The Proposal
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The Story
In a kind of role reversal, Sandra Bullock plays Margaret, the hard-nosed boss who abuses her employees, and Ryan Reynolds plays her long-suffering assistant Andrew, who endures in hopes of one day becoming a book editor at their successful NYC publishing house.
When Margaret is threatened with deportation to Canada and the loss of her job, she strongarms Andrew into agreeing to marry (and then quickly divorce) her, even though it requires lying to the INS and his loving, wacky, wealthy family back home in rural Alaska.
But when the pair are forced to pretend to be romantically involved during a long weekend in Andrew’s home, the arrangement turns out to be harder than it looks—especially when they begin to have genuine feelings for each other.
Content Issues
The filmmakers try to pull funny from some crude humor, including a gross-out “exotic dance” for the ladies by Oscar Nuñez of “The Office,” revealing and thrusting way too much and for way too long. Also quite revealed are Bullock and Reynolds, fully nude and accidently falling on top of each other, in a scene that just barely avoids showing us “everything.” In addition to uses of God’s and Jesus’ names for swearing and other harsh language, Margaret performs a crude rap with granny when asked to join in an Earth-worshipping chant and dance around a campfire.
Worldview Talking Points
Students who are fans of Bullock or Reynolds might be drawn to this otherwise “grown up” romantic comedy. Panned by secular critics, the film has been well-received by audiences and had a great opening weekend at the box office.
Obvious worldview issues have to do with the relevance of marriage, using deception for personal gain, the importance of family, and the enduring appeal of the romantic comedy. In our review for students at PlanetWisdom.com, we focused on what makes for the most successful marriages.
We hope a few of the questions below will generate a productive conversation with your child if he or she has seen the film.
- Did you like the movie? What are some of your favorite romantic comedies and/or Sandra Bullock movies?
- Did you think the movie was too crude? Why or why not?
- Why do you think Andrew continued to work for Margaret all those years even though she was so mean to him (and everyone else)?
- Why do you think Margaret was so mean to everyone?
- Do you think any job is worth being treated so badly? Under what circumstances should someone put up with a “bad boss” to keep a job?
- Can you think of any situation in which it would be okay to lie to keep your job? What if you had a boss you really liked; would it be okay to lie to help him or her out?
- Do you think people should only get married if they are deeply in love with each other? Why or why not?
- Okay, it’s a bad idea to get married just to help someone become a U.S. citizen. But what should you look for in a person to marry? What qualities are important?
- The Bible really doesn’t say much about how we should pick a husband or wife. Why do you think that is?
- The Bible says a lot more about how to be a good husband and a good wife. Why do you think that is?
- Do you think a successful marriage has more to do with picking the right person or being willing to sacrifice yourself to be a good husband/wife?
- What is God’s plan for marriage? What makes a good husband and/or wife? [Parent: Think about reading Ephesians 5:33 together and talking about it.]
- Do you think it makes more sense to date a lot of people to find the right one—or to look for one person who really loves God and find a way to get married? [Parent: Don’t be afraid to share wisdom from your own experiences with dating and marriage.]
- Why do you think Margaret softened so much when Andrew’s family started being kind to her? Do you think it’s harder to keep lying when you start to care about the people you’re hurting?
- Did Margaret and Andrew ever seem like a “real” couple to you? If they lived in the real world, do you think they would have a shot at having a good relationship? Why or why not?
- Would you ever want to take a family trip to Alaska?
adenjhon on Mar 09, 2010 said...
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