Comparison of Two Movies

My Big Fat Greek Wedding::Taming of the Shrew

My Big Fat Greek Wedding contains characters that are similar to ones in Taming of the Shrew. Maria Portokalos, the mother in MBFGW, has an issue with the way her husband, Gus, thinks. Gus believes that he is superior, however, he doesn’t know that his wife really has the upper hand in the relationship. MBFGW and Taming of the Shrew relate to each other because Maria and Katherine give their husbands what they want, but sneak in their own rules as well.

Katherine: “Then God be blest, it is the blessed sun.

                 But sun it is not, when you say it is not,

                 And the moon changes even as your mind.

                 What you will have it names, even that it is,

                 And so it shall be so for Katherine.” (IV.vi.21-15)

Petruchio is arguing with Katherine because he says that the moon is the sun and she disagrees. She eventually gives in and makes him feel empowered. Then she replies back with a statement that should’ve insulted Petruchio, but instead makes his ego larger.

Following and relating to the quote above, is a screenshot from My Big Fat Greek Wedding:

In this scene, Maria and her sister, Voula, wanted to trick Gus into letting his daughter, Toula, leave work at their restaurant, Dancing Zorba’s, to go work at Voula’s travel agency. In order to do that they had to make him believe that it was his idea. Their plan worked when Gus pointed at Tula (the one with the coffee in her hand) and said, “Send Tula!” Maria praised Gus as he bragged about how a man “knows.”

KATHERINE: “If I be waspish, best beware my sting.” (II.i.223)

Katherine is explaining that she will not be submissive and Petruchio is saying that women should always have submissiveness. Katherine is relentless, so she kept going on about how “waspish” she can be.

Following and relating to the quote above, is a screenshot from My Big Fat Greek Wedding:

Characters like Katherine and Petruchio, in Taming of the Shrew, and Maria and Gus, in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, completely relate to each other because they all play similar roles. Maria and Kate both can be submissive, but always sneak a level of authority into their relationship. Gus and Petruchio think that they “rule” their wives, but also know that their wives have the ability to be powerful and take the lead.

Sources

Taming of the Shrew (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061407/)

- Director: Franco Zeffirelli

- Writers: Suso Cecchi D’Amico (screenplay), Franco Zeffirelli (screenplay), Paul Dehn (screenplay), William Shakespeare

- Characters: Elizabeth Taylor (Katherine), Richard Burton (Petruchio)

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9kRSReJLo)

(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259446/)

- Director: Joel Swick

- Writer: Nia Vardalos