If yesterday was Throwback Thursday, today is Film Excerpt Friday.

One which also happens to be a throwback.

Personally, I can’t stand the movie, My Best Friend’s Wedding. The characters are awfully annoying and the whole thing is basically a trainwreck.

Except for one scene: the moment of clarity.

The moment of clarity comes from Rupert Everett’s character, George, the gay best friend of Julia Robert’s protagonist, Jules.

As a side point, many do claim that Everett’s role here is a prototype for the gay, best friend trope and that this film could be considered ‘a first’ for this in cinema. At least, one of the filmmakers claimed something along these lines in a clip I watched a while back.

Regardless, George is the ever-present outsider able to speak into the ridiculous relationships that the heterosexual crew are demonstrating.

So the moment of clarity in the film comes from ‘the gay guy’.

Side Point #2: There are enough posts on this blog that express my opinion on homosexuality, which aligns with Romans 1:27. No need to digress into that now.

Here’s the extract:

I think there’s a lot of wisdom in this scene (minus the blasphemy).

Plenty of times in life we push at doors that we were never supposed to try to open. We may try our hardest, much like Jules in the clip, and may have some success, even for a time, but ultimately, the door is not actually opening. We’ve just led ourselves to believe that it is, and acted accordingly:

Jules a question: when you kissed Michael did he kiss you back?… I mean was there anything on the other side of that kiss that leads you to believe that this chase will end happily?

No kiss back.

Sometimes in our Christian walks we try to step into a ministry or role or season that isn’t actually for us: either right now, or ever. We haven’t listened to God but have instead just steamed ahead on our own strength (bread van or no bread van).

Sometimes when things aren’t working out, we are left to realise the sad reality:

Who’s chasing you, nobody, get it?

The sad reality may not be as heartbreaking as it is in the film for the character, but I think the metaphor and principles apply.

You’re only a leader if you’ve got people following you.

Keeping in step with the Spirit means we don’t take things into our own hands.

And we take note if ‘the kiss’ is only going one way.

Yours minus the kiss-back,

Alison