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Intercultural Observation Paper
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a movie released in April of 2002, is actually a film largely imbued with the concepts of intercultural connection found in Roger Desmond’s Conversation in the Digital Age. It celebrities Nia Vardalos as Toula, a Greek-American woman who comes from a big Greek family and works in her family’s restaurant, Moving Zorba’s, in Chicago. The girl with in her early 30s and is as well single, much to the relax of her traditional family, specifically her parents. They wish to send her to Portugal to find a spouse, but since she will not want to leave the to find a man, she remains where she’s. At least, until the lady sees a handsome new person in Dancing Zorba’s eventually. Unable to progress up the courage to talk to him, she turns into frustrated enough that it results in an argument with her father, whose classic views help to make him think that all Toula should do can be marry a Greek guy and have lots of kids. Rejecting her dad’s ideals, Toula quits her job in the family restaurant and starts working being a travel agent, feeling a purpose for change in her life. In addition to get a new task, she improves her appearance by exchanging her spectacles with connections, curling her hair, and begins wearing makeup. In addition , Toula subscribes for evening classes learning computers on the local community university to help her work at the travel agency. Since fate could have it, she encounters the handsome gentleman again, and he demands her on a date. A tall, clever, and eye-catching school educator, Ian appears to be the man of her dreams, at least until she discovers that he comes from a tradition completely individual from her own. No matter their ethnical differences, and despite her father’s attempts to stop the partnership, when Ian asks Toula to marry him, she says yes. The escapades in this article are all filled up with examples of ethnocentrism, enculturation, and individualism/collectivism.
Different cultures generally align more with both individualist or collectivist ideals, usually based on whatever region they come from. The U. S. has a very individualist culture, wherein we credit ourselves pertaining to our own accomplishments and see themselves as the basis for all of our achievements. By comparison, collectivist tradition revolves around what ever family or perhaps group that you belong to, and has the point of view that all of the achievements develop from there. The Millers every view their own individual attainments as being solely theirs, for example , Ian Callier doesn’t feel that he became a educator due to his parents. Instead, he keeps the perspective that his own diligence is what received him to where he is usually. The small size of the Burns family is representative of this independence, just as the expansive Portokalos family is a symbol of their codependence with each other. At the start of the film, Toula knows that she has work due to her family’s work before her, seeing as the girl works with the family cafe. Although the girl does not comply with her parents’ wishes, that pains her to do so mainly because she is new to going resistant to the opinions of her family. Collectivist lifestyle is particularly solid amongst immigrants, because they will see precisely how their life is built upon the initiatives of their ancestors and forefathers. As a Greek-American family, the Portokalos place great value on togetherness, and maintain a whole lot of areas of Greek lifestyle while ongoing to play a role in American lifestyle as well.
When it comes to preparing the wedding, just about every member of the extended Portokalos family makes their views on every subject known, since they worth each other and wish to help play a role in make all their group better as a whole. The Miller friends and family does help together with the wedding preparations, but they are even more content to permit their son do why is him content, and they trust him to follow his individual path anytime. Ian won’t feel based mostly on his relatives in the same way that Toula does, but about the same note this individual also will not feel the same sense of togetherness and collectivist strength that the Portokalos’ possess. At one point in the movie, Gus becomes extremely upset with Ian because of not asking him permission to date his daughter. Because of their several perspectives, Ian sees Toula and him self as persons capable of creating their own decisions, and don’t see the need to request this of Gus. When he tries to explain this to the patriarch of the Portokalos family, Gus responds by saying that he is the head in the family, and must be included in family-related decisions. This collectivist attitude is one of the biggest main reasons why the Portokalos are this sort of a large, but still close-knit family.
Everyone views the world through their own person lense, in fact it is this concept that ethnocentrism is made upon. Even as we go through existence, we assess the actions, words, and looks of others which has a basis inside our own ethnical upbringing. During my Big Fat Greek Wedding, the Portokalos family is puzzled by the Millers. The Portokalos’ are a very large group, plus they invite all of their extended loved ones to attend the wedding ceremony. By contrast, Ian Miller is usually an only child, plus the entirety from the family he really interacts with are his two parents. For all of the pre-wedding celebrations and gatherings, the Portokalos family arrives in droves, the Millers can all match comfortably as one car. Toula’s parents shame the Millers because they presume that they are lonely without a large amount of family by their side. By comparison, Ian’s father and mother think that the Portokalos certainly are a large, deafening, obnoxious horde of Greek-Americans who can’t say for sure the meaning of the word calm. On a comparable note, the Portokalos’ think that quantity supercedes quality, and plan for the wedding ceremony accordingly. There exists excess of everything, food, liquor, and people, all whom would like to spend the whole time conversing with the three Millers. Even the Portokalos’ themselves are greater, providing of your symbol for the lively presence that they exude. A personal favorite instance of ethnocentrism occurs at the Portokalos home, where Aunt Voula is definitely talking to Ian and Toula about how they should come over to her place for dinner. Toula mentions that there could be a problem, seeing as Ian is a vegetarian. Great aunt Voula is so shocked that she has to inquire a second the perfect time to make sure that she actually is hearing these people correctly. Various meats is such an essential part of their culture that Aunt Voula has most likely never knowingly encountered a vegetarian just before, and loudly exclaims “YOU DON’T TAKE IN MEAT?! “, at which point the complete room becomes to look at them. After a moment of doubt, she says “That’s okay, My spouse and i make lamb! “, and everybody sighs with relief. The Portokalos’ are really entrenched in a culture that revolves around meat and foodstuff that the thought of someone not eating meat is unfeasable.
