The movie Runaway Bride is a romantic comedy directed by Garry Marshall, which reassembles the cast from Pretty Woman. The movie visualized the importance of self-awareness, courage, determination, and the process of change. The film revolves around a woman, Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts), who is not able to follow-through a commitment to a marriage relationship. Maggie has already ditched her man at the altar three times, and she planning to get married for the fourth time. Along with this troubled woman, the movie also depicts a columnist, Ike Graham. Ike has problem procrastination. He learns about Maggie after meeting a man in a bar in which he commonly patrons. The man Ike meet happens to be Maggie’s ex-husband. Unfortunately, the man provides Ike with information, most of which is not true. Ike has a flawed way of viewing women. As a result, since he is a columnist, Ike decides to write an article without checking the facts.
Because of writing an article without checking the facts, Ike gets fired. From here, the movie plunges into the lives of Maggie and Ike. Ike seeks the real story of Maggie in order to get his career back on track. On the other hand, Maggie, who got Ike fired, is bent on crushing Ike. In the process, the two help each other out. Maggie finds herself falling in love with Ike an the two end up kissing and loving each other. Eventually, the two grow to a new level of living.
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Coaching Implications
The movie, Runaway Bride , is a great real-life example a coach can use to demonstrate self-awareness, courage, determination, and the process of change. This film is appropriate for coaching conversations because it depicts the techniques and skills that can be used to handle issues when stuck in life situations. Because the film involves real characters, a coach can point out the mindset and the character traits demonstrated in the two main characters –Maggie and Ike. Ike's courage and determination to face and question Maggie in order to get his job back on track created the opportunity for both Ike and Maggie to attain their desired future. Also, Maggie's willingness to change her personal life is a great real-life example a coach can use to demonstrate change and determination.
Throughout the movie, several coaching techniques were utilized. In her book Essential Life Coaching Skills , Angela (2010) outlines the numerous life coaching techniques, but the one that stood out in this movie was the portions of the SWOT analysis. According to Dunbar (2010), SWOT, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, involves an individual's reality now. Both Maggie and Ike were faced with realities that prompted a change. If Ike were not courageous and determined to get his life back on track, he would not have met Maggie. To add to this, Ike would not have gotten his job back. Ike analyzed his strengths and weaknesses. His strength was in the belief that he can get his life back on track if he can reach out to Maggie and extract real facts from her. However, he also had some weaknesses. Ike had a tendency to write articles without checking the facts, which got him fired. More to this is that Ike is a womanizer. Ike gets past the obstacles he has created in his life after following the advice given by his friend Fisher. Fisher provides Ike with an idea of how he can get his career back on track by asking Ike to get the "real" facts from Maggie.
Ike mapped out a plan that made him create a different environment for himself. From the components SWOT analysis, Ike conceived the idea that if he gets the facts from Maggie, he could get his job back. Another significant component of this technique that worked for Ike was Ike's ability to accept change and his determination to make things right. Ike pursued the truth and eventually ended up falling in love with Maggie. More to this is that he got his job back.
Another real-life example of coaching is seen between Maggie's and Peggy's conversation. One of the elements of life coaching is to seek coaching services from experts or coaches. Peggy coaches Maggie on how she can shape her life. More specifically, Peggy lets Maggie know how her behavior and actions impact others. In another instance, Ike points out to Maggie that her current relationship influences her actions or behaviors. As a result, Maggie pursues to make things right in her life. She fails to marry the groom that she was supposed to marry and plans to marry Ike.
In her book, Essentials Life Coaching Skills, Dunbar (2010) discusses the different steps involved in life coaching. In the movie, the first step of life coaching, which is self-awareness, stood out. Coaches are required to build a relationship with their clients. For this reason, it is very vital for a coach to understand their clients better as well as become aware of what their clients seek. Self-awareness makes a client have a new level of understanding. This is because it makes them understand who they are and what goals they want to achieve. The movie Runaway Bride can help one understand how vital it is to be self-aware in life. The movie depicts how not being self-aware or how not understanding yourself and not knowing what you want in life can affect an individual, especially an individual's relationships.
Personal or Professional Implications
The movie Runaway Bride was an excellent visualization of self-awareness and the process of change. Personally, the film was easy to connect with. This is because some years back, I had a twin sister who struggled with liking herself. Just like Maggie, my sister did not know who she. More to this is that she did know what she wanted in life. Because of this, my twin sister tried to fit in wherever she was and with whoever she was with. She kept doing this until she realized who she was as well as what she wanted in life. Once she became self-aware, my twin sister was able to commit to any kind of important decision about her life.
This confirms that self-awareness is very important. This is because it directs the path our lives will take as well as the decisions we usually make in our day-to-day activities. Understanding oneself helps an individual respond to situations appropriately, which is very important in the coaching relationship. How coaches live their lives can significantly impact those around them or their clients.
The movie Runaway Bride was not about a professional coach. For this reason, it is difficult to point out scenes that depict poor coaching. But, overall, the movie depicted some scenes that clearly visualized the importance of self-awareness as well as the process of change. As a coach, I will always ensure that my clients understand who they are and what they want to become or need in their lives.
Personally and professionally, I have realized the need for a coach to help me overcome self-awareness and relationship issues. Some years ago, I had the chance to be coached by my pastor. This pastor helped me see life from different perspectives. This helped me accept who I was. The pastor also helped me define what I wanted in life. Since then, I never underestimated my abilities and my drive for a better future with unprecedented possibilities. Like Ike, I realized the importance of being courageous and determined in life. As I watched the movie Runaway Bride, I was reminded to self-aware, be courageous, and determined in life. Professionally, I will use what I learned from Ike’s pursuit to bring back his life on track as an example to never give up in life. I will also use it as an example when delivering coaching services in the future.
References
Dunbar, A. (2010). Essential life coaching skills. New York, NY: Routledge.
