Film Discussion – My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Film Discussion – My Big Fat Greek Wedding

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is a 2002 film that focuses on the life of Toula, a Greek middle-class American woman who falls in love with Ian, a non-Greek upper-class man. Toula is the daughter to Gus, her staunch and proudly Greek father and her mother Maria. Toula’s sister Athena conformed to the staunch Greek expectations of her parents. She married young and has several kids. Toula, on the other hand, longs for a different kind of life. She is 30, unmarried, and works at her family’s restaurant. She eventually makes her step towards independence by going to computer school and eventually working at her aunt’s travel agency. This is where she officially meets Ian. Nonetheless, their relationship is met with obstacles as Gus opposes Toula’s marriage to a non-Greek person. This discussion focuses on the character of Gus, his cultural beliefs, and his belief and behavior changes that occurred throughout the film. Hire our assignment writing services in case your assignment is devastating you.

At the beginning of the film, Gus holds the assumption that the Greek culture is of significant importance. The film begins with a narration of Toula’s life from a young age. Her narrative shows that her father has tried so hard to maintain the Greek customs and ways of life in spite of their moving to the United States. He had difficulty assimilating into the American culture. Gus held these assumptions because of his Greek background since he is an immigrant.

Gus’s long-held beliefs about the Greek culture are challenged by his daughter’s love for a non-Greek man. He started seeing that there exist people in the world who prefer a different way of life. He was challenged to try and accept the new way of life into his family. For instance, Gus was challenged to accept a culturally different man as his daughter’s spouse. Although Gus had wanted his daughter to be married, his first reaction to her relationship with Ian was anger. He was angry that Ian had not come to ask for his permission before being with his daughter; something that was customary in the Greek way of life.

By the end of the film, Gus’s goals and desires changed significantly. He started putting his daughter’s happiness ahead of his beliefs about the Greek. Ian had agreed to be baptized into the Greek orthodox, showing his initiative to assimilate into the family and be a fit for Gus’s daughter. This helped to change Gus’s perceptions about Ian, leading to his approval of their wedding. He is eventually very receptive of Ian and even helped with the planning and implementation of their wedding ceremony.

This film is a good representation of the impacts of cross-cultural differences in society. Society is made up of people from different backgrounds and with diverse beliefs and practices about different things. The reflective concept that can be derived from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is the importance of accepting cultural relativity in a cross-cultural society. Like Gus and Ian did, it is important for people to make adjustments so that they can successfully assimilate into different cultures. These adjustments involve understanding and appreciating the factors that make people different and learning to like collectively in spite of those differences.

The character in the film that I identified with the most was Ian. Ian was not an ethnic Greek, but fell in love with one. In the beginning, he did not understand the differences between him and Toula’s family. But he made an effort to learn and make adjustments so that their relationship could prosper. I relate to this because I have also had to make adjustments by learning about my friends from different cultural backgrounds so that our friendships could thrive.

References

Zwick, J. [Director], Goetzman, G. [Producer], Hanks, T. [Producer] & Wilson, R. [Producer] (2002). My Big Fat Greek Wedding. [Motion Picture]. United States: Gold Circle Films

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My Big Fat Greek Wedding

FILM DISCUSSION
NOTE: If you have not already done so, read and review the information/instructions for this assignment.Instructions for WK 5 Film Discussion
Write a character analysis based on one of these six films.
• Philadelphia (1993)
• Barbershop (2002)
• The Village (2004).
• The Color Purple (1985)
• Amélie (2001).
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002).”

Please indicate which film you are discussing in the subject line of your post.
Answer the following questions about the characters in your narrative. Please concentrate on analyzing the character(s) rather than reiterating the plotline.
1. Describe the specific assumptions or beliefs the characters have at the beginning of the film. Why do they hold these assumptions/beliefs?
2. What do they learn about other people or about the world that challenges their long-held beliefs? Describe an incident (or series of incidents) that causes a revelation to the character(s).
3. How do the goals or desires of the characters change by the end of the film?
4. In your view, describe the learning/reflective concept from the course readings that best represents the developmental process of a major character.
5. Which character in the film did you most identify with (in terms of how his/her attitude or assumptions changed)? Why?