YOU AGAIN (2010)

Directed by: Andy Fickman
Written by: Moe Jelline
US Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Starring: Kristen Bell, Odette Annable
Rated: PG

About the film:
A young PR executive learns that the “mean girl” from high school, who made her teenaged life a living hell, is engaged to her brother. What’s a girl to do? Don’t ask mom. She’s got problems of her own when she meets the new bride-to-be’s aunt and recognizes her as her own high school nemesis.

Movie Quote:
“You can’t control the things that happen to you but you can control how you react to them.”
Marni (Kristen Bell) in You Again (2010)

Bible Quote:
“See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.”
1 Thessalonians 5:15 (KJV)

Commentary:
For many people, “turning the other cheek” is easier said than done. However, we see from the Bible that it is possible. And more than possible, it is encouraged. The benefits that come to us when we follow God’s exhortations so greatly outweigh the alternatives that there is really no choice at all.

Granted, life is difficult at times. Few, if any, get through it completely unscathed. We will have bad times; we will experience unpleasant events; we will find ourselves in unjust situations – and most through no fault of our own. But nothing we face need dictate to us how we are to respond. We can operate on a higher plane.

God has given us, through the incredible design of the human body, the ability to control our minds. By controlling our minds, we have control over our thoughts, our actions, and even the responses we choose to have to negative situations.

God certainly does not want us to be life-long victims; subject to the abuse of everyone else. But neither does he want us to use unjust abuse as an excuse to act in opposition to all He teaches us. It remains our choice, of course. But He is clearly pointing us in the direction He would have us go.


Questions to consider while watching the film:
1. How does forgiveness figure into the film’s story? Who shows the most forgiveness?

2. What is the best answer to a bullying situation? What would be the Christian response?