Why Is The World Obsessed With Joanne And Noah From ‘Nobody Wants This’?

Disclaimer: The following story may contain spoilers.

True rom-com lovers know that we stopped seeing good romantic comedies a long while back. The drought has lasted us through the late 2010s and even though the 2020s began seeing a revival of the genre, we still needed to see the magic of the early aughts rom-com recaptured. So when we heard of Netflix’s latest romantic comedy-drama Nobody Wants This, and its electrifying lead pair, we had to investigate. Starring Adam Brody and Kristen Bell as romantic main leads (I mean, could it get any better?), the plot revolves around two characters vastly different from one another and their relationship. Adam Brody (portraying Noah Roklov), plays a hot rabbi (move aside hot priest, it’s hot rabbi fall)  and Kristen Bell (portraying Joanne), plays a sex-positive podcaster. The two meet at a house party where she mistakes him for someone else. As they both realise their interest and attraction to each other, we’re taken on a journey on how they both decide to date one another despite their differences.

Who Are Joanne And Noah Though?

While Joanne believes in being transparent and doesn’t mind putting herself out there, Noah is slightly more conservative (not to be mistaken for being narrow-minded). Noah, is a Jewish man whose greatest career goal is to become the head rabbi at his temple. He has recently ended a long-term relationship with the perfect Jewish girl and, his family being traditional, loud and proud Jews is heavily invested in him resolving his issues with his ex. Joanne on the other hand is a progressive, modern woman, exploring the world of dating and making money through a thriving podcast business with her sister based on their adventures as single women. Having grown up in a more unconventional family structure, Joanne does not follow any certain religion. The two come from different worlds. Yet, their worlds collide. Now why is the world SO invested in their love story? Noah and Joanne approach their relationship in the healthiest way seen in entertainment, after a long time. Which is one of the greatest reasons the show seems to have won people over. While Joanne and Noah are both flawed people, they put their best foot forward, and almost unconsciously so. It’s more of an instinctual willingness to do right by each other rather than just trying to make the relationship work. But we reckon there are a few other really enjoyable, and refreshing reasons people are drawn to the show, here, read on to know more…

Why Are People Being Drawn ToNobody Wants This

A rare example of a healthy relationship on screen!

First, and foremost, we have nothing against a realistic depiction of romance. But for the longest time, so many of us have wondered isn’t there room for both to exist? Nobody Wants This gave us a realistic happily ever after, something we’ve all been waiting for. There’s a point in the show when Joanne gets an ick from something Noah does while meeting her parents, and in most circumstances, an ick would translate to a breakup. Because, how can you coexist with a person once you get an ick about them, right? Not this time though, the way Noah compassionately hears Joanne out about her getting an ick, relieves the strain of the ick, and just like that, the two, awkwardly and humorously get through this hiccup and accept why the ick happened, and that they can still love each other despite it.

It’s all about the grey areas, is it not?

How the show has depicted grey areas in relationships and dating is phenomenal. Noah is in between relationships and such a situation can often be interpreted negatively; You know, moving on from a partner so soon, especially someone you were about to propose to? Yet the show has shed light on the nuance and complexity of not being in love with a long-term partner or having fallen out of love with a long-term partner. It has discussed the possibility of finding a deeper connection with someone you haven’t known for long. Not only this but Noah making a clear decision to not let this relationship with Joanne be a rebound situation is heartwarming to see. He works through his own emotions for Joanne with so much patience and curiosity, that there is no room for confusion between the two.

They chose each other

Both Joanne and Noah made a conscious effort to be a part of each other's worlds, both met each other's parents and families and tried to understand the people closest to them. Even while navigating through his religion and traditional family system, Noah made it a priority to show up for Joanne. And likewise, Joanne approached Noah’s family and traditions with open-mindedness and wanting to bond with them, yet still keeping a check on whether or not she was being her most authentic self while trying to do so (we have her sister, Morgan, played by Justine Lupe, to thank for this!).

Mutual respect and a whole lotta love

In the end, (Spoiler Alert!) Joanne decides to walk away from the relationship even though she really, really likes Noah, maybe even loves him. But she walks away in his best interest. She tries to do the right thing. In a culture where we’re caught between being warned about texting that ex and even going back to an ex, it was refreshing to see Joanne do her best to carry out a clean break-up.

Noah Roklov is officially Internet’s latest crush

Seeing Noah address Joanne’s concerns with compassion and not an ounce of pretence or dishonesty was so, so refreshing. Adam Brody as Noah Roklov has raised our standards to just the right level. Because isn’t that the bare minimum? To address your loved ones’ concerns with kindness? And the fact that Noah did this with ease and with full conviction that that is the bare minimum, really stopped us all from glorifying him, and rather had us raising a toast to him and agreeing with him.

Changing for the better in romantic relationships is goals

Seeing Joanne willingly make healthy changes for Noah, and Noah reconsidering a lifelong dream just for the possibility of a relationship with Joanne broke my heart in the best way possible! What is love, if not working on ourselves because we realise that not only our partner, but we also, deserve a better version of ourselves, right? Even though Noah and Joanne’s family members were concerned that they were both changing to merely please each other, the two kept going. They kept the faith, which included having lots of difficult conversations, and ended up becoming versions of themselves they were both proud of, through it all!

Since the 2000s, romcoms have evolved greatly, somewhere in the middle we saw the rise of realistic rom-coms, which helped us all approach romance with a sense of practicality and compassion. Think, Holidate (2020) and Your Place or Mine (2023) where we learnt the very valuable lesson of not rejecting safe people who may enter our lives as being friends, rather than offering explosive chemistry. But which still left us craving more romance, with Nobody Wants This we’ve finally arrived at a place in cinema, where we can find both a realistic depiction of romance and a happy ending. Isn’t that wonderful? Thank you, Adam Brody and Kristen Bell for soothing us and also giving us a love story where practicality and love can really meet.