Everything about My Big Fat Greek Wedding totally explained
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is an Academy Award nominated
2002 romantic comedy film written by and starring
Nia Vardalos and directed by
Joel Zwick. It was the fifth highest grossing movie of 2002 in the
USA, with
USD$241,438,208. It is the highest-grossing film to never have been number 1 on the weekly North American box-office charts. In 2003, it was nominated for an
Academy Award,
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
Plot
The movie is centered on Toula, a
Greek-American woman (
Nia Vardalos, who also wrote the script), who falls in love with a non-Greek American, Ian Miller (played by
John Corbett). The movie also examines the protagonist's relationship with her family, with their
cultural heritage and value system, which is sometimes rocky but ends with mutual appreciation.
Toula is going through an early
midlife crisis. At thirty, she's the only woman in her family who has failed in Greek terms: she hasn't "married a Greek boy, made Greek babies, and fed everyone". Because of these "failures", Toula is stuck running the family business, a restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's". In contrast to her 'perfect' sister, Toula is a frumpy, cynical character who can barely articulate her desires and merely wishes for happiness. Now thirty, she fears she's doomed to be stuck with her life as it is.
At the restaurant, she encounters Ian Miller, a school teacher. His presence reminds her of the nearby city college, which she's considered for some time, secretly looking at their catalogs. With mom Maria's help, she talks Gus into letting her sign up for computer classes, which she says she can use to help improve the business. Now caring more about her appearance, she abandons her unflattering eyeglasses for contact lenses and begins to wear makeup and attractive dresses. A bulletin at the school announces a seminar for computer systems related to travel agencies. Toula's Aunt Voula runs such an agency, and Toula decides to change jobs to work for her aunt. With her aunt and mother, she engages in an intricate scheme to convince her father that it was
his idea to allow her to work for the travel agency so that he'll allow Toula to leave the restaurant business.
Toula feels much better in her new job, especially when she notices Ian hanging around looking at her though the window. They finally introduce themselves and go out for dinner. Ian at first doesn't recognize that she's the once-frumpy waitress from Zorba's, but when he does, he tells Toula that he wishes to spend time with her.
The affair quickly becomes a passionate whirlwind courtship which Toula keeps secret from her family until some weeks later. Toula's cousin Nikki warns Toula that a nosy neighbor saw her kissing Ian and told the family. Gus throws a fit because Ian is
xenos, a foreigner. Ian politely asks permission to continue seeing her, but Gus stubbornly refuses. Toula and Ian still manage to visit his apartment, where their relationship becomes more intimate. Toula meets Ian's upper-middle class,
WASP parents for the first time, who are as reserved as her family is demonstrative.
Ian proposes, she accepts, and Gus is ultimately forced to accept their relationship. Ian readily agrees to convert to the
Greek Orthodox faith in order to be worthy of Toula, and is baptized in traditional fashion. At the family's Easter festival, Ian confesses he's a
vegetarian - a brief crisis for the entire family ensues - and he's a lot of trouble pronouncing Greek words. (He tries to say
Khristos Anesti (Christ is risen), and it comes out
Cheese straws are nasty.) This becomes a popular running gag with Toula's younger brother Nick. When Ian asks how to say "thank you" to Toula's mom Maria, Nick gives him the words "Oréa viziá," - "Nice boobs!".
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 overwhelmed. Meanwhile, Ian wants to invite the guests inside, and warily consults Nick. After confirming the words with cousin Angelo, Ian calls out "έχω τρία αρχίδια" ("I have three testicles"). Gus still doesn't see how it can work out, but others in the family are encouraging; in a touching scene, grandmother Yiayia shows Toula some of her private treasures, including pictures of herself as a girl and her wedding garland, which she gives Toula to wear. Nick secretly comes to Toula to confide that her courage in changing her life has inspired him to do likewise, and he plans to attend the city college to study art.
The wedding day dawns with liveliness and hysteria. Toula is horrified to find she's a stress
zit, but covers it with foundation. Maria brings out an elaborate wedding dress, which Toula declares makes her look like a "snow beast". The traditional wedding itself is quiet, dignified, and goes without a hitch. Everyone goes to the reception, and the Millers (fortified with many glasses of
ouzo) begin to enjoy the Greek partying lifestyle. Gus gives a speech, in which he
analyzes the name "Miller" as having come from the Greek "milo", meaning "apple". He then declares that, since his own last name "Portokalos" means "orange", the two families are "apples and oranges. We're different but, in the end, we're all fruit".
