Meaningless movie, meaningless task?

Christmas break is for rented movies and time with the parents.  This has been true for the past six Christmases or so since I've moved away to college and then grad school.  And honestly, I've come to enjoy this more and more over the years.  What began as obligatory first-child-away-from-home and left-behind-feeling-parents bonding time has become, more truly, a comfortably quiet evening in with the folks.

Last night, the parents and I watched Julie and Julia - yes, the one with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep cooking.  Cooking.  I should have known the mother would doth protest against a movie with so many new phenomenons for her: French food, Sen. McCarthy, White Americans with accents, and blogging.  Fifteen minutes in, after the first few parallels were displayed linking Julia's and Julie's lives, she commented (in Mandarin, of course) on the seemingly pointlessness of the opening scenes in which Meryl Streep giggles and kisses marketplace fish and Amy Adams moans about a stressful job and unfamiliar new apartment.  Two hours later, at the movie's conclusion, she stared at the scrolling words with her eyebrows furrowed like squirming caterpillars and asked if there really is any meaning to watching 120 minutes of two women leading seemingly normal lives and cooking.  As I spouted off themes of women's trials and joys remaining consistent over the ages, making lemonade out of lemons, and -most importantly- finding joy and purpose in life, I did feel slightly silly.  What overrepresented, cliche themes.  Yes, this movie did inspire me.  But other than to cook and blog again, it reverberated no deep, lasting emotional chords.  Was my mother right?  Inspirations to cook and blog, meaningless?

The movie was fun, light, a little-affecting, feel-good visual package of good food and supportive friends and spouses...and really, isn't that enough to ask out of a movie?  And as for cooking and blogging, don't these activities represent the same?  Christmas break is for rented movies, time with the parents, and restarting a few old hobbies and interests.  I have some time.  Blogger, let's get reacquainted.