Regards, Ivan
Posted on 01/18/2003 1:41:45 AM PST by MadIvan
Greeks' indulgence of their colourful reputation abroad may have been stretched to breaking point. Had My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a film portraying them as ouzo-swigging super-patriots with a weakness for traditional dance, remained a tiny-budget selected release as foreseen, it might have played out its cinema airtime without a murmur.
But to the surprise of the industry, the Canadian production has snowballed into one of this year's triumphs, scooping awards and audience's hearts. And this has not gone down well in Athens.
Despite the film's success, and the Greek habit of vigorously supporting anything remotely Greek that does well, not everyone in "the old country" has taken the film to their hearts.
While the Greek tourist board is trying to use the film to promote flagging tourism in Greece, many Greeks find it less than complimentary.
"Those who have seen the movie might not be all that happy with its surprising success abroad," the conservative daily Kathimerini noted in an editorial. "The jokes can become rather upsetting for Greek audiences. At times, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is not a flattering film."
Critics say the film's depiction of Greeks as mad patriots with extended families and an ouzo habit is a damaging caricature of a country that wants to promote itself not as an anachronistic backwater but as a forward-thinking western nation.
The film tells the tale of a Greek-American woman who falls for an all-American man despite the opposition of her family who want her to marry a nice Greek boy.
At a cinema in central Athens this week, Iannis Nakapoulos, who went through three family weddings last year, including his own, said the film showed how far native Greeks and Greek-Americans have grown apart. "I think Greek-Americans have become very distanced from what Greece is really like," he said, dismayed.
"A generation or two after leaving they look back fondly on what they think they remember, but it is only their fantasy really."
It is a sentimental fantasy that many Greeks would rather dispel. These days, Greece is trying to forge a new reputation far from its former label as the European Union's most recalcitrant member.
In reality, big families are on their way out, as Greek birth-rates are now the lowest in the EU. Even the ouzo is rapidly being overtaken by scotch as the local firewater of choice. But My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which has been watched to the tune of $230 million (£148 million) in America alone, is not helping.
So when a friend of Iannis Nakapoulos complained that the film was unrealistic, he laughed. "Yes," he said. "Real Greek weddings are much bigger and fatter than that," before confiding that 400 guests attended his sister's wedding last summer.
"The bride and groom arrived at the reception walking down an idyllic grassy meadow," he recalled.
"That's when they were lit up by two giant spotlights and the Frank Sinatra began ringing out."
Regards, Ivan
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Mabe the article was written by either a 'radical' feminist or a 'gender' feminist per the article on feminism currently appearing on your local computer screen .
So it's mildly amusing for me to read this. ;)
Regards, Ivan
If you swap ouzo for whiskey and you've got what they've been saying about the Irish for a Millennium.
BTW...Greece is beautiful, and one of my favourite holiday destinations! :-)
And I can't remember the Irish getting this worked up about any of the dozens of films I've seen about them, darling.
Love, Ivan
Or it could be the Irish simply have a better sense of humour. ;)
Love, Ivan
A person who believes Britain's relationship with the United States is much, much more important and valuable than our relationship with the Continent.
Regards, Ivan
That is nice to hear.
IMO, England and America share a tradition that has been kind of unique in the world, a tradition that has taken the strongest hold among English speaking peoples, the tradition of individual freedom. 'Course the Left is hard at work destroying that.
(Facial hair in the women seemed to be a problem, but hey, we've all got our own ethnic cross to bear. This was one funny, romantic movie! Gets my vote as chick flick of the year.)
WEll thanks a lot, as my lady is a Freeper, you just ruined the possibility of me ever using this tactic. ;)
Regards, Ivan
Curses, foiled again. ;)
Love, Ivan
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