Fighting The War On Terrorism, Hollywood Style

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Arjun

``I am not sure i have ever heard of or read about any such doctrine. ``

Ever heard of the Monroe Doctrine? Manifest Destiny? Today`s doctrines may not be so codified, but, to paraphrase Al Pacino in the Godfather on a slightly different issue, it`s naive to believe they don`t exist.

``There are a lot of movies that show the US soldiers in a bad light...``

Which I noted in my post, which you quoted from.

``greeks have plenty of influence. Ever read the rantings of Buchanan on the influence of ``jews and greeks``.``

If they are ``rantings``, why should I read, let alone believe them? I am amenable, however, to any soild evidence on the influence of Greeks in America. But please, no one mention George Stephanopolous or that woman on that TV show on that network.

As for the Sum of All Fears, have neither seen the movie nor read the book, and thus can`t possibly comment.

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Jonathan Ali :

I always get a good laugh seeing ``Appu`` character on The Simpsons. But pardon my intelligence, i never could make a connection between the The Simpsons and the holy sht jehad war : Islam style.

geez bro ... go get a life or something.

Sweet Home Alabama!!!! I only sat through the first thirty minutes of the movie and have this terrible urge to bludgeon the writer/director since then!!! The nerve of those people..torturing us with such mindless, bimboish, ullo ki pathee movies...my word if i had a rupee for every time Hollywood churns out such trash in the name of `art` or whatever it is that they take pride in...i`d probably be a zabillionaire!!!!

MORONS!!

Thanks for the replies thus far.

Ralph

Thanks for posting that review. Although the fact that it is written by a Greek American gives it no more (or less) more validity than mine, it does raise some interesting points:

First of all, Greek Wedding is not a satire. Satire is meant to expose folly and wrong-doing through humour. Greek Wedding exposes only how low John Corbett has sunk after appearing on one of the best television series ever (Northern Exposure).

Secondly, if Mr Bezaitis is right, and most Greek-American towns are a dying breed, that would make the community in this movie an anomaly rather than the norm, wouldn`t it?

Also, what the reviewer fails to note is that the supposed life-change that Toula is meant to have undergone never really happens. So she loses the old maid look; that`s about it. It`s John and his family who change; she or her family don`t progress one iota. Her brother says, ``The family will always be a big part of who you are, but don`t let it limit who you become.`` But what does she become that she wasn`t before, except a bit less frumpy and awkward?

Ajeet

Don`t be so paranoid about my being paranoid. I never said or implied that there was a direct link between Hollywood and the Right. (If there was though, would that be so far-fetched?) All I said was that the message these movies offer just happens to fit with the American government`s post 9/11 philosophy.

Arjun

Everyone knows about American war films and how they by and large (with notable exceptions) promote the US`s various policy doctrines, no argument there. What I wanted to show was how two seemingly benign rom-coms do exactly the same thing. Admittedly, this has always been, but post 9/11 it puts things in a whole new light, wouldn`t you say?

And what does the fact that Nia Vardalos (writer and star, not director) is Greek, actually prove? Only that she is able to better illustrate the stereotypes better than most. Greek Americans are a politically inconsequential group, they certainly don`t have the influence that Italians, Jews, African-Americans and since 9/11, Arabs/Muslims have. That`s why this movie can be seen as sweet and charming. But substitute any of the groups above for ``Greek`` in the movie`s title, and believe me, you get a horse of a totally different colour.

Yildrim

Greek Wedding was independently made, which doesn`t automatically make it independent, just as being made by Hollywood doesn`t automatically make a film populist and safe. In any case, having Tom Hanks, one of Hollywood`s biggest players as a producer certainly makes it a Hollywood film in my book.

Again, as for all the war movies, it`s been done before. In fact there is a (very funny) satirical piece on Chowk about all those recent war films.

Also again, I am no paranoid conspiracy theorist. The last place the Right probably expects to get help from is Hollywood, but if they do, I`m sure they won`t complain.

Doesn`t anyone have anything to say about Sweet Home Alabama?

MY big fat Greek Wedding is AN INDEPENDENT FILM thus NOT produced by ``tinsel town.`` It is the highest grossing independent film ever which is what makes you think that hollywood had something to do with it. Its success is dependent on the fact that its funny (the way Monsoon Wedding was not). If you really wanted to make the point about the religious right`s influence on the films you could`ve looked at the countless, mindless world war two movies with pretty much the same plot line.

I also find it funny that the fascist right is made out to be some sort of oligarchy, working undercovers. My man, wake up! The conservative right is a 90 million people strong BLOC vote in this country, the biggest such bloc ever. It`s not because its hidden that its succeeding; its because its huge.

peace.

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````My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a touching love story reaffirming the notion that in the Greek culture a marriage is never just between the husband and the wife but is a bond of both families.````

only in the Greek culture? -- and a `bond` of both families`?

the bride marries not only the groom but his WHOLE family -- in Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian Eastern Orthodox Church communities all over Mediterranean and the third world --

for the first 5 years the bride is owned and operated by the `Family` --`Family` is the primary husband -- the real husband -- a secondary one -- stays as `MY son`.

