CLIP: 00:14:14 – 00:21:38 / RATING: 12A
Currently available on Netflix
SYNOPSIS
Natalie is a New York architect who works hard to get noticed at her job, but sadly she is more likely to deliver coffee and bagels than design the city’s next skyscraper. Things go from bad to weird when she is knocked unconscious during a subway mugging and magically wakes up to find herself in an alternate universe. Always cynical about love, Natalie’s worst nightmare soon becomes a reality when she suddenly discovers she is playing the leading lady in a real-life romantic comedy.
Starring the talented (yet occasionally polarising) Rebel Wilson, Isn’t it Romantic is a deliberate send-up of the usual romcom tropes and experiences. It is not difficult to understand why Natalie (Wilson) is a tad cynical to love; indeed, her mother once told her: “Someone might marry you for a visa, that’s about it.”
It takes Natalie a while to realise the world has changed, but after witnessing strangers dancing together in the park, New York smelling of lavender, her apartment being given an extensive makeover with a walk-in closet and even hearing her own narration, she knows something has gone drastically wrong. With its positive message of self-love, self-confidence and allowing others to love us, this might just be the perfect film for young people to see right now.
In this clip, we see Natalie waking up following her mugging.
Disorientated and confused, she experiences the new world around her, with everything seeming ‘perfect’.
DISCUSS
After showing the clip as a stimulus, break into small groups and discuss the following questions. You may wish to have a designated discussion leader in each group.
- Do you think Natalie’s cynicism about love is understandable or even true?
- Would you like to live in the world Natalie wakes up in? What would your Utopia look like?
- Are romcoms damaging to our idea of love and relationships?
- Why do you think Natalie might end up disliking the world she has woken up in?
After discussing the first set of questions, read through Psalm 62:1-8 (reading the whole psalm would be better if time allows, and you also may want to give the context of the passage first). Then return to your groups to discuss the next set of questions:
- What message does this passage offer about self-love and confidence?
- What does this psalm tell us about the character of God?
- How is the writer feeling in verses 3 and 4? Who might these words be addressed to?
- How might romantic relationships fit into verses 5 to 8?
