Did you notice how the spin class scene had foreshadowing for the running scene?
A few scenes into the People We Meet on Vacation Movie, Poppy, played by Emily Bader, and her best friend Rachel (Alice Lee) pedal on stationary bikes. They’re in a glitzy LA spin class. Music blares in the dark studio. The intense teacher delivers instructions. Meanwhile, Poppy is trying to have an ill-timed conversation.
There is a bit of visual foreshadowing taking place in this scene. After the class ends, Poppy and Rachel remain in the studio. Poppy uses her post-workout adrenaline as an excuse to call Alex, as Rachel watches with incredulous shock.
Their identical porch positioning is visual foreshadowing.
When Alex (played by Tom Blyth) picks up the phone, he’s standing on a bright white porch in Linfield, Ohio. This porch shot is important. Poppy’s big grand gesture scene at the end of the movie will begin on this porch too. She’ll be exactly where Alex is when she called him. She’ll be calling him again, but this time calling out to him as he runs down the sidewalk past the porch.
More Parallels Between the Spin Class Scene and Run Scene
The spin class scene and Poppy’s run scene have other things in common.
- Poppy reluctantly exercises in both scenes when really what she wants to do is talk. Talk about Alex with Rachel. Then talk to Alex.
- Loud music also makes communication hard in both scenes. There’s the music in the class, and Alex wears earbuds when he runs, making it impossible for him to hear Poppy yelling,
The symbolism between the scenes is interesting. Poppy does stationary exercise in the spin class. She’s working hard, but not going anywhere. It’s an easy metaphor for her life where she feels pretty stuck in place—especially about her career and love life.
Then, in the end, she’s running, really moving, in no way stationary. She’s still working hard (running sucks, she’ hates it in fact), but she has allowed herself to finally go towards something. To continue the metaphor, she’s moving toward what she wants in her life: a career change (she just quit her job) and love (she’s running after her man).
Book Inspiration
I love that the spin class scene is inspired by a real and very similar scene with Poppy and Rachel in the book. See the quotes from Chapter 4, p 35-37 below.
“‘DID YOU THINK about it?’ Rachel asks. She’s pounding away on the stationary bike beside me, sweat droplets flying off her, though her breathing is even, as if we were moseying through Sephora. As usual, we found two bikes at the back of spin class, where we can keep up a conversation without being scolded for distracting other cyclists.”
“’Well, you obviously have to call him,’ Rachel says, effectively lassoing me and yanking me out of the memory.”
“I shake my head. ‘I already texted him. He’s not looking to rekindle our friendship, and he definitely doesn’t want to go on a spontaneous vacation with me.’”
Final Thoughts and Some Light Analysis
Poppy’s running scene was entertaining at first glance. It’s funny to see Poppy choosing something she hates (running) to get her man, but…
The subtext is icky.
There’s a pattern in the movie of Poppy being portrayed TWICE as needing to be extremely physically uncomfortable (on the bike and running all out in the street without a sports bra on!) in order to reconnect with Alex. What’s more, Alex is completely at ease—and unbothered—in both scenes.
Poppy’s run made for a fun-to-watch grand gesture on screen, but sadly the fun was short-lived for me. In the book, their reunion is much more equitable.
Poppy doesn’t chase Alex down. She finds Alex unwinding with his coworkers at a local bar after a long week of teaching. This setup is meaningful in the context of the book because Poppy’s and Alex’s first scene (in the prologue) takes place at another bar, one associated with Poppy’s work. (The bar is at beach resort on a trip Poppy is blogging about.)
The two work-associated bar scenes emphasizes Book-Poppy’s and Book-Alex’s dual passions. Alex loves teaching and writing fiction. Poppy loves traveling and travel writing. For a decade, Alex has gone on trips in support of Poppy’s chosen passions and career. Poppy showing up at the teacher’s bar shows that she’s willing to go where Alex’s passions and career take him too.
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