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\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0(Goodman, 2014)<\/p>\nStoryline<\/p>\n
My Big Fat Greek Wedding takes place in a middle-class city in Chicago with the Portokalos family. Gus and Maria Portokalos have three children, Athena, Nick, and Toula. Athena is married with three children, Nick hasn\u2019t found a virgin to marry, and Toula is 30 years old without a husband nor children. The family owns a Greek restaurant called Dancing Zorba\u2019s and food plays a big role in constantly feeding their big family along with customers. Food appears on big plates, piled high. Appears at parties, home visits, and at the restaurant; a different person was always eating. Being Greek, the women are responsible for marrying other Greeks, having Greek babies, and feeding everyone. Family tensions rise when Toula falls in love with a non-Greek professor, Ian Miller.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0(Goodman, 2014)<\/p>\n
Themes<\/p>\n
Culinary Tourism<\/p>\n
Maria and Gus Portokalos own Dancing Zorba\u2019s where they cook and sell authentic Greek food. Their son, Nick, is the chef and their daughter, Toula, is the seating hostess. Their customers come from all parts of Chicago to get a taste of Greek. Toula is still working at the restaurant because she doesn\u2019t have a husband to take care of her. The rest of their family comes and goes from the restaurant all day.<\/p>\n
Toula first meets Ian with he walks into Dancing Zorba\u2019s meeting his friend, Mike, for lunch (21:49).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/2019springhhk200\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/151\/2019\/04\/greek-2-300x169.png\")
\u00a0(DaMan, 2013)<\/p>\n
Ethnicity<\/p>\n
Toula\u2019s family is very religious and believe Greeks should only marry and have children with other Greeks. Her mother is always cooking and feeding people while her father is always preaching about how people wish they were Greek. The family is always eating and being loud together\u2014always gossiping about the next person. Since Toula isn\u2019t married yet, her father doesn\u2019t want her to leave him because he needs her to work the family business. Her family doesn\u2019t believe she will ever get married because being 30 she isn\u2019t pretty enough anymore. Her family, especially her father, is devastated when she\u2019s falling in love with Ian since he isn\u2019t Greek.<\/p>\n
Our house is modeled after the parthenon with Corinthian columns guarded by statues of the gods <\/em>(9:25).<\/p>\n Toula doesn\u2019t believe her and Ian will work out because of his and hers family, but Ian doesn\u2019t care about family backgrounds because he likes being with her (30:41).<\/p>\n Toula\u2019s father finds out about Ian and he is very upset because he doesn\u2019t know anything about him. He doesn\u2019t know if Ian is nice, smart, or comes from a good family. He doesn\u2019t come to realization they love each other because Ian didn\u2019t come to him in the beginning to ask his permission (52:35).<\/p>\n Gender<\/p>\n The main focus Toula should have is to cook, clean, and feed her husband and children. Nobody in her family thinks she is any good for anyone anymore because she is aging and doesn\u2019t look as good as when she was younger. Her father offered to send her to Greece to meet a nice, Greek man to bring back home, but she said no. He assumed it is because she doesn\u2019t want to get married, however; it is because she doesn\u2019t to marry another Greek. Toula always wanted to be like the other girls who were skinny with blonde hair. She doesn\u2019t want to produce \u201cloud, Greek eaters!\u201d<\/p>\n Toula\u2019s dad tells her to get married fast because she looks so old right in the beginning of the film (2:15).<\/p>\n Year after year still not married. 30 years old and past my expiration date <\/em>(15:40).<\/p>\n Opinion<\/p>\n I really enjoyed this film. I thought it was well put together and provided great detail into the life of a Greek family. Some strengths the film had were portraying what life is like for a Greek woman. Growing up in a huge family where everyone knows all of your business, and you are always eating whether you were hungry or not. Being told the main focus and dream of a Greek woman should be to find a good Greek man and have lots of children to carry on the Greek culture. If you didn\u2019t get married before your \u201cexpiration date\u201d you were seen as a disappointment to your family. The family in this film believed food made you feel good and was the best form of hospitality. Feeding everyone, so no one felt hungry nor neglected. Food brought the family together and brought them closer. Another strength was how the film showed the Portokalos family letting someone non-Greek into their family. Toula\u2019s father didn\u2019t like Ian at first because he didn\u2019t come to him for permission, but Ian was willing to do anything to be with Toula. Ian was baptized and became Greek to get the family\u2019s blessing which I thought was really interesting to watch. Overall the movie was really good.<\/p>\n References<\/p>\n DaMan (2013). [Untitled Illustration].<\/p>\n Retrieved April 28, 2019 from https:\/\/www.themoviedb.org\/movie\/8346-my-big-fat-greek-wedding\/images\/backdrops<\/a><\/p>\n Goodman, J. (2014). [Untitled Illustration].<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/2019springhhk200\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/151\/2019\/04\/greek-3-300x200.png\")
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