CAPS #4- Shelby Merry

My Big Fat Greek Wedding came out in 2002 and has been one of my family and I's all time favorites every since. This movie displays a perfect example of intercultural transitions through Toula's life as she tries to navigate her own cultural background while living in a place where she feels extremely alone and ashamed of it. Toula has a very large greek family who have instilled in her anything and everything greek. She went to a Greek school, learned Greek traditions, works at her families Greek resuraunt and is supposed to marry a Greek man. Toula decides one day that it is time for her to start making her own decisions. She begins taking classes and during that time becomes interesed in a non-Greek man, Ian Miller. The story is about Toula finding herself and doing what makers her happy, even if that means not following the Greek traditions.

The concept I have chosen to discuss is Cultural Hybirdity. A hybrid is traditioanlly defined as a cross or a mix between two things. Marin and Nakayama define cultural hybridity as migrants and their families often combine these different modes of relating to the host society weather that be assimilating, integrating or separating with the host culture. The book used this kind of intercultural transition and described it as a "salad society" rather than the usual melting pot term. The salad society means that each culture or groups keeps their uniqueness and own flavor while still mixing with the host culture creating a very beautifully diverse society rather than everyone being like everyone else.

At the beginning of the movie, Toula wants nothing to do with her Greek culture, she is completely fed up with the traditions of her family and everything Greek. While resenting her family she mocks her Greek background by saying, "There are three things that every Greek woman must do in life: marry Greek boys, make Greek babies, and feed everyone." Towards the end of the movie she begins to enjoy the Greek culture while still adapting to some of traditional American culture, which is a prime example of Toula creating her own culture hybridity. Although she is staying true to some of her own Greek traditions she also rejects some of them. Some of the Greek traditions she rejects is marrying a Greek man. She ends up marrying Ian, who is not Greek, despite her father's efforts for her to marry a Greek man. Toula hopes to reject a Greek gathering when Ian's parents meet hers but instead her mother and father invite the whole family, including 26 cousins to meet them. Toula also rejects her Greek background when she goes back to college, since the traditional Greek woman stays at home, doesn't go to college or stays in the family buisness. She also keeps some of her Greek background and learns to appreciate it. At her wedding, she keeps it traditioanlly Greek. Ian must be baptized so they are able to get married in the Greek church and have a traditional Greek wedding. When she has her own children she sends them to a Greek school but allows them to make their own cultural choices more so then she was. Toula is a great example of cultural hybridity because she keeps some of her Greek roots while also adapting some of the American culture, creating a great medium of assimilating and separating.