Film Analysis
Film Analysis: “MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING”
Introduction to Sociology
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, is a wonderful movie all about the Greek sub-culture in Chicago. This movie explores, and demonstrates many sociological points. This movie is exceptional because, this movie also shows the values of Greek immigrants living in America. Furthermore, the American Greeks in this movie promotes three traditional values - marry a Greek boy or girl, have Greek babies, and feed everyone. This is a value that the older generations of Greeks cherish and are trying to pass them down from one generation to another, if broken it is looked at as a taboo in the Greek family. This taboo sometimes is regarded as a very serious matter, but it is subject to the discretion of every family, including the extended family. In the film, actress Nia Vardalos becomes, ‘Toula Portokalos’; a woman who is shamefully single at the age of thirty; at least that is how she is viewed by her full bred Greek father, Gus Portokalos (played by Micheal Constantine) and also to lesser degree, her huge clan sees it that way. The actual story actually begins, when Toula goes where no woman in her family has ever dared step before – enrolling to study computer technology. Through time, she changed her appearance and catches the eye of a handsome, non-Greek man, Ian Miller (played by John Corbett).
The film consist a lot of sociological aspects from the two opposite cultures, many as they are, I will be focusing on what the movie highlighted the most. The most highlighted sociological concepts are as followed; marriage and its rituals, gender roles of males and females, socialization processes of both cultures, cultures, and authoritarian behaviors displayed by the father of Toula. All the stated concepts are highly visible in the entire movie, especially on the Greek’s culture. The Portokalos family is highly collectivistic and contrast, the Miller family is highly individualistic as seen in the film
Introduction to Sociology
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, is a wonderful movie all about the Greek sub-culture in Chicago. This movie explores, and demonstrates many sociological points. This movie is exceptional because, this movie also shows the values of Greek immigrants living in America. Furthermore, the American Greeks in this movie promotes three traditional values - marry a Greek boy or girl, have Greek babies, and feed everyone. This is a value that the older generations of Greeks cherish and are trying to pass them down from one generation to another, if broken it is looked at as a taboo in the Greek family. This taboo sometimes is regarded as a very serious matter, but it is subject to the discretion of every family, including the extended family. In the film, actress Nia Vardalos becomes, ‘Toula Portokalos’; a woman who is shamefully single at the age of thirty; at least that is how she is viewed by her full bred Greek father, Gus Portokalos (played by Micheal Constantine) and also to lesser degree, her huge clan sees it that way. The actual story actually begins, when Toula goes where no woman in her family has ever dared step before – enrolling to study computer technology. Through time, she changed her appearance and catches the eye of a handsome, non-Greek man, Ian Miller (played by John Corbett).
The film consist a lot of sociological aspects from the two opposite cultures, many as they are, I will be focusing on what the movie highlighted the most. The most highlighted sociological concepts are as followed; marriage and its rituals, gender roles of males and females, socialization processes of both cultures, cultures, and authoritarian behaviors displayed by the father of Toula. All the stated concepts are highly visible in the entire movie, especially on the Greek’s culture. The Portokalos family is highly collectivistic and contrast, the Miller family is highly individualistic as seen in the film