Not Your Mother's Daughter

I had the idea for this title last week when I thought of this killer movie plot.

Here it is:

Twenty-eight-year-old Jenni from Mississippi (played by Mindy Kaling) can make everyone laugh... except her soon-to-be mother-in-law, Carol Nancy (played by Whoopi Goldberg). Jenni, who now lives in New York, is a comedian who met her handsome, doctor boyfriend, Thomas Nancy, (Michael B. Jordan) at the gynecologist. That's right. She's dating her gynecologist. It’d be pretty weird to say it was love at first sight, but it’s my movie, so that’s what we’re going with. He takes her home to meet the family for a Thanksgiving weekend in Jersey. Thomas' dad, Kevin Nancy, (Steve Martin) loves her instantly. Carol doesn’t like her one bit. Carol spends the whole weekend trying to break Thomas and Jenni up, only to be stopped by none other than Jenni herself. No, no, this isn’t your average “After all these years, I’m gonna stand up to my mom,” kind of story. It’s a “This is who I am, take it or leave it,” kind of story. And the son obviously takes it (I mean, it’s Mindy Kaling. Who wouldn't marry her?)

You see, Carol only dislikes Jenni because she is jealous. Jenni is a successful woman, and Carol has always been too afraid to chase her dreams. Once Carol realizes the only reason she dislikes Jenni is because she's jealous, she learns to love, not only Jenni but also herself. (Everyone was obviously type casted except for Whoopi.)

Together, Jenni and Carol work to achieve their dreams. Jenni pushes Carol to overcome her fears of not being good enough by helping her open a non-profit, and Carol teaches Jenni how to become more goal oriented. (As well as make those brownies that her son "can't get enough of," (Michael B. Jordan's words, exactly.))

The title? S.L.U.T.S. With Guts ©

Smart Ladies Using Their Strengths

I think it’s appropriate to use “Sluts” as an acronym for this comedy because this word has been used to demean women. But I did what Trevor Noah’s mother told him to do when someone said something racist to him. (Watch Trevor Noah's stand-up special on Netflix to understand this paragraph.) I shook it up with the love of Jesus and sent it back out into the world.

You can find something beautiful in the things used to hurt you. You just have to change your perspective, and you should try it because you may end up blessing the one who tried to hurt you in the first place.

But anyway, from title to credits, this movie would be jam-packed with lessons and love.

I thought about this movie when I started thinking about all the ways I will probably disappoint my future mother-in-law. Not on purpose, of course. I think I'm a bowl of fun, but when I tell my future mother-in-law that I'm going into scriptwriting and live in my car? Oh, yeah! She'll totally encourage that relationship.

I'm not perfect, but I think I’m easy to love. (Biased? Oh, you betcha. Wrong? No.)

However, I can be difficult to understand because I'm really passionate about what I do!!!!!!! And I love people a lot!!!!!!! (Just look at all of those exclamation points!)

I hope I’m not talking to myself when I say, “Being misunderstood because people don’t make an effort to understand you isn’t your fault.”

For a long time, I felt the need to justify my actions because people didn't understand WHY I love what I do or WHY I love people so much.

And this is a bit of a subject L E A P, but it all ties together in the end, so stick with me.

People don’t like what they can’t categorize.

But when it comes to love, there are no categories. You don’t need to understand someone to love them. The beauty of love and growth is challenging yourself to understand someone so you can love them more. This is LITERALLY the BEST part of LIVING LIFE, learning to love people!

So if people don't understand you or your passions, then, my friend, you are doing something right. Be someone people want to understand because you love so much that people don't get it.

And I don't know who needs to hear this, but I love you.

So, you're right. I’m not your mother’s daughter, and thank God I’m not. She wouldn’t know what to do with me.