Social Reinforcement

 

Culture thumbs its nose

     at change--clinging to the belief

that more is always best.

 

The movie reel flickers,

     neon lights burned out,

to a theatre of fallen angels--still looking for a cure.

 

         A friend recently told me about a low budget movie entitled My Big Fat Greek Wedding that had been made on a shoestring, for less than $5 million, but had raked in over $100 million in return. This reminded me of The Gods Must Be Crazy, which years earlier had similarly made much more money than had been anticipated. The Gods Must Be Crazy contrasted our technological society with a native African society gradually revealing how in many respects this primitive society was more civilized than our own. It challenged the traditional value system of the Western world and forced its viewers to appreciate a different set of societal values. Upon hearing so much about My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I was hoping this popular film would similarly challenge our societal complacency and make its audience think!

         My Big Fat Greek Wedding begins with the portrayal of a woman in her late 20s or early 30s, of traditional American-Greek parentage, shabbily dressed and wearing thick glasses. She is not particularly attractive and lacks self-confidence but is highly intelligent and feisty. Her parents have traditional expectations; they want her to marry a Greek man, settle down and have babies like her more attractive but less imaginative sister has already done. Her father is continually pointing out her shortcomings, expressing his view of what a woman "should" be, and making her miserable. Our heroine despises the pressure her parents subject her to, but feelings of familial responsibility prevent her from ditching. Nevertheless, early in the film she rebels against her sister, her father who had looked down on her for the previous 15 years, and her traditional Greek heritage. "Yes," I thought, "This movie has the makings of a rabble rouser!"

         As the film progresses, we learn that our gifted heroine wishes to attend college, but the patriarch doesn't approve. Mama goes to bat for her, cleverly but surreptitiously leading daddy to proudly propose college for his daughter so she can advance her professional prospects. However, upon entering college, she also buys contact lenses, has her hair done up pretty, begins wearing more attractive clothes, and eventually finds a nice boyfriend. To the family's dismay though, he isn't Greek. Oh dear, how shocking! The boyfriend notes that her family is important to her, converts to Greek Orthodox, puts up with all the traditional obligations that his fiancée has hated most of her life, and with the bride passively letting things progress, they eventually have their Big Fat Greek Wedding before settling down to start having babies. The end.

         Ugh! What a disappointment! The reason this movie was so well liked and made so much money was not because its audience paid to learn something new about a foreign culture, or because they came to appreciate new values, but because their traditional Western values had been reaffirmed. The rebel fit into society and became happier than she ever could have been if she'd followed her contemplated rebellious path to self-fulfillment. By paying over $100 million to see this film, the American public basically said: "Thanks for letting us have the best possible happy ending without forcing us to think or change in our views." This movie was a success because it reaffirmed a mainstream cultural belief stating that marriage and reproduction are the primary ways a woman can be happy and successful. What the American public really needs is to be exposed to films asserting the dangers of traditional lifestyles that merely perpetuate the reckless expansion of the human race. Now that I'd happily pay to see!