Day 221 - Why Doesn't Julie Powell Have a Cell Phone?

Day 221.

I know I'm pretty late to board this train, but I just got the new iPhone 4 (a.k.a. the DaiPhone 4) and I'm pretty amped about it.

The old DaiPhone. And no, you are not supposed to be able to slide both sides open at once.

The new and improved DaiPhone 4.

I've spent the last few hours fucking around with this piece of technology and I've been pretty pleased with the results. But before I get carried away, I must remind myself that The Lawrence/Julie & Julia Project is not another one of those stupid Apple-dick-sucking iPhone blogs. We talk about the important issues here--mainly, why doesn't Julie Powell seem to have a cell phone?

Not a cell phone.

Maybe I'm just naive, but even in 2004, I'm pretty sure a fair amount, if not most people had cell phones. Even my mom had a cell phone--one of those Nokia bricks--and my mom still uses internet explorer!

Remember when flip phones were all the rage?

 See? All of Julie Powell's "best friends" have cell phones! (except for Anabelle, the one on the left, but I assume she has one, being a reporter and all) I mean, I'm sure this cell phone vs. no cell phone juxtaposition seemed like a clever little visual screenwriting tool, written in so they could further establish Julie's friends' immense wealth and superiority, but c'mon. Really? It's the 21st century--just give the woman a damn cell phone.

"I'm crying because I'm still using a landline."

Maybe the real Julie Powell was cell phone-less. I have no idea. But there are so many integral parts of this movie that revolve around important phone calls (Reason #423 why Julie & Julia sucks), that you'd think at least one of them would happen on Julie's cell, if she, you know, had one.

Pretty ominous-looking.

This isn't really a major flaw in the movie--it's just something I found interesting, because like I said, maybe the real Julie Powell couldn't afford a cell phone or something. Definitely something to think about (not really, but it's day 221 and I have run out of things to think about).

If nothing else, Julie & Julia reminds us of a simpler time when cell phones weren't as omnipresent as they are today--an era predating sexting and FaceTimes--when Verizon's "Can you hear me now?" guy was but an able plumber from Cincinnati. Ah, nostalgia... wouldn't it be grand if we could just go back to that time? To relive the moments before it all... when you still had your innocence... your sanity... before you had that stupid idea to watch that stupid movie every day?

But alas, life goes on. A sad truth.

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Julie & Julia Quote of the Day: "Stupid dead phone."