My Big Fat Greek Post

If anyone has not seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding... Go. Now. And watch it. Seriously though, it is a really great movie that explores the idea of being introduced to a totally different culture than you are used to, and how difficult it can be to communicate and relate to each other.

I had to watch this movie (and take notes) this past week for another class that I'm taking this semester called Intercultural Communications but I've been finding a lot of connections to communication in general as well. So I guess I'm kind of killing two birds with one stone here. Yay for connection making!

So, like I said, not only is My Big Fat Greek Wedding a very entertaining movie, it also relates a lot to communication and how people from different cultures intertwine. For example, in the movie, Tula who comes from a very large and boisterous Greek family falls in love and gets engaged with Ian who is everything her family could have hoped for her... except for one thing: he isn't Greek. Therefore, he is unfamiliar with Tula's family traditions and lifestyle.

For example, in Greek culture, it is the man's duty as a suitor to approach his love interest's father and ask his permission to marry his daughter. Ian is not familiar with this, and instead just asks Tula herself. This angers her father very much because as the father he is used to being the dominant male in the family who is in charge of everyone, especially his daughter and her hand in marriage.

Not only is Ian unfamiliar with the ways of the Greeks, he is also unfamiliar with the Greek language. Tula's brother and cousin have a lot of fun telling him to say common phrases in Greek and really making him say something ridiculous. Not only is there an obvious miscommunication there, but even just when conversing in English with Tula's aunt there is miscommunication. Tula's aunt wishes to cook for Ian and Ian tells her that he is a vegetarian and does not eat meat. The idea he does not consume meat is just unfathomable for Tula's aunt because as a Greek woman, one of her main jobs is to cook for the family... and meat is always the main food group. So, not comprehending, she exclaims that instead she will make lamb for him. Which obviously is indeed meat.

Eventually the family comes to accept Ian but it takes a lot of time and interactions with the Greek family to really start to understand how they work. This is a great example of how people from different backgrounds have difficulty relating to each other and how interesting, and comical, it can be.

-kp