I actually used parts of this as a health class reference. We looked at the different types of stressors (emotional, physical, behavioral, etc.), at resiliency, at coping mechanisms and defense mechanisms...and it was a great class tool. It even covered grief, stages of loss, and they learned what wakes/viewings/funerals/etc. were, and what the responsibilities of attending were, for them as adults.
And...they loved it. I teach classes where most of the students are free lunch and all but one of the rest are reduced, very few of them are white, many are foreign-born and many of those are refugees...and they all got the humor and love in a movie about a bunch of white southern women in the 80's.
A movie with that sort of reach is hard to find, but they all loved every scene I shared with them and some told me afterwards they'd watched it on their own afterwards.
I loved it when we did scenes from it in high school back in drama class in 1992 and my own students loved it in 2017 in a health class!

non compliant diabetic doesn't follow medical orders, told she would die if she got pregnant. Got pregnant, died. What was the point of this 2 hours??

It is a comedy and a drama at the same time, perfectly acted by a stellar cast. Julia Roberts was nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actress -- she should have won it because she was really good. Sally Field was incredible; a very fine actress capable of delivering a thousand different emotions at the same time. It's a shame she was not even nominated. Dolly Parton was a surprise; such a famous country music singer and songwriter, but also a fine actress. Shirley Maclaine, Olympia Dukakis and Daryl Hannah also delivered great performances. The movie is happy and sad at the same time, and teaches you how to go on with your life even when confronted with hard situations.

I have this film so many times, I have lost track. Each time I put it on, I find something new. I realised while explaining it to my mum, that it has several themes and it's hard to pin-point one. The one thing that I do know, is that the cemetery scene is by farm the most powerful one that hits the same level of pain and sadness no matter what. I highly recommend this film to anyone who loves a film about love, friendship, death, poverty, wealth, and much more.

I love this movie because it is based on a real life story of a young woman, Susan Harling Robinson, who was the sister of the screen writer Robert Harling that wrote Steel Magnolias. She had diabetes and died from complications. He wrote Steel Magnolias in her memory and for his mother and their family. When she tells her mother " I'd rather have 30 minutes of something wonderful , than a lifetime of nothing special." It's such a powerful message, which deserves being heard again and again. It explains so much of how she chose to live her life and take the risk she took. Many of the cast are actors and actresses I've enjoyed watching my entire life. Julia Roberts was a good choice to play Shelby. Saly Field is perfect for the part of her mother. This is a movie I watch multiple times a year and never grow tired of.

I absolutely LOVE this movie and cannot begin to count how many times I've watched it. The way the ladies come together and yet they all have very different personalities is very moving. Enough laughs to go with the tears, a fabulous movie all the way around.

Here in Dec. of 2020 I'm watching this. Heard so much great, terrific things about this movie. But...meh, I found it overly white privileged and so Southern typical , laughable. Fine actors no doubt about it. I happen to love Dolly, Dukakis and Shirley. Enjoyed their parts quite well. But still it was just too 'white'. Sally Fields has the perfect pruned up face so typical of the southern woman. Even 'happy' she looked irked. The husband running around shooting at birds was beyond entitled feeling he had the right to annoying all his neighbors. Then you have the perfect daughter. Who knows she can't have children but she does it anyway, putting her mother in danger while taking her kidney. All because she must have her 'own' baby and because her husband put some pressure on her, which slipped while she tries to get her worried mother to be happy for her. Mother knows this will most likely kill 'her' baby. So daughter says, "I'd rather have 30 minutes of wonderful, than a lifetime of nothing". So a loving family, a husband who loves you at the moment ( iffy since it seems he wanted a bio kid), friends. Point is, having one kid is what makes a life wonderful period? I disagree and resent the writer making it seem all women can only have a wonderful like if they pop out kids. So she got about two years of wonderful. I don't know. The movie was alright, just too overly done. What I did love was the close friendships though. Women laughing and enjoying each others company , able to joke at each other, no one get all huffy and dramatic, women respecting women is always a delight to see.

The accents were inauthentic, but it's an otherwise engaging movie. Sally Field has the scene of her career, climaxing with the completely stripped-away, universal, "why??!" delivered with a shriek that borders on glossolalia. Julia Roberts has a memorable beauty parlor scene, unafraid to get ugly, and there's some nice (fully dressed) male eye candy. Oh, and the little nod and smile after Dolly delivers her "it makes you pretty" line was very sweet and true to Dolly.