Tampopo Food Values - 1791 Words

How could food, such an inanimate object, have so much value in many different cultures? I am going to write about Tampopo because food has a strong presence in it. I want to show that food in Tampopo has cultural value and demonstrates the blending of different cultures through the food. Others have written about the obsession of food that is shown in the film and the aesthetics of preparing and capturing the beauty of ramen. But, I want to continue proving that the food in Tampopo has cultural values tied to them. Tampopo displays a wide variety of food that mirrors the culture of modern Japan. Tampopo especially shows the different cultural food that is eaten: Japanese, Chinese, and European. While traditional Japanese culture has been†¦show more content†¦Goro and Tampopo visits the â€Å"old master† who lives with a group of homeless people. The old master cleans up and teaches Tampopo. Goro saves an old man from choking and the old man repays Goro by having his chauffer, Shohei helps improve Tampopo’s noodles. Goro encourages Tampopo to rename her shop from â€Å"Lai Lai† to â€Å"Tampopo.† Goro and Pisken meet again to fight, but this time without his men. The fight ends in a draw and Pisken tells Goro he is a contractor and wants to help Tampopo fix up her shop. Tampopo’s noodles are still lacking â€Å"character† so, Pisken decides to share his recipe. The teachers that taught Tampopo tries her latest creation and they ate every single bite and left the bowl empty. Tampopo knew that her ramen was very good now. The teachers leave one by one as more customers fill up Tampopo’s newly decorated shop. The main story is also intertwined with short scenes that did not add to the story. These scenes mainly focused on people being obsessed with food and how we interact with food every day. The side-scene that had the most significance was the gangster and his girlfriend. They use food erotically. Using whip cream and licking it off the breast. Another iconic scene is in the beginning where a master and an apprentice are eating ramen and the apprentice asked how to eat the noodles. Rice holds the element of both the mirroring and mixing of Japanese