My Big Fat Greek Wedding

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Starring: Nia Vardalos
Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Joel Zwick
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Release Date: 2003-02-11
Toula is 30. And unmarried. Which means as a nice Greek girl -- she's a failure. All her cousins did the right thing -- married Greek boys and made Greek babies. So everyone worries: what will become of Toula? Then one day she sees the ultimate unattainable guy and realizes the only way her life will get better is if he gets away from her big, fat Greek family. Toula escapes from the family restaurant. She exchanges her seating hostess jacket for a college diploma, convinces her aunt to give her a new job, and trades in her coke-bottle glasses for contact lenses, just in time for "him" to walk back into her life. Ian Miller is tall, handsome but defnitely not Greek. Their courtship is an Olympian culture clash. Can Ian handle Toula, her parents, her aunts, uncles, cousins and several centuries of Greek heritage? Will Toula discover the love she's been missing right in the heart of her big, fat family? One thing is for sure, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, with Ian's proposal Toula is headed for her big, fat Greek wedding.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Biographies
Scene Access

VERY IMPORTANT - WE KNOW IT'S LONG, BUT PLEASE, EVERYONE, READ THIS, WHETHER YOU THINK YOU ARE FOR THIS MOVIE OR AGAINST IT
If you have not already heard what I'm going to say in this review, then I promise you that what I will say will REALLY SURPRISE you, whether you are for this movie or against it. I think the subject is very important, and I took it very seriously, and put a lot of time and effort into it, so I ask you kindly to please read my review all the way to the end, even if you think you don't agree. I apologize for the length of the review, but you will understand why I made it so by the time you get to the end. I promise you, that at the end, you will at least agree that it's a unique review and was worth your time to read. I represent The Council of Greek Americans, a group of Greek professionals from North America. Many of our members were born and raised in Greece. We are concerned about the image of the Greek people, and that's why we take very seriously this movie and any other things in the culture that claim to represent Greeks.

Our (the Council's) main point here is this: if you haven't heard already, this movie, though it does have some good elements, is actually NOT TRUE. And we mean REALLY NOT TRUE. And it's not what the public relations machine of the movie said; such as "it's just a parody" or "it just exaggerates stereotypes" and "sometimes we should make fun of the Greeks, just like we make fun of all different nationalities". Actually we have no problem with making fun of the Greeks sometimes. But this movie is not that; this movie is actually REALLY NOT TRUE. You can make fun of nationalities, but it has to be basically true at least! This movie is like making fun of Germans for making pizza, or making fun of Italians for making weinerschnitzel - it's just plain not true. It's like, some things in the movie ARE actually funny, or touching, or moving, etc. - we admit that - you see we're really trying to be objective. But that's if it were true though, which it's not!

And are you ready for another surprise? Greeks have actually been misrepresented in many parts of the society and culture, for a LONG TIME now. Thus the Greeks have a major problem right now. So why does the general public not know about this? Put very simply, there has just been no big effort to tell them about it. We believe firmly that the public is not that morally bad; they're not consciously trying to be unfair to the Greeks; there are just certain issues, such as this one, that they JUST DON'T KNOW ABOUT.

And the misrepresentation of the Greeks causes major misunderstandings about even the most basic traits of the Greeks; Greeks don't act like what a certain part of the general public seems to think they do, they don't look like that, they don't have that culture, they don't have that history, even the climate of their home country is misrepresented somewhat, etc. And recently the misrepresentation has GOTTEN MUCH WORSE - much more false. Such as this movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. What My Big Fat G W and that Australian "Wogsploitation" stuff portrays, is so false that it's not Greek at all - it's Italian. By the way, no offense against Italians. We actually think that Italians are somewhat misrepresented too. But if those extreme Italian stereotypes are not even true of the Italians, they sure aren't true of the Greeks - no one ever used to look at the Greeks that way, until My Big Fat GW came out. People, both the Greeks and the Italians have been in America since the later 1800's - for 130 years - and the Greeks were never known as acting like that, for that whole long time. And the Italians on the other hand were known as acting like that. What are you saying, that the Greeks were acting like that for that whole time, but the Americans just weren't noticing them, but they did notice the Italians? Oh please. Believe me, if the Greeks were acting like that, the Americans would have noticed it - remember that America used to be more racist in the past. And also, Greeks don't even look like what they're portrayed to look like in MBFGW. Are you starting to see now what a strange situation this is? Look up the facts and history and see for yourself - to make a broad generalization, in the US in around 1870-1930, the Anglo-Saxons and other oldest Americans were at the top of the hierarchy; the Jewish people and the Italians suffered more prejudice; the Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, etc., suffered prejudice also, but to a lesser extent. What MBFGW portrays is actually the old Jewish and Italian stereotypes - the person supposedly has a big family, and they always stick together, and they won't let the person breathe, etc - those are NOT TRUE about the Greeks. And then, in the course of time, all these ethnic groups became more mainstream in America - but especially the Greeks did. They had a Vice-President of the country in the 1960's - Spiro Agnew - and almost a president in the 1980's - Michael Dukakis!

