The
2002 film My Big Fat Greek Wedding is
a film of intercultural understanding, acceptance, and the humorous
"mistakes" that go along with it. The title itself implies some
intercultural stereotypes that take place. The film begins by introducing us to
Toula, a 30-year-old Greek-American woman who is currently residing with her
parents (Gus and Maria) in Chicago and working at their Grecian restaurant. In
the eyes of her parents, Toula has failed in fulfilling her duty- to "marry a
Greek-(American) boy, make Greek babies, and feed everyone until the day she
dies." Toula is unsatisfied with her life but dream of taking computer
classes and following her own destiny. Toula decides to make some changes after
embarrassing herself in front of a handsome school-teacher (Ian Miller) at the
restaurant. She buys contact lenses, uses make-up, and changes her wardrobe.
She also attends classes and convinces her parents to let her work at the
travel agency Voula's. Soon, Ian and
Toula introduce themselves and begin dating in secret. Soon, they announce
their engagement and many family complications arise due to the different
cultural practices and expectations, which I will expand on later. This film is
a perfect choice for this assignment due to its very blunt/humorous nature and
the cohesion of two very different cultures. Both are forced to interact with
each other and compromise on what they deem acceptable. It is a film of
intercultural struggle and success.
I
have selected to analyze this film using the concepts of separation and
integration. While seemingly general, separation and integration can be applied
to the film and specifically the events that occur up to Toula and Ian's
wedding. Separation is defined as "a type of cultural adaptation in which
an individual retains his or her original culture while interacting minimally
with other groups." Integration is defined as "a type of cultural
adaption in which individuals maintain both their original culture and their
daily interactions with other groups" (Martin, J. N., Nakayama, T. K. , 2010).
Separation can by applied to intercultural communication because it is often
what happens when very different cultures settle in close areas. They may keep
strongly to their traditions and customs, while only needing to assimilate
enough to get by (economically). This hinders intercultural interactions and
communication, as the chance of the cultures overlapping remains as minimal as
possible. While there may not be distain for the other, cultures may express
feelings of non-understanding or confusions about the practices of one group. In
comes integration. We see this happening when cultures overlap, either by
chance or force. One begins to form an understanding and loses some
uncertainty. They are able to maintain their original cultural identity but
interact with other groups. Both of these are very evident in the box-office
hit.
Using
the concepts of separation and integration, we can see firmly that they are
manifested in the film My Big Fat Greek
Wedding. The Greek family has decided to keep themselves as separate as
possible. They are only friends with other Greek people, they are expected to
marry Greek individuals, and they keep to their customs and traditions. The
Millers too have very strict views on what is appropriate in
"American" culture and what is not. However, due to the relationship between their children,
their cultures must collide, resulting eventually in integration. For example,
the Portokalos
family
(Greek family) is extremely affectionate. They hug and kiss on the cheek when
they greet eachother. However, the Miller's are very unaffectionate and would
be more comfortable with a handshake when meeting the Portokalos family. But
seeing it as culturally acceptible, Maria and Gus Portokalos greet each of the
Millers with a firm hug and kiss. They additionally invite all of the Portokalos family to the first meeting, and proceed to
be very loud and energetic, while offering the Millers lots of food and drinks.
When the Miller's finally leave (perplexed and overwhelmed), Gus says their
behavior is rude. Because these two cultures live mostly separately, he was not
able to see that they do not understand Greek culture. However, in time and
after a few struggles, the families begin to integrate. At the wedding
reception, during Gus's speech he expresses feelings of acceptance towards the
Millers and their son Ian. Similarly, the Miller's join in on the dancing and
drinking with the Greek relatives without missing a beat. The film ends on the
assumption that both cultures' eyes have been open to the understanding of
different intercultural perspectives, and they have reached a level of
integration from their previous separation.
No comments:
Post a Comment