The Talented Mr Ripley's Icebox
The series, not the movie. But maybe the movie and the book a little too.
The object of our study is the infamous Icebox in the series, not the movie.
I clear it for once: this post contains spoilers for the series, so if you haven’t seen it and plan to do, do not proceed any further.
I loved the series, atmosphere, and characters' rendering as much as I loathed the movie.
Otherwise,
SU, SU; SU…
Diary of a Gastronomer is a reader-supported publication within The Other Gourmand. It is a more intimate journey into my personal experience as a gastronomist in training—as a growing human.
To receive all new posts in this section and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
If you want to read a brilliant piece about the series, dead over to The Supersonic:
You can also read a compelling piece on Last Call:
If you want a more gastronomic take, hop to Nancy Campbell's.
The fridge, appropriately called the “icebox,” is a central protagonist of the book, the movie, and the series. It’s also a symbol and a thesis. However, its importance and connection to one of the three main characters of the tale varied greatly.
If, in the movie, the icebox is a coveted piece of Greenleaf’s narrative, in the series, more appropriately, it becomes the silent and instead Cold War battlefield between Ripley and Marge, one of his two identified enemies.
Such an innocuous piece of electronic domestic furniture is the centrepiece of a human drama. Such an immobile electronic device destined to silently accompany our households is instead DEAFENING.
Let’s look at it through the eyes of the protagonists.
Tom
With a generous sum provided by Dickie's father, Tom is the driver behind the purchase of an ice box to ensure that Dickie's beverages would remain refreshingly cold - in the series. In the movie, the icebox purchase is impulsed by Marge and sneered upon by Tom - who describes it as the first step into becoming a boring, bourgeoise couple doing boring stuff instead.
Tom made a batch of martinis and arranged the glasses and a plate of canapes on a tray in the living room. When he heard the doorknocker, he went to the door and swung it open.
Marge
The movie depicts Paltrow’s Marge as a too-bourgeoise socialite who plays the typical Italian tourist slash homesteading, lemon-growing housewife (with a trust, most likely), a bit à la Minchilli. The series, however, paints Marge as the ever-vacationing expat, the living abroad writer with high hopes (and little talent, at least according to Tom).
This Marge is very much relatable - especially for someone like me who is a writer living abroad, in a tiny but charging flat, living an idyllic life in a place that is a bit outside the regular tourist routes.
“A major difference in the dynamic between Marge and Dickie in the novel is that they are not engaged. They aren't even in an established relationship in the book, drastically changing their chemistry. In the novel, Tom describes Marge as someone who Dickie is disinterested in, although that's certainly not the case in the series.” via Screenrant.