My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 plays on cultural concepts
The acclaimed, animated Portokalos family has one more colossal celebration to get through in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, set to be released in theaters on March 25. The original romantic comedy, which premiered in 2002, followed the unconventional love story of Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) and Ian Miller (John Corbett) and the clash of their Greek and American cultural traditions. Flash forward more than a decade and the couple is struggling again with their relationship, but with a graduating high school daughter and the upcoming, now-official wedding for Toula’s parents thrown into the mix.
The film focuses on the impending issue of love within three different generations: Gus (Michael Constantine) and Maria Portokalos (Lainie Kazan); Toula and Ian; and their granddaughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) and her love interest Bennett (Alex Wolff). As the Greeks put it, there are four different words for love: “agape,” means unconditional love; as with God for man, “philia,” meaning love between friends, “eros,” meaning love between intimate partners, and “storge,” meaning love between parents and their children. This complex notion of love is spun into a comedic fashion in the first film by showing Greeks as lovers of lamb, the Orthodox Church and their heritage, but that is not all that the entire Portokalos family has to offer the second time around.
The prequel received numerous laughs as producers Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks prided themselves on adhering to the romantic comedy genre. In an interview with Variety, Hanks said, “I don’t think [rom-coms] work unless they accurately reflect behavior that people recognize.”
Despite the overarching banter about Greek-American culture, the relationship between Toula and Ian presents strife with eros that carries on to the sequel. The characters worked hard to achieve their happy ending in the first film, which resulted in their daughter Paris growing up in her mother’s footsteps. Now, moviegoers will have the opportunity to experience a similar journey with Paris as they did with Toula, as she continues to grow up immersed in the Greek culture kept alive by her family in the midst of her American surroundings.
Families of different cultures will relate to this seemingly outlandish tale of a foreign clan replenishing their heritage in America, getting the best of both worlds. Executive producer Paul Brooks positively described the audience’s reactions to the Los Angeles Times by saying, “So many families across America were saying, ‘That’s my family.’ The one thing that matters at the end of the day is family.”
In addition to the Greek humor, another overarching theme is storge, the familial love. The bond between the Portokalos elders, their children and now grandchildren remarks the highlight of the film as it teaches viewers how to love one another and how to love outside of one’s community. The romance aspect behind this romantic comedy transcends to a deeper level, includes themes that audiences will appreciate — Portokalos family’s fortitude and pride, not to mention their incredible wit, as the prequel’s jokes about Windex and the dire need for a big fat Greek wedding continue.