In a comparison of the two movies The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Steel Magnolias, the better of two is Steel Magnolias. The plot summary in Steel Magnolias is more realistic than the plot summary in The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and the characters portrayed in Steel Magnolias are more recognizable as being part of the Cajun culture than were the characters in The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. The setting of Steel Magnolias portrayed the Cajun culture much more thoroughly than did the setting in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood.
The plot summary in Steel Magnolias is more realistic and believable than the plot summary in The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. For example, in Steel Magnolias the main character M"Lynn Eatenton played by Sally Field has an older daughter, Shelby, who is played by Julia Roberts, who is diagnosed with diabetes. Shelby realizes she is putting her and her child's life in danger if she becomes pregnant but gets married and becomes pregnant anyway. Two years after having a child Shelby does die from diabetes and her mother M"Lynn must learn to live on without her. The plot summary in The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is less likely to occur in southern Louisiana due to the fact that the main character Vivi , played by Ellen Burstyn gives birth to an daughter who grows up to be a successful actress and exposes the hardships of her childhood in a public magazine interview. It is not very likely for people from Louisiana to have the strong urge to become actresses and move so far away from their own town. .
Both of these movies were set in southern Louisiana therefore the characters in both movies spoke with a Southern accent. It seemed that the actresses in The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood over-compensated the Southern accent. The actresses that portrayed the Southern characters in Steel Magnolias spoke with a more believable and realistic accent which is spoken through out southern Louisiana.