But anyway, this movie...that's actually so funny...the Greeks were never portrayed or perceived that way before, in world history, and then, in 2002, this movie comes out and everyone just reacted like, of course it was true! We'll just swallow it, no problem! Lol! What we especially don't understand are the people over a certain age, who KNEW BETTER, who knew Greeks were never perceived to be like this before in history, yet who still allowed this movie to exist without protest, in 2002! That's just amazing. And many Greek Americans themselves kind of allowed this movie too - we admit that (again, you see how we try to be objective). That's one of the weirdest things out of all of it. What can we say? Even many Greek Americans themselves just don't know anything about their Greek heritage that means. This is actually a major problem - and not just in America; also, we think, in the whole English-speaking world.

To start to fight against the wrong idea of the Greeks, learn the true facts and history - see for yourself. The best movie to watch is Eleni. After that, another interesting movie is The Truce; it has some flaws, but it is also good. Also, get the books: The Greek Americans, by Monos, and Whiteness of a Different Color (a complete history of the interaction of all the different ethnic groups in the English-speaking world). Learn from these movies and books, and then go on to learn from other sources, about the history and nature of the Greek people, and see for yourself if what we say about the Greeks in this review is true.

Again - ALL the evidence supports what we are saying; notice how the movie only lasted a few months, and then, the bandwagon died down, and there has not been much follow-up in the past 8 years since it was released. And did you know that a group of prominent Greeks from California went to Hollywood when the movie was first released in 2002, and protested, and it was that protest that stopped the follow-up TV show My Big Fat Greek Life in early 2003? And did you know that Vardalos and them tried to take the movie to Greece itself in 2003, and then AGAIN in 2004, during the Athens Olympics, and it failed miserably, not once, but BOTH times! You think we're making this up, it's so strange. Again, we challenge you - research it yourself - ask people who are actually Greeks recently arrived from Greece. The situation is just amazing; anyone who knows the real truth about the Greeks, refers to this movie as "that big fat piece of garbage". Yet is STILL has not been officially denounced in the US and certain other parts of the world.

Related to that, we at the Council say that all of us Greeks need to wake up and see that we are facing a huge problem right now, and we need to get together and do something about it. We will soon put on this review an email address to contact us. We welcome true debate on this subject (though we will not respond to hate mail and the like, and will report whoever sends such stuff to the proper Internet authorities). To the people who misrepresent the Greeks, we say: the more you keep it up, the more foolish you will look when we real Greeks take major steps to set the record strait. We know just what will have the most impact - we're either going to break the story to the news media, or we're going to make a big movie that will be seen by many people. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please tell other people what you've read here.

OOPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I work in a Greek restaurant owned by a first generation Greek family, and I watched this movie after my boss recommended it to me. Now, normally I am not a woman that is into "chick flicks", but this movie was great!
Some of the things that had me laughing the hardest, was how many of the Greek stereotypes that ARE actually true! I laughed out loud when I realized that Toula's father was named Gus, and his brother was named George...and half of the males in Toula's family were named Nick! It just so happens that my boss is named Gus, his brother is George, and my boss's youngest son is indeed named Nick! *laughing*
The restaurant and family scenes made me feel like I was right back at work!
OOPA!

