"MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING" Short Summary

“MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING”
Short Summary

This is a story about a plain young woman who transformed herself into a beautiful young woman, her name is Toula Portokalos. A Greek – American woman, who falls in love with a non – Greek American man, named Ian Miller.

A side from going through a midlife crisis, Toula has been unlucky in love and in life. As she narrates in the opening sequence, it is shown that she is the only girl who failed in her family in Greek terms, She has not married a Greek boy, made Greek babies and fed everyone. Girls who fail like Toula, are stuck running the family restaurant, “Dancing Zorba’s”. In this way, Toula open a swarthy, cynical character who wishes she were just happier. Upon leaving her twenties and hitting 30, she believes she has not changed for much better and is headed for disaster. While hosting guests at the restaurant, she makes eye contact with Ian Miller, a school teacher and Toula embarrasses herself.

She makes a resolution to undergo some change, so after the unsuccessfully tries to talk to her stubborn father, Gus to let her go to college for computer applications, her mother Maria intervenes and easily gets her into going to school. After a short montage, Toula has been taking computer classes, make herself looks beautiful like swapping her coke – bottle glasses for contacts, putting on blush. She also attends a seminar for computers tourism. Hyped from discovering the seminar, she realizes she could get a job at her Aunt Voula’s travel agency. A plan formulates: Toula will work for travel agency while Voula and her husband Taki take a vacation and Nikki, their daughter works for the restaurant.

While working for travel agency, she has grown energized, happy and attractive. One day, she notices that a stranger, Ian has been looking through the window while she has been working and after making continuous eye contact, Ian and Toula finally introduce each other and go out for dinner. When Toula is urged to talk about her family life, Ian discovers that she was, in fact, the once – frumpy woman hosting the guests in the restaurant. In spite of this, he tells Toula that he just wants to spend some time with her and they share their first kiss.

Trying to keep her deepening affair with Ian a secret from her nosy family, Toula pretends to be going to a night pottery class. The jig up when Toula’s cousin Nikki bursts through the travel agency door and gives her a “heads up” that she was seen kissing Ian “in the parking lot” and the news has gotten to Toula’s family. The next scene shows Toula sitting unhappy with her mother while dad, Gus throws a fit and Yiayia, her grandmother takes the opportunity for take from a bottle. When Toula realizes she really loves Ian, Gus sets up a plan to bring in proper suitors for dinner every night in an attempt to keep Toula in the house at night. Ian tries to make peace with her family by going to her house and asking permission to date her, to which Gus stubbornly refuses. Despite this, Toula and Ian still manage to visit his apartment and meet his parents, who are as straightlaced and conservative as her family is demonstrative.

While in the bed at night, Ian proposes to Toula, who accepts and Gus is ultimately forced to accept it also. Tentatively, he holds Ian’s baptism at the Greek Orthodox Church right before Easter and at the family’s Easter festival, it is discovered that Ian is a vegetarian – a brief crisis for entire family – and that he has a lot of trouble pronouncing Greek words. For example if he tries to say Khristos Anesti (Christ is raisen), he will sound like he is saying, “Cheese straws are nasty”. This becomes a popular running gag. The younger males of the family play a series of practical jokes on Ian, such as telling him that the correct Greek phrase for summoning the guest, which in fact means “I have three testicles”.

As the year passes the wedding planning hits snag after snag as Toula’s relatives helpfully interfere. Toula is horrified to learn that her parents invited the entire family to a quiet dinner and the Millers unused to such cultural fervor are woefully uncomfortable. After the party, Gus easily sees the rift between the families and still has trouble accepting it.

On the day of the wedding, Toula has a large pimple on her face and morning madness break out. She manage to cover it up with foundation and Maria unveils the hideous “show – beast” wedding dress. Everyone attends the wedding with no interruption and everyone goes to reception, where a party has started and the Millers begin to enjoy the Greek partying lifestyle. The event was a success for everyone.

As the movie closes, it is revealed that Gus and Maria have bought their daughter a house next door to them. Miller has a daughter named Paris. Toula tells Paris that even though she has to go to Greek school, she can marry anyone she wants to.

