Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Parent Guide

Vivi Walker (Ellen Burstyn) is the kind of woman who fills up a room when she enters, demands instant attention, and quite frankly is a hard person to have as a mother. Imprisoned by the demons of her own upbringing, she struggles to raise her children while being plagued by erratic mood swings. After a misinterpreted magazine article sends her into a tit-for-tat tizzy, her daughter Siddalee (Sandra Bullock) refuses to invite the eccentric lady to her upcoming wedding. That’s when Vivi’s long time friends step in to help.

Sworn members of the secret Ya-Ya Sisterhood since a pre-teen initiation, Caro (Maggie Smith), Teensy (Fionnula Flanagan) and Necie (Shirley Knight) have stood by Vivi through thick and thin. Now, they decide it’s time to unravel Vivi’s petulant past for her playwright daughter in hopes of repairing the wounded mother/child relationship. Resorting to rather unethical and highly illegal means, they stash the reluctant bride-to-be in a Southern shanty with a copy of the Divine Secrets of their society.

With the journal’s aid, Siddalee relives her own childhood memories and begins to understand the charismatic woman who seemingly failed at marriage and parenting. She also realizes the effect the past has on her own approaching nuptials with Connor (Angus Mac Fadyen).

A predominantly female cast, woman director and company name of All Girl Productions lead the credits in this film celebrating the enduring, sometimes funny, and often painful relationship of four life long friends. Using a bevy of experienced actors (including James Garner as Siddalee’s father) and relative newcomers, it also depicts the frustrations of a family afflicted by alcohol, ambition and inadequate role models.

Unfortunately these Southern belles drop profanities faster than hot cornbread and make liquor an indispensable staple of adult life. It’s also likely their offbeat approach to therapy (i.e. compulsory confinement), while well meaning, will do little more than begin a long process of healing between Siddalee and her mom.

Yet The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood does reminds us that although we can’t change the past, we can keep it from crippling the future by the choices we make today.

About author

Kerry Bennett

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.