One of those films that rarely comes along
I fell quickly in love with this movie the first time I ever saw it. A small-budget independent movie that earned all of its rage. And for a film with such a simple storyline? Amazing. But I agree with it all, for this is one of those charmers that comes along once in a blue moon.

It is a familiar story indeed, nothing original there. But, like so many other great films, it is the way it is done that earns the praise. This is the sweet story of an ugly duckling who finally grows into herself and finds Prince Charming... within the first fifteen minutes of the film, leaving the rest of the story to deal with the problems that come of mixing together two very different cultures.

In the end, all is well, of course. But it's the ride that is fun, revealing lots of laughs and untapped talent as well as true sweetness and praise of family.

VERY IMPORTANT - WE KNOW IT'S LONG, BUT PLEASE, EVERYONE, READ THIS, WHETHER YOU THINK YOU ARE FOR THIS MOVIE OR AGAINST IT
If you have not already heard what I'm going to say in this review, then I promise you that what I will say will REALLY SURPRISE you, whether you are for this movie or against it. I think the subject is very important, and I took it very seriously, and put a lot of time and effort into it, so I ask you kindly to please read my review all the way to the end, even if you think you don't agree. I apologize for the length of the review, but you will understand why I made it so by the time you get to the end. I promise you, that at the end, you will at least agree that it's a unique review and was worth your time to read. I represent The Council of Greek Americans, a group of Greek professionals from North America. Many of our members were born and raised in Greece. We are concerned about the image of the Greek people, and that's why we take very seriously this movie and any other things in the culture that claim to represent Greeks.

Our (the Council's) main point here is this: if you haven't heard already, this movie, though it does have some good elements, is actually NOT TRUE. And we mean REALLY NOT TRUE. And it's not what the public relations machine of the movie said; such as "it's just a parody" or "it just exaggerates stereotypes" and "sometimes we should make fun of the Greeks, just like we make fun of all different nationalities". Actually we have no problem with making fun of the Greeks sometimes. But this movie is not that; this movie is actually REALLY NOT TRUE. You can make fun of nationalities, but it has to be basically true at least! This movie is like making fun of Germans for making pizza, or making fun of Italians for making weinerschnitzel - it's just plain not true. It's like, some things in the movie ARE actually funny, or touching, or moving, etc. - we admit that - you see we're really trying to be objective. But that's if it were true though, which it's not!

And are you ready for another surprise? Greeks have actually been misrepresented in many parts of the society and culture, for a LONG TIME now. Thus the Greeks have a major problem right now. So why does the general public not know about this? Put very simply, there has just been no big effort to tell them about it. We believe firmly that the public is not that morally bad; they're not consciously trying to be unfair to the Greeks; there are just certain issues, such as this one, that they JUST DON'T KNOW ABOUT.

And the misrepresentation of the Greeks causes major misunderstandings about even the most basic traits of the Greeks; Greeks don't act like what a certain part of the general public seems to think they do, they don't look like that, they don't have that culture, they don't have that history, even the climate of their home country is misrepresented somewhat, etc. And recently the misrepresentation has GOTTEN MUCH WORSE - much more false. Such as this movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. What My Big Fat G W and that Australian "Wogsploitation" stuff portrays, is so false that it's not Greek at all - it's Italian. By the way, no offense against Italians. We actually think that Italians are somewhat misrepresented too. But if those extreme Italian stereotypes are not even true of the Italians, they sure aren't true of the Greeks - no one ever used to look at the Greeks that way, until My Big Fat GW came out. People, both the Greeks and the Italians have been in America since the later 1800's - for 130 years - and the Greeks were never known as acting like that, for that whole long time. And the Italians on the other hand were known as acting like that. What are you saying, that the Greeks were acting like that for that whole time, but the Americans just weren't noticing them, but they did notice the Italians? Oh please. Believe me, if the Greeks were acting like that, the Americans would have noticed it - remember that America used to be more racist in the past. And also, Greeks don't even look like what they're portrayed to look like in MBFGW. Are you starting to see now what a strange situation this is? Look up the facts and history and see for yourself - to make a broad generalization, in the US in around 1870-1930, the Anglo-Saxons and other oldest Americans were at the top of the hierarchy; the Jewish people and the Italians suffered more prejudice; the Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, etc., suffered prejudice also, but to a lesser extent. What MBFGW portrays is actually the old Jewish and Italian stereotypes - the person supposedly has a big family, and they always stick together, and they won't let the person breathe, etc - those are NOT TRUE about the Greeks. And then, in the course of time, all these ethnic groups became more mainstream in America - but especially the Greeks did. They had a Vice-President of the country in the 1960's - Spiro Agnew - and almost a president in the 1980's - Michael Dukakis!

