (if brief) moment in 2004's A Very Long Engagement really touches on the importance of food (namely a cup of hot chocolate) as comfort.


Food as Metaphor - Often times, films may take a story that appears to be about food, when it's in truth an allegory for something else.  In 1987's The Chocolate War, we'll see how selling chocolate bars is synonymous with the social ladder of a private school.


Food as Macguffin - The Macguffin is a well-known plot element coined by Alfred Hitchcock, essentially being a plot device that drives the story and characters, despite not always being important in and of itself.  And what's a better Macguffin than the golden ticket hidden inside a Wonka Bar?  I'll look at how both film adaptations, 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory utilize the golden ticket and what it represents.


In addition, we'll look at one more film - to be disclosed at a later date, although given the topic, I'm sure you know what it will be - that encompasses all three of the above perspectives of food.


- Sonic