My Big Fat Greek Life Too

I have to say I went in with hesitation.  Perfectly content to have waited until the movie was available on Netflix or DVD, we succumbed to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 in the theater as part of our Spring Break celebration.  And I have to say, even before the movie was over I couldn’t wait to come home and write about it.  I LOVED IT!

Sure there were some raunchy themes and one-liners peppered throughout the movie.  My Greek was just good enough to get all of them.  This I regret.  But there were moments when I honestly laughed out loud and even moments I had to hold back the tears. 

As a first-generation Greek-American, I found the movie was honest.  It showed life for what it really was: confusing, unsure, constantly changing and never to be "fixed."  

I love being Greek.  We were a little like the Portokalis family.  We ate roasted lamb for Easter every year and seafood most people only saw in an aquarium.  Like Dancing Zorbas, my parents owned Athena Foods, a Greek grocery store where their friends would gather after a hard day’s work to shoot the breeze and catch up on the news from Greece.  

We all worked at Athena Foods and took turns carrying the responsibilities of our family.  We were always in your face and not quite aware that there were things you didn’t tell strangers because like Thea Voula, people weren’t strangers to us.  Everyone was always welcome.

There came a time though where I learned that this was called dysfunction and that people shouldn’t be that close.  I regret learning this.  Families are close, messy, loud and in your face.  I love that MBFGW 1 and 2 were not afraid to show the honesty and even the dysfunction of being Greek outside of Greece.

I hope you go to see this movie.  Leave your expectations at home and just enjoy the gift of honesty and family Nia offers you.