Netflix TV series Nobody Wants This – starring Noughties TV stars Kristen Bell and Adam Brody – has taken our screens and social media by storm, and for many good reasons. The series is centred around whether “sexy rabbi” (irresistible Fleabag reference here) Noah (Brody) and an agnostic sex podcaster (Bell) can find enough common ground and lifestyle overlap to make their romance last, after a ridiculously adorable meet cute and a series of gorgeous dates.
It’s swoon-worthy, it’s funny, it gives us the perfect level of rom and com. But the best part about it? It gives us a non toxic male lead and plotline to root for, something that isn’t actually that common in today’s economy.
After all, the list of toxic male romcom leads knows no end. From Bridget Jones’ Daniel Cleaver, the king of workplace sexual harassment and prime love interest for our protagonist to The Notebook’s Noah (Ryan Gosling), who arguably took emotional manipulation to another level when it came to his relationship with Allie (Rachel McAdams) from the second they met and not to mention 500 Days Of Summer’s Tom and his toxic vendetta against a woman who told him from the beginning she didn’t want a serious relationship with him.
Not even the romantic role that made Adam Brody famous – as Internet boyfriend Seth Cohen in Noughties teen drama The OC – is without its toxic undertones. After all, his relationship with Summer (played by Rachel Bilson, who Brody was in a relationship with at the time) was peppered with lies, communication problems and petty break ups.
We watch romcoms and teen dramas like these from a young age, and it can be hard to recognise the toxicity of storylines and love interests. We end up internalising them. Perhaps resisting this will be easier, now we have Nobody Wants This as a blueprint for how to get it right.
There’s a simplicity to romance, or at least the feelings these two characters clearly have for each other from the off. Noah stands as a stark comparison to the ghosters and narcissists that Joanne herself is meeting in the LA dating scene, who she shamelessly criticises on her podcast. He also stands as a stark comparison to other romcom interests that may have skewered what we should find attractive and swoon-worthy in a love story. Adam Brody himself has recently described feeling comfortable in the space of being a romantic leading man – and honestly, it shows.
What we see in Nobody Wants This is a reasonable, level, reassuring love – not one peppered with dizzying ups and downs. Romantic proclamations coupled with screaming arguments in the street may be entertaining to watch for a time, but it’s more comforting – and a better romantic example – to see a love grow on relatively healthy ground.
Of course, Joanne and Noah’s love story isn’t without its speed bumps. We see an extremely non-accepting set of in-laws on Noah’s side, as well as his hesitancy to enter into a relationship with someone who isn’t Jewish, not to mention a seemingly perfect ex-girlfriend waiting in the wings and Joanne’s continued problems with intimacy.
These are all relatable problems, important to represent – and dealt with without sensationalist drama or toxicity. What’s more, the scene where Joanne and Noah first kiss has made fans take to social media to describe how it 'healed them'.
Not to mention the scene where Noah broke down Joanne’s potential insecurities, calling out her self-sabotaging behaviour in a respectful way, and showing understanding about why she might have her guard up. “I’m on your side, I can handle you,” he tells her, which is honestly what every woman who has been told she’s “too much” or fears intimacy wants to hear.
It’s the stuff of romcom dreams. And of course, Kristen Bell and Adam Brody’s crazy chemistry obviously helps matters. Nobody Wants This is an extremely welcome departure from so many tired and unhealthy tropes – a non-toxic male romcom lead and plotline? Trust me, Everyone Wants This.