Fried Green Tomatoes is whimsy as hell and a light, fun read -- if you're a middle-class white woman. It's inclusion of racism is neither a convincing social commentary nor in any way respectful to its Black characters, and there's a lot of "I'm not racist, these are my Black friends so I can say/do these things." Additionally, while at the time it may have been a groundbreaking feminist story, it's very much a white feminism vibe. I cringed/seethed through Evelyn's prejudicial, classist and eugenicist feminist awakening.

Credit for the real-world and non-revelatory inclusion of a stable (and mostly healthy) lesbian couple and their disabled son whose entire purpose in the story isn't to be disabled. There's strong themes of found family, self-discovery, and aging. But it doesn't make up for the rest.