But anyway, this movie...that's actually so funny...the Greeks were never portrayed or perceived that way before, in world history, and then, in 2002, this movie comes out and everyone just reacted like, of course it was true! We'll just swallow it, no problem! Lol! What we especially don't understand are the people over a certain age, who KNEW BETTER, who knew Greeks were never perceived to be like this before in history, yet who still allowed this movie to exist without protest, in 2002! That's just amazing. And many Greek Americans themselves kind of allowed this movie too - we admit that (again, you see how we try to be objective). That's one of the weirdest things out of all of it. What can we say? Even many Greek Americans themselves just don't know anything about their Greek heritage that means. This is actually a major problem - and not just in America; also, we think, in the whole English-speaking world.

To start to fight against the wrong idea of the Greeks, learn the true facts and history - see for yourself. The best movie to watch is Eleni. After that, another interesting movie is The Truce; it has some flaws, but it is also good. Also, get the books: The Greek Americans, by Monos, and Whiteness of a Different Color (a complete history of the interaction of all the different ethnic groups in the English-speaking world). Learn from these movies and books, and then go on to learn from other sources, about the history and nature of the Greek people, and see for yourself if what we say about the Greeks in this review is true.

Again - ALL the evidence supports what we are saying; notice how the movie only lasted a few months, and then, the bandwagon died down, and there has not been much follow-up in the past 8 years since it was released. And did you know that a group of prominent Greeks from California went to Hollywood when the movie was first released in 2002, and protested, and it was that protest that stopped the follow-up TV show My Big Fat Greek Life in early 2003? And did you know that Vardalos and them tried to take the movie to Greece itself in 2003, and then AGAIN in 2004, during the Athens Olympics, and it failed miserably, not once, but BOTH times! You think we're making this up, it's so strange. Again, we challenge you - research it yourself - ask people who are actually Greeks recently arrived from Greece. The situation is just amazing; anyone who knows the real truth about the Greeks, refers to this movie as "that big fat piece of garbage". Yet is STILL has not been officially denounced in the US and certain other parts of the world.

Related to that, we at the Council say that all of us Greeks need to wake up and see that we are facing a huge problem right now, and we need to get together and do something about it. We will soon put on this review an email address to contact us. We welcome true debate on this subject (though we will not respond to hate mail and the like, and will report whoever sends such stuff to the proper Internet authorities). To the people who misrepresent the Greeks, we say: the more you keep it up, the more foolish you will look when we real Greeks take major steps to set the record strait. We know just what will have the most impact - we're either going to break the story to the news media, or we're going to make a big movie that will be seen by many people. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please tell other people what you've read here.

Transformation and Inspiration with Laughs
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is so much more than a romantic comedy... it is a laugh-out-loud story of a woman changing everything about herself--from ugly duckling to swan... BUT unlike the ugly duckling, genetics aren't doing the work for her. She chooses and goes after a new life, something millions of us can relate to, at least in our desire to change. First she changes her mindset, then her appearance... and then her confidence grows to the point where she's genuinely an attractive person to be around.
There are movies where the hero is always great (Rob Roy), there are movies where the hero is shaped and built by others (Matrix, Ice Age), and then there are a few, like this one, Legally Blonde, and The Pursuit of Happyness where the hero takes charge and becomes someone with greater fulfillment and a bigger life: someone who can inspire the rest of us. But of the transformational movies I mention here, this one is the most realistically accessible for those of us with limited resources and limited ambition.
So, I recommend it as comedy, but more than that, I recommend it to every woman who needs a little inspiration to transform herself, whether in appearance, education, ambition, love, or confidence...