According to Greek tradition, Gus and Maria have bought a gift for the young couple; a house (right next door to them). The film's epilogue shows the Millers' life a few years later; they've a daughter named Paris, who also would rather attend Girl Scouts than Greek school, but Toula promises the child that she can marry anyone she wants to.
Cast
Location and release dates
The film was shot in
Toronto and
Chicago. Toronto's
Ryerson University and
Greektown neighborhood feature prominently in the film. Despite its writer being from Winnipeg, and the use of Toronto for location shots, the movie was set in Chicago. Walking tours of Greektown on
Danforth Avenue point out scene locations. The home used to depict Gus and Maria Portokalos' residence (as well as the home bought next door at the end of the film for Toula and Ian) is located on Glenwood Crescent just off O'Connor Drive in
East York. The real home representing the Portokalos' residence actually has most of the external ornamentation that was shown in the film.
After a February 2002 premiere, it was initially released in the USA
April 19, 2002. That summer it opened in
Iceland,
Israel,
Greece, and
Canada. The following fall and winter it opened in
Turkey,
UK,
New Zealand,
Argentina,
Australia,
Hong Kong,
Brazil,
Norway, the
Netherlands,
Czech Republic,
Spain,
Belgium,
Italy,
Taiwan, the
Philippines,
Egypt,
Peru,
Sweden,
Mexico,
Hungary,
Germany,
Austria,
Switzerland (German speaking region),
France,
Poland,
Kuwait,
Estonia, and
Lithuania. It was finally released in
South Korea in March 2003, and
Japan in July 2003.
Reception and performance
Wedding became a
sleeper hit and grew steadily from its limited release. An independent film with a meager $5 million budget, it ultimately grossed over $368 million worldwide.
My Big Fat Greek Life
The movie inspired the brief
2003 TV series
My Big Fat Greek Life, with most of the major characters played by the same actors, with the exception of
Steven Eckholdt replacing
John Corbett as the husband. Corbett had already signed on to the TV series
Lucky. He was scheduled to appear as the best friend of his replacement's character, but the show was cancelled before he appeared. The show received poor reviews from critics noting the random character entrances and serious plot "adjustments" that didn't match the movie.
The 7 episodes from the series are available on DVD from
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, whose
TV studio division produced the show.
Cultural references
The movie makes reference to
Zorba the Greek (1964),
The Lost Boys (1987),
That Thing You Do! (1996), and
Meet the Parents (2000), while spoofing
Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). Another independent Canadian feature,
Mambo italiano (2003), referenced
Wedding. Because of the surprise success of
Wedding and its unusual title, its name was lampooned by several television series and movies:
An episode of the 15th season of The Simpsons is titled "My Big Fat Geek Wedding".
In 2003, Fox debuted the reality series, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance.
Similar to the previous series, in 2004, Fox debuted a short-lived reality series entitled My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss.
January 2005 local playhouse performance My Big Fat Jackass Mayor" parodied Greek Wedding, as well as Toronto's current Mayor.
February 2006 feature Date Movie parodied Greek Wedding, as did My Big Fat Independent Movie, released the previous year. One The Price Is Right Showcase parodied the movie.
Errors
There is a misprint on the wedding invitation (other than the one intended by the filmmakers spelling the name of Ian's mother Harriet as Harry). In the Greek section, the surname of Toula's family Πορτοκάλος (Portokalos) is misspelled as Ρορτοκάλος (Rortokalos).
The title of the movie is spelled with the Greek letter Sigma (Σ) (since it resembles an E in the English alphabet) instead of Epsilon (GRΣΣK instead of GREEK). Taken literally, it's actually GRSSK, since Sigma (Σ) is the Greek letter equivalent for the English S. E is derived from the Greek letter epsilon which is much the same in appearance (Ε, ε) and function.
In the movie, when Ian agrees to become Greek Orthodox, he's almost immediately allowed to be baptized. However, in Orthodox churches, converts can't be baptized or chrismated for a long period of time (sometimes a year or more). We assume Ian is taking instruction, but this isn't shown.Further Information
Get more info on 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'.
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