Arranged

I went to see what my daughter and her husband were doing last night, and found them watching a movie on their computer. Apparently if you belong to Netflix and are getting DVD's in the mail, you can also watch anything you want on the web, as well. That makes it really worth the money, and it is nice that you can choose exactly what you want to see.

Last night, they were watching a movie called "Arranged," and it really did my heart good! I laughed all the way through it. It was a very happy movie, although it looked, at times, as if the two girls involved, one Orthadox Jew and one Muslim, were doomed to get matched up with men with no hair or huge egos. In the end, they actually had the choice of whether to "settle" or not settle, and it ended up quite happily. There were several scenes that homeschool girls would have totally identified with: both were ridiculed for dressing so modestly. One was offerred money to go and get something more alluring, but she turned it down.

After so many comments about how they weren't married yet because of their religion, one of them said something like, "We aren't allowed to think about men, because we are too confined at home and dominated by our over-bearing fathers." That is the common belief by "outsiders" when young women are enjoying the oversight of their parents, in choice of a mate, and it amused me to hear it said by the girls that were being scrutinized.

Another scene depicted one of the young women visiting a cousin who had left the family and gone to live in an apartment by herself. She invited her to a party, which totally disillusioned her. Everywhere she turned in that house, there was smoke, loud music, strong drink, immodesty, and pairing up. She decided it wasn't a choice she wanted and returned home. The scene showed the awkwardness that MANY people have felt when they go from a wholesome family life to the seedy world of "independence." I was a little apprehensive that this scene might show something I didn't want to see, but it made the point and moved on quite nicely.

I did not get in on the beginning of this film, so I don't know if there was any coarse language, but still, I got a big kick out of it and felt there was a lot of love in the families. I especially enjoyed the Jewish mother and grandmother in the film, who, having grown frustrated at the daughter's turning down so many men brought by the match-maker, reached over and grabbed each other's hands and lifted their anxious faces to Heaven to thank God for his mercy, when the daughter finally approved of one of the candidates. Her friend, also happily engaged, said to her, "...and he has TEETH!"