Myths as reflected in joel zwick’s film My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Oleh :
Umi Kadarsih - C1303049 - Fak. Sastra dan Seni Rupa

ABSTRACT This thesis took the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding as its object of research. It is a romantic comedy movie directed by Joel Zwick and produced by Warner Brothers in 2002. This thesis discusses the transformation on Toula’s life, both physical and psychological. Toula is the main character of this film. She is a 30 year-old Greek girl that made a breakthrough in her traditional Greek, family. The research was conducted to find out the myths existing in American society reflected in the film. This research uses the semiotic film theory and sociological approach. Semiotic film theory is used to understand and to interpret the hidden meanings that are conveyed by the film. Sociological approach is used in this research to find out and to understand the myths that are living in American society. Based on the analysis, the researcher found that there were three myths reflected in the movie: myth of beauty, myth of romantic love and myth of nuclear family. Each of the myth was reflected through the dialogue, characters’ facial expression, gestures, costumes and how the cinematographic elements are used. My Big Fat Greek Wedding contains American values and also Greek values that are packed in an entertaining movie. From the discussion of this thesis, it can be seen that the director of the movie wants to show that American culture is better than the Greek culture.