Part of the movie that impressed me the most

In the beginning of the movie, Toula has been shown as a Greek – American girl who failed in the Greek term, “married with a Greek Boy, made Greek babies and fed everyone.” However she managed to make up her mind and made a resolution for herself, by taking computer classes, seminar and beautifying herself in the positive way.

She also fought for her love in the positive way, even though she realized that it was an uphill task to convince her daddy, Gus, to accept her boy friend who is non Greek like in their tradition. She also realized there are a lot of difference in culture and character between her Portokalos family which is demonstrative and the Miller family which is conservative.

At the end of the movie, Toula deserve better life such happiness married with someone that she love the most, has a daughter and her family accept her wedding, even though she was Toula who “failed” in her family , worked in Dancing Zorba’s restaurant and disaster.

Part of the movie did not impress me

The scene that shows Toula sitting unhappily with her mother, Maria, while Ian tries to convince Toula’s father, Gus, by going to his home and asking permission to dating his daughter. And said out a lot of argument which is make sense for me. However Gus stubbornly refuses.
Lessons that I have learned from this movie

Greek – Americans should have protested this film. They are depicted as an ignorant race that holds together with ridiculous beliefs and traditions. Nothing in this film respects the values of the immigrant family, their strong religious beliefs, or their customs. The view of this film is that ethnic diversity is wrong and that immigrants should give up their traditions to be part of white Anglo – Saxon American. It is hard to believe that lack of ethnic diversity is something that any American should aspire toward and, more importantly, something that any American should mock. While the intent of this movie was probably just to have a few laughs, I believe that the audience – goer takes away some basics ideas of Greek culture that are defamed by overblown stereotypes. Very little is known of Greek culture in America. Most Americans consider Greeks as just another Western European ethnic group; they fail, however, to recognize the struggles, racism and unfair treatment confronted by Greeks throughout their history in this country. This movie dismisses hardship and struggle, racism and struggles against oppressive immigration statutes. Instead, this movie portrays Greek-Americans as people who are ignorant, lack and distrust formal education and who lack "good taste" (the "good taste" of the white Anglo – Saxon?). Moreover, the Greek Orthodox religion – one of the first Christian religions - is shown not positively for its deep-rooted traditions and customs, which date to the time of Christ; Rather, the Church is mocked for its chanting, baptism, wedding, Sunday school, and Greek language.

My Intercultural Relationship on my experience

My parents are coming from different culture. My Father is Menadonese while my Mother is Javanese. Menado cultural just like Toula’s family. They love to make party and invited the whole big family for every single event. Even sometimes it’s not necessary to celebrate, while Javanese cultural they love to save their money for something necessary than a party, such as for the children education, housing, emergency needs or other family’s needs.

From the food, Javanese food is more sweet while Menado’s food is more hot and has strong taste. So sometimes they find difficulties at home, while my father intended to eat his traditional food but that food makes my Mother gets stomach ache.

Menado people are more open minded than Javanese. It’s not because of the level of education, but the Javanese culture does not allow the younger person disagree with the older opinion. For their culture the older opinion is like the result that everybody must follow. The older may be the head of the family like king, the grandfather, the grandmother, the father,etc. While the Menado people more open and tolerant for that.

The other experience, while I worked with Japanese company, and have Japanese old man as my boss. As we understand that Japanese are hard worker, discipline and they are very proud of their country and tradition. While Indonesian people don’t. But the negative side of them, sometimes they look down other people idea, mind or personality if the person is not Japanese.

My thoughts and feelings about this experience

Culture is system of knowledge, beliefs, values, customs, behavior and artifacts that are acquired, shared and used by members during daily living. Culture is not something that we are born with, rather is learned. That means nobody has to remain for a life time lock inside only one culture. If you want to understand other cultures, you can learn them and actually get inside them and act according to what expect in them.

Dealing with people from different culture is not something scary. Or big problem if we understand the meaning of culture itself.

For example like my parent, they came from different island, which has different language, food, tradition, character, even though they are Indonesian. But they manage to assimilated their culture because they willing to learn each other. I feel happy with the different of my parent culture because it makes me learned more than other children, at least my other friend which their parent is coming from the same culture. I feel more understandable or easy for me to learn other culture, because I learned from my family.