My Big Fat Greek Wedding

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is the second movie I saw this year that contains the word "wedding" in the title. I probably fulfilled my quota for two lifetimes, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. It's a decent romantic comedy that for the most part, conforms to the standard romantic comedy template. Girl plus Guy plus zany and occasionally confounding situation. Hilarity ensues. For the most part, the movie does nothing new, nothing unexpected, and nothing particularly extraordinary. It's sufficiently cute and sweet without being overly syrupy.

This is not to say that I didn't enjoy myself. I got a huge kick out of the "occasionally confounding situation." It hit on an inexplicable something that's imbedded in the minds of a great many people with parents who immigrated to the US. First generation (or second, depending on who you ask) we grew up caught between two cultures and not fully integrated into either. For my part, I have some sort of an ingrained detachedness from both my cultures that I have only recently come to realize is almost culture in itself.

I guess the best way I can describe it is this: Say there was always that certain "that's the way things are" that's different from the "that's the way things are" your friends grew up with. Everybody has crazy parents, but maybe you felt the insanity of your parents a little more than the average american family because sitcoms, movies, magazines, and everything else tell you what "normal crazy" is and your brand doesn't really fit. You grow up feeling abnormal bordering on freakish until someone makes a movie like this and you exclaim "good lord, I know exactly what that's like!" At long last, you realize you're not alone. Sure, your family's no less crazy than it was before, but there's that extra something nice in knowing that there are other people suffering from *your* brand of insanity. There's something nice in being able to recognize yourself in media.

I don't know if this is something everyone will get out of the movie, regardless, I would classify this as a pleasant waste of time. Go see it if you're in the mood for something not too challenging, but not insultingly stupid.