Episode #152
My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Deep Thoughts About Culture, Comedy, and How Women Use Their Agency When the Man Is Head of the Household
Send us a message! Include how to reach you if you want a response. Don't let your past dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you will become. In this episode of Deep Thoughts About Stupid Shit, Tracie revisits the surprise hit of 2002: My Big Fat Greek Wedding . This comedy broke many of the tropes that can make romcoms hard to watch, from the Hollywood gorgeous leading lady who is clumsy to show she's just a normal woman to the heroine enjoying a glow-up in response to her new romance. Writer, director, and star Nia Vardalos created a film that allows every woman to use their agency, even in sexist situations, for a sunny comedy that refrains from making anyone a villain. But in addition to a romantic comedy, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is also a meditation on cultural differences. The movie offers a hilarious and compassionate portrayal of feeling out-of-place as the American child of immigrants. Although Vardalos tells the very specific story of a Greek family, the details resonated with audiences from myriad other cultures. Counterintuitively, the specificity of the storytelling made the film feel universal, so that audiences felt seen--even if they had never once eaten moussaka. The root of the word "headphones" is Greek. So throw those bad boys on and listen in! Tags deep thoughts about stupid shit, comedy, romcom, women, cultural commentary, storytelling, romance, classic movies, film, movie reviews, feminism, pop culture, film analysis, millennial nostalgia, my big fat greek wedding, nia vardalos, john corbett, mental health Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus content, live zooms with Tracie & Emily, discounts on merch, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirls Don't miss out on updates and event invitations from Tracie & Emily! Join the Guy Girls VIP List at guygirlsmedia.com/keepintouch We are the sister podcasters Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our extended family as the Guy Girls. We're hella smart and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love 80s and 90s movies and tv, science fiction, comedy, and murder mysteries, good storytelling with lots of dramatic irony, analyzing film tropes with a side of feminism, and examining the pop culture of our Gen X childhood for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, religious allegory, and whatever else we find. We have super-serious day jobs. For the bona fides, visit our individual websites: tracieguydecker.com and emilyguybirken.com . For our work together, visit guygirlsmedia.com We are on socials! Find us on Facebook at fb.com/dtasspodcast and on Insta at instagram.com/guygirlsmedia . You can also email us at guygirlsmedia at gmail dot com. We would love to hear from you!
