In Fried Green Tomatoes, how could Missus Otis be Sippsy's baby sister?

It’s been awhile since I read the book so I’m taking your summary at face value. Maybe they were half-sisters? Two people can have the same dad and be very far apart in age.

Well, there were a few scenes that showed a little girl, about 7 or so. I assumed it was Big George’s daughter. I think Big George was Sippy’s son. She would have been 20 years younger than Iggy. I just don’t see how a 75 year old woman could have a 7 year old sister.

Is the book better than the movie? They usually are.

Ohhh you’re going by the movie. Yeah a lot of shit doesn’t make sense in the movie, including the way they strongly imply at the end that Ninny Threadgoode was secretly Iggy the whole time at the end. They’re two completely separate characters in the book. The book is much better, fantastic, I highly recommend.

Will get.

I don’t think Sipsey was really all that old in the 1930’s. She wasn’t even 20 years older than her son Big George. However, she did have a hard life as a black woman in the Deep South. But, I think Cycely Tyson, who was born in 1924, was picked for the role Sypsey because she is a great actress, and her advanced age may have given you that impression.

Well, Big George was at least 40, right? Older than Idgy. And was that 7 or 8 year old girl who was in a few key scenes Missus Otis?

I don’t know how old George was. My impressions come from the book, although I’ve seen the film once. In the book, it seemed to me George was between 20 and 25. That would put Sipsey anywhere from 12 to 20 years older because poor black people in the South generally started having their babies at a very early age. But it was a long time ago since I saw the movie or read the book and I may be wrong.

There are a lot of inconsistencies in the movie that are solved by reading the book. I don’t think the movie was meant to be over-anylised beyond setting the quickly disappearing flavor of small-town southern culture, the love and affection expressed between between the two main characters, and the murder mystery. The book goes into a lot more detail.

Fanny Flagg was a great Southern writer and addressed some awfully taboo subjects in her books, within the context of her time. One could say she was heroic in that respect.

I can’t wait to read it.

The movie is great but does not align with the book in many ways. There are dozens of characters in the book that are not mentioned in the movie, including a woman named Eva who was very fundamental to Idgie’s early life and development. And don’t try to write down a timeline because the math still doesn’t math, but it does get closer to reality in the book than in the movie.

In the book, Mrs Otis is a 78 year old white lady, not related to Sipsey.
Big George is adopted by Sipsey and was already an adult when Idgie was born. The little girl in the movie is Big George and his wife Onzell’s daughter “Naughty Bird,” and she has 3 older brothers. According to Ninny, Sipsey’s mother was a former slave, and Sipsey began working for the Threadgoodes at age 11 and was in her 80s during Big George’s trial and worked in the cafe into her 90s. Some of the timeline does not match up when you write it out, but I’m not sure if that was an error from the author or intentionally making Ninny’s memories of dates (realistically) jumbled.

The book is wonderful. But consider it rated R, don’t let kids read it, and also keep in mind the author tries to be honest to the times and frequently uses language that was common then but no longer used now.
TWs: blatant, awful racism, “N” word frequently used, humanizing of KKK members, violence, spousal abuse, use of the “R” word, consensual sexual content from teens to adults including fem-to-fem. Rape mentioned multiple times and sometimes described in details. Deaths of multiple characters. Also in the book Idgie and Ruth are more than just “best friends.”
Even with all the negative content included the book still gives a warm feeling.

I got that Idgie and Ruth were in love from the movie