I'm not a complete prude, but did anyone feel that the Pastor's behavior was a little -unreligious. I'm not saying he should be completely celibate like a monk or priest, but the behavior while dating was a little liberal. Almost too liberal
"Sometimes the smartest remark, is silence"- Hatsumomo, Memoirs of a Geisha
He didn't have sex with her (as far as we know) so it's really no big deal. He had real feelings for her.
He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese?
Thanks- you raised a really good point. What happened at the end, did they move the relationship to the next level? And was she pregnant in the movie?
"Sometimes the smartest remark, is silence"- Hatsumomo, Memoirs of a Geisha
Kate Hudson was pregnant at the time and they may have been trying to say that Helen was too. I always thought that last scene was insinuating that they were now married.
He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese?
Even if the relationship did not go all the way the Pastor did seem really Liberal. Making out in the hallway etc. and cussing a bit. I mean the Gossip at that church would be amazing...
shareUh, you ARE allowed to make out. It's inappropriate for a pastor to have sex before marriage, but as far as we know, him and Helen did not. Making out in a hallway is always inappropriate, I mean, it's PDA. Who does it makes no difference, it's still the same. I think people in this society are just used to thinking that Christians are prude and aren't allowed to do half of the things non-religious people do. Making out...is not a big deal.
As for the cussing, when did he cuss? If you're talking about words like "sexy" and "damn" and "hell", it's really not a big deal...I've heard my own Christian pastor use these words and words like them before. Seriously, my dad is a huuuuge Jesus freak and a former pastor, and he swears like a sailor...It's really not that liberal, it's just how things are done these days.
I think people in this society are just used to thinking that Christians are prude and aren't allowed to do half of the things non-religious people do. Making out...is not a big deal.
I don't remember them "making out" I think it was just a kiss, and it looked like a good one lol. I don't think he did anything wrong and I am a church goer. He treated her with respect. He was obviously attracted to her and that is natural. People think Pastors are supposed to be perfect or something, but they just aren't. Either way, there was nothing negative about their relationship. Kissing in public is a nice thing as long as you aren't groping eachother.
"I take a problem and chew on it til all the flavor's gone, then I stick it in my hair"
In real life, while a Pastor can certainly date, it wouldn't reflect well on a him to go out with a girl like Helen.
With that said, TV is not generally accurate for real life, and meant to be more humorous than serious.
"A girl like Helen?" She was incredibly brave and strong. She loved those kids. So because she was not perfect he shouldn't be seen with her? I always feel sorry for the wives of Pastors and Ministers..all that pressure to lead a perfect life has to be horrible. And Jesus Himself was a friend to Mary Magdalene. He never cared what people thought, so who are you to judge anyone?
"I take a problem and chew on it til all the flavor's gone, then I stick it in my hair"
"A girl like Helen?" She was incredibly brave and strong. She loved those kids. So because she was not perfect he shouldn't be seen with her? I always feel sorry for the wives of Pastors and Ministers..all that pressure to lead a perfect life has to be horrible. And Jesus Himself was a friend to Mary Magdalene. He never cared what people thought, so who are you to judge anyone?
I didn't see preppy judge anyone. He/she just mentioned what the pastor's society might think of Helen...but didn't say if it was right or wrong of them to think that.
shareUnlikely that a minister would marry a woman to whom faith is unimportant.
shareI just want to say that Pastor Dan had no idea what type of girl Helen was. All he knew was that she was raising her sister's three children, which seems like a pretty nice thing to do. Plus I think he would be able to look past her previous behavior anyway (but honestly she never did anything that bad; she was just young and went out a lot).
Also, it is pretty clear that he is still strong in his convictions. He outright questions Helen's parenting and encourages her to keep Audrey away from that one guy. The only big thing I think that would be in question, is Helen's nonchalance towards religion. It seems obvious that she is not heavily invested in religion. However, you could probably infer that she is a Christian. However, I don't think pastors feel obligated to date or marry someone who is equally as religious. If Helen is willing to date a pastor we can assume she is okay with his religious conviction and probably is Christian (considering the scene where she thought she was corrupting him, I think she would mention not being a Christian if she wasn't one).
Also I agree with a poster who said Lutherans are not the Southern Baptist denomination. The ELCA division of Lutherans are way more liberal in comparison. And there was no indication Helen and the pastor had sex. I also never felt the ending implied they were married or expecting. I thought it just showed that they were still together, and implied they would stay together and eventually get married.
But, can anyone remember this line from the movie, which is very pertinent to what we're talking about here? It's when the mother at the school says to Helen, "See you at vespers", and she repeats this. Pastor Dan, very incredulously asks Helen, "Do you know what vespers are" and then she answers "Some kind of a motor scooter," which is of course a vespa.
He obviously does appreciate that with Helen where the practice of religion is concerned, she is on a different page to him. He finds her disingenuous comments about Lutheranism and church going, quite amusing when she is trying to get the kids into his school, so then he teases her back saying the children require blood tests! Dan genuinely finds Helen a quite attractive and different woman (from his current crop of church going mums!) and admires her trying to raise the kids on her own, after the tragedy of them losing their parents. This would be a girlfriend out of the ordinary, for him. So he is not too perplexed about his differences with her regarding religion, but would find it an interesting challenge, in addition to her evident femininity which most men savour.
I mean, it dosen't matter how much you read the Bible! It is still preferable to come home to a nice looking, smiling, fun gal each night which Helen definitely is.