Thanks to the Anglo-Europeans influences and the industrialization -- the situation is changing for the newly weds.

ajeet #3 Thanks for the tip-off on SameerJB`s panjabiyat link. I will try to get to it, although my internet interaction is a bit curtailed nowadays due to a knee injury. And no, this did NOT happen because jay sent Tonya Harding over with a bat.
As for funding of muslim charities, the Washington Post reported a couple of days back that muslims have in fact changed their donation patterns, with less going to mosques for charity and more being given directly to those in need (within the US and in the home countries of recent immigrants). I suspect that at least part of this is due to a genuine revulsion with the ways of the mullah after 9/11. Personally, I think this is fine since I never trusted the mosque custodians anyway: anyone who depends on religion for his livelihood (as these people do) is also likely to have sticky fingers, and there is hardly any accountability (as one gets when donating to a charity like DIL or SOS or the anti-blindness program in Pakistan).

Is there any connection between these movies and the title `Fighting The War On Terrorism, Hollywood Style` or is it the paranoia at the worst.

Forget the movies and start worrying about what is happening arround you. Did any body see the report on the software company raided by the FBI in New England. If you have a muslim sounding name and you are in the management of a large company, you better watch out, specially if you have been funding the charities in the muslim countries.

tahmed,

`since this barrage of pointless articles crowds out perfectly good discussions taking place under some equally pointless article, like the ``A little bit of Hindu`` article that has now disappeared from the front page of chowk). `

Since when did the subject of the article stop the chowkies from discussing what ever they feel like. All you have to do is continue your discussion on the latest article. Also you can always start a new discussion on the unplugged. Incidently if I am not wrong you are a punjabi, as such I would have thought you would be participating in Sameerss Punjabyat thread at the market place.

A review by a Greek:

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

A film review by Athan Bezaitis - Copyright © 2002 filmcritic.com

It`s well known that Greeks are ethnocentric. Most of their men will probably brag within the first five minutes of being introduced that they are Greek -- as if you couldn`t already tell from the greased hair, thick sideburns, leather jacket, cross around the neck, shirt wide open flaunting chest hair, and oversized gold ring with the Greek key. Greek women can also be easily recognized because they usually travel in packs, so if you meet Voula, Margarita, Thalia, and Zoe in the grocery store buying lamb shanks and phyllo dough, you can pretty much bet they`re Greek. With such a strong presence from a proud people, it`s a rare treat when a film comes along that satirizes such a unique and passionate culture.

Chicago, which is the setting for director Joel Zwick`s My Big Fat Greek Wedding, seems to be a veritable Athens in America. While most urban ``Greek Towns`` are a dying breed, downtown Chicago is thriving with Greek diners, clubs, and cafes. The story begins at The Dancing Zorba, a diner owned by the Portokalos family. Toula (Nia Vardalos) starts out as a depressed and portly thirty year-old that works as a hostess for her parents. Trapped at the restaurant by her stubborn Greek father (Michael Constantine), who believes that a woman`s role in the world is to breed Greek children and cook, her life changes when she becomes smitten with the non-Greek Ian Miller (John Corbett). She decides that she needs to go to school, lose the tacky glasses, and put on a little makeup in order to take control of her life. With the blessing of her mother (Lainie Kazan), Toula transforms herself into an attractive and brazen woman worthy of Ian`s interest. But how can she convince her family that Ian is right for her? Her father considers any non-Greek a ``xenos,`` a foreigner, and worse, Ian is a longhaired vegetarian.

The light-hearted humor spares no anomaly of Greek-American culture. Inevitably, what most moviegoers will assume to be exaggerations just to get a laugh are actually true in many Greek homes, including mine. From the living room couch with the clear plastic covering to the statue of Hermes on the front lawn to the fighting amongst the men about who gets to eat the lamb`s brain.

Vardalos plays the part as if she actually lived through the chaos herself, and Michael Constantine reminds me of my own grandfather, who once chastised me for criticizing the potholed and worn roads in Greece. A proud Greek man is always adamant about the perfection of his home country. Kazan`s accent slips and sounds Russian at times, but only a trained ear will notice the flaws; otherwise her performance as an overly loving mother is endearing. *Nsync`s Joey Fatone, although he`s not really Greek, actually looks the part as cousin Angelo and even has a chance to show off his moves as he flails through the Greek dance known as the Syrto.

Also written by Vardalos, My Big Fat Greek Wedding began as a play, and she attempted to turn it into a sitcom before catching the attention of producers Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, who went through a big fat Greek wedding of their own. Supposedly, other producers wanted to change it into a big fat Mexican or Jewish wedding, but the story would have been completely different. Cut from a similar mold as Moonstruck, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a touching love story reaffirming the notion that in the Greek culture a marriage is never just between the husband and the wife but is a bond of both families. In Toula`s quest for fulfillment, she finds strength and pride in the good intentions of her family, but learns that she must be brave in order to break out of the mold. Her brother Nick (Louis Mandylor) sums it up best when he advises her, ``The family will always be a big part of who you are, but don`t let it limit who you become.``