Her only goal is genuine happiness and inner serenity.
Mary Stuart Masterson's character undergoes a similar transformation, however, her journey is initiated by her willingness to follow the example of another. As a young woman, Idgie has a very self-destructive plan for her life, involving hard drinking, gambling and cheating death whenever possible. When Mary Louise Parker's character enters her life, she is exposed to a woman who is at once self assured, dignified and responsible. Idgie sees this as a better blueprint for living and overtime abandons her earlier philosophy of living hard and not caring. By the end of the movie she is a pillar of consistency in her community and the one people seek out for sage advice.
Bates' and Masterson's characters share similarities that are quite profound in their celebration of women. First and foremost, these women do not self-perpetuate...
They learn how to get out of their way (Bates from Tandy and Masterson from Parker) and they have the courage to take action to apply what they learn. That they are not motivated by external approval is evident in how Bates communicates with her husband at the end of the movie and how Masterson stands up to the Klan.
Fried Green Tomatoes celebrates women in the most accessible of ways, by depicting average and typical, non-starlet type actresses, with whom women can easily identify. It is the depictions of women who struggle with the problems common to all women and, perhaps more importantly, the motivation to deal with and overcome these issues solely for the sake of their own development that make them uniquely strong characters. Dealing with and resolving the conflict does not make them more attractive, wealthy or admired by others, it makes them happier in their own skin.
