Tuesday, April 19, 2016
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 Adoption Movie Review
Toula Portakalos Miller is back working at her father’s
restaurant. Her teenage daughter is getting ready to go to college, but is
feeling smothered by the family; she has to decide between a local Chicago
college, or a school in New York. Toula and her husband Ian are experiencing a strain
in their marriage; Ian believes it is because Toula is overinvolved with her
family. Toula’s father Gus is researching his family papers in order to prove
that he is a direct descendant of Alexander the Great, but learns along the way
that his marriage of fifty years is not legitimate because a priest never
signed the certificate; he and his wife argue about whether they need to be
re-married, and she refuses to remarry him unless he proposes properly.
The Adoption
Connection
There is no adoption element to the story. Toula’s family is
very proud of their Greek heritage, and her father is researching his ancestry
in order to take pride in a supposed relative. Toula ultimately forges
paperwork to make her father believe that he is descended from Alexander the
Great.
Toula dreads the possibility of Paris leaving Chicago for
school, tearfully saying that she can’t imagine what she will do if Paris
leaves her. It’s a stretch, but this might pull on the heartstrings of parents
who have lost children to adoption.
Strong Points
There is a great sense of family loyalty and identity in
Toula’s Big Fat Greek family.
Challenges
Toula’s daughter, Paris, is pressured by her grandfather to
get married, since she’s starting to look old. She’s only 17. A comment is made about a woman needing to get pregnant so that she is "not wasting her eggs."
Recommendations
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 doesn’t seem likely to appeal to
younger viewers. Parents might enjoy it as a light-hearted comedy. It does
offer a couple points for discussion after the movie; think about it as a fun movie
and dinner-conversation date night opportunity.
Questions for
Discussion
What heritages are brought into our family by each family
member? How do we celebrate and honor those heritages? How can we honor and
celebrate them?
Paris wonders why parents tell their children to pursue
their dreams, but instead try to keep control over them. What do you hope for your
children? How can you plan to transition from control into guidance as they get
older?
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Also there was a comment I don't know if it was in the movie (I haven't seen it) but it was in the trailer. Toula's father says that all of the Greek family has lot's of boys and they eat meat and Paris's father has one girl and he's a vegetarian. I think it was said as a criticism of Toula's father more than anything however vegetarian and infertile men may take offence. Men watching this who have adopted may have adopted due to infertility and not being able to have children of their own and may be offended.
ReplyDeleteHi Moony, thanks for bringing that up. It's hard to tell how a movie will impact people, but you're right, infertility is an area of sensitivity for a lot of folks, including men. An interesting thought comes to mind, too - if a joke about infertility causes a viewer a lot of grief, it might be a sign that there's still some processing work that they might want to do before jumping into adoption. Movies might be useful for helping us see the areas that we still need to work on. At the same time, it's good to be sensitive to how films can unintentionally impact people, and I'm glad you shared this. Thanks!
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