Intercultural Communication In My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Throughout the chapter, Peter elaborates a theory of dialogue and dissemination as two distinct types of communication. Dialogue consists of a love and soul-to soul conversation between mutually present speakers, whereas dissemination involves the indiscriminate scattering of the messages (46). To illustrate the difference between the two conception of communication, Peter compares the communicative style of Socrates in Plato’s Phaedrus and Jesus’s parable of the sower in the synoptic gospel. Socrates serves as a model of dialogue, while Jesus serves as a model of dissemination. Socrates believed that dialogue is the preferred human state of communication where each individual contributes equally to the conversation in an intimate setting of dialectic and ‘reciprocity and interaction’ (33) are central in the exchange of communication.

In the film, Our Family Wedding (Rick Famuwiya, 2010), which first public appearance in cinemas in 2010, focus in an interracial couple formed by Marcus an African American man and Lucia a Mexican American woman and the obstacles that come from being in an interracial relationship. In today’s society it is more common to see interracial couples than in the past but it does not mean families are okay with it. One can think the stereotypes and discrimination faced by interracial couples are a thing of the past. But the film shows it is not true even in this time interracial couples experienced discrimination, obstacles, and a hard time of acceptance especially from their families. Rick Famuwiya’s Our Family Weeding (2010) uses different scenes through the movie focusing on the variety of issues face interracial couples.

The way communication changes when talking to an audience or talking to fellow people in the field is something that occurs in each. Though each of these discourse communities use different sets of jargon. The idea of making an idea easier for an audience of common people is something that happens with both communities. Another important aspect that is the same among the discourse communities is the cost. Though the cost comes from different areas, the bottom line the cost is great.

In ‘The EQ Edge’, Stein & Book asserts that the competent communicator should be able to change the topic smoothly and seamlessly, during the course of a conversation. It is therefore necessary that he has the ability to identify the unconscious or conscious hints to that effect, in the conversation. This is not a hard job and common transitional phrases can do the job effectively, such as “Talking about” or “I can recall.” However, as long as the subject’s utility is not exhausted for all, it should not be changed.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia was a depicted movie, focusing directly on human expression. The way the director uses expression, word choice and body language gets across an implied message as well as a spoken message. The film gave me insight of what another culture may consist of and how things are ran in different

Considering that Toula went to an American school and then graduated an American college it can be considered that the message in this movie comes from the American education. This movie was not made to praise Greek culture, or to show how immigrants in America are able to keep their culture, without it being assimilated. From the beginning of the movie, Toula stressed that she does not want to do what her culture suggested “marry a good Greek man, have lots of Greek children and cook for the whole family.” This statement together with her feeling awkward in her Greek language classes suggest that the message which the movie and Toula sends is that of a desire of assimilation. During the scenes of her early childhood, she looks out of place among the American girls, stressing not only her cultural difference, but also her physical differences as well.

1. Toula Portokalos is a 30-year old American-Greek woman working as a waitress in her family’s restaurant. Toula is a shy wallflower who has never been in a real relationship before, also her family wishes nothing more than seeing her being married to a Greek man, has already given up hope of finding a husband for her. Toula starts taking courses at a local college to make more out of her life, she gets to know Ian and suddenly turns into an attractive independent woman.

In the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Toula pursues her belief that she can have a relationship with Ian even though he is not Greek and her father disapproves. This is a reflection of the American Dream; the dream that one can do what they want, believe in what they want, and act on those beliefs. Toula’s family is loud, large, and strict in the belief that Greeks marry Greeks. Toula and all the other women in her family are expected to marry a Greek man, produce many Greek babies, and cook Greek food. Toula wants more than what her father and the rest of her family want for her.

This film not only gives us knowledge in cultures but provides us with relaxed moments. People should bear in mind that cultural difference is just the matter of variety, not the matter of which one is

Professor Agathi Glezakos has called the movie “degrading” and accused it of treating Greeks as animals. The worst example of such treatment is the depiction of Toula’s grandmother who only communicates through body language and occasional short phrases. The movie also shows Toula’s family drinking a lot of ouzo – a traditional anise-flavored alcoholic drink. Overall, the treatment of the Greek culture in the movie is inelegant. All of the aspects and peculiarities are exaggerated and overplayed, resulting in a crude depiction of the foreign

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a Hollywood-style romantic comedy, about Toula Portokalos a 30-year-old single woman in Chicago, A Greek descendant, being raised in a highly traditional family. I am going to compare the American culture to that of the Portokalos family. The movie starts at her family’s restaurant, Dancing Zorba’s, where she is incessantly reminded that her clock is ticking. In conformity with her family’s standard, women that are not married and popping out babies, work in the family restaurant, and are seen as disappointments.

This clearly specifies that communication depends upon content and relationship. • Also, in many scenes the protagonist used non verbal messages such as writing HELP on the beach and creation fires to signal ships and boats. This showcases that interpersonal communication can be both verbal and non-verbal in

Hollywood movies affect national culture in various ways. In one sense, movies could be characterized as America’s storytellers. Hollywood movies „Americanize“ global values and beliefs ,therefore they in a way diminish national culture traits and adapt and reinforce American customs. People tend to copy the ideas,customs and culture of American people or in other words they tend to acculturate. So called „Americanization“ is

Anthropologist Edward T. Hall’s theory of high- and low-context culture helps us better understand the powerful effect culture has on communication. A key factor in his theory is context. This relates to the framework, background, and surrounding circumstances in which communication or an event takes place. The following highlights the problems facing low-context Americans when they interact with people from high-context cultures such as Japan in the movie ‘The Last Samurai’.

2.1 Representation and identity A Cultural theorist, also a leading figure of the development of media and cultural studies, Stuart Hall’s cultural representation theory is very representative and has a significant impact in the field of cultural studies. His book “Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices” published in 1997 is a study of the crucial links between language, culture and how shared meanings are constructed and represented within the language. Hall believes culture plays the primary role in how we construct meaning and representation was closely related to culture. Representation is the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture through the use of language, such as