In a specific picture from the motion picture, the Miller family comes for what they were told was going to be a “quiet” introductory dinner. As a courteous gesture of goodwill, the Millers provide a bundt cake pertaining to dessert following your dinner. Below is an uncomfortable scene when Maria, the matriarch of the Portokalos relatives, tries unsuccessfully to pronounce “bundt”, a process which only serves to frustrate Mrs. Miller.. Due to her ethnocentrism, Maria never seen a bundt wedding cake before, and must have it explained to her. It is far from her fault, nor is it the fault of the Millers’, this is just an example of their particular cultural dissimilarities being reconciled. It is also really worth mentioning that Maria returns with the bundt cake after dinner, professing to have “fixed it” following putting a great potted herb in the center of the dessert. Because of the own ethnocentrism, the Millers, particularly Mrs. Miller, end up feeling slightly insulted by the affair in general, simply because their very own culture has not been entirely recognized by the Portokalos family, and vice versa.
Enculturation can occur purposely or accidentally, and is often a result of staying immersed within culture intended for an extended time frame. Normally, this manifests alone as a steady acquisition of qualities of a tradition, but could also occur for a more fast pace. A fitting case for fast-paced enculturation can be Ian Miller’s choice to get baptized inside the Greek Orthodox Church, though he’s a WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant). It’s the first-time in the film that Ian is proven to truly begin accepting Toula’s family and their culture, and he selects to become baptized as a means of conveying that message with her father. Fortunately he succeeds, and Gus agrees allowing the two of them to marry. By simply electing to integrate him self into the Greek-American culture of the Portokalos friends and family, Ian effectively extends the olive part between their two people, paving the way in which for them to event and learn more about the other person. Yet as you can tell from my personal previous case with the bundt cake, which will took place after Ian’s baptism, enculturation would not completely negate the effects of ethnocentrism.
For some unfamiliar reason, Gus Portokalos contains a strange obsession with the window cleaner Windex. He thinks that it has healing real estate, an idea influenced by occasional actress Nia Vardalos’ father in real life, who have sprayed it on some warts, creating them to dry and fade away. Thus, every time someone mentions having some sort of physical ailment, Gus is always quick to recommend spraying a little bit of Windex onto it, regardless of the ailment. Ian, and most of the reasonably-minded Portokalos family members, sees this kind of as being silly. And yet, with the final scenes of the motion picture, we discover an interesting example of enculturation. Newlyweds Toula and Ian get into the vehicle to begin their honeymoon, and Toula brings up that the girl woke up using a huge pimple that morning. Ian exclaims that he also acquired one, inside the exact same just right his temple as Toula’s. When your woman asks for what reason it isn’t there anymore, this individual simply responds that he “put some Windex on it”. Regardless of truth through this statement, the simple fact that this individual said this shows how long along he previously come on the journey of integrating himself into the Portokalos’ culture.
My personal Big Excess fat Greek Wedding party is a social shish kabob filled with samples of individualism/collectivism, ethnocentrism, and enculturation, and in simple fact contains one last gem from the wedding party reception, where Gus constitutes a toast to the newlyweds:
“You know, the root of the phrase Miller is known as a Greek word. Miller range from Greek expression milo, which is mean apple, so there you go. Numerous of you already know, our name, Portokalos, is usually come from the Ancient greek word portokali, which mean orange. Therefore , okay? Right here tonight, we certainly have, ah, apple and fruit. We all several, but in the final, we all fresh fruit.
In spite of all of their ethnic differences, the Portokalos’ plus the Millers are families aiming to make an area themselves on the globe that they reveal. It is through communication that they can be brought jointly, and it is through this same conversation that they most become a component to one another’s family.
