PRESERVING CULTURAL IDENTITY ACROSS BORDERS IN JOEL ZWICK’S MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (2002)

Abstract

This article examines the negotiation of cultural identity within the diasporic context as represented in the popular movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). Drawing on theories of diaspora and hybridity, it explores how first-generation immigrants seek to preserve ethnic traditions, while second-generation individuals navigate the tensions between the inherited cultural norms and the pressures of assimilation into the dominant American society. Focusing on the character of Toula, the analysis traces her trajectory from marginalization and internalized “otherness” to self-affirmation and agency. Particular attention is paid to the role of everyday practices, especially food and family rituals, seen as sites where cultural identity is both enforced and renegotiated. Key scenes, such as the bundt cake incident, are interpreted as symbolic moments that expose cultural differences, highlighting how taste, hospitality and social behavior function as markers of identity and belonging. The article argues that Toula’s journey culminates in the construction of a hybrid identity that reconciles her Greek heritage with American values. Rather than representing a rupture with tradition, her marriage to a non-Greek becomes a space of cultural synthesis, demonstrating that identity within the diaspora is dynamic and adaptive. Ultimately, the film is read as an affirmation of the possibility of maintaining cultural continuity through transformation, offering a nuanced perspective on integration, difference, and on the redefinition of tradition in a multicultural context.