Culture is very important to people, especially to families who have strong bonds or ties. Culture is also critical in knowing and attending to the needs of a person. This can affect the actions of a person when unexpected circumstances arise.
The movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding is about a woman who falls in love with a person who does not fit the requirements and preferences of her father in terms of the ideal man that he wants his daughter to marry and have a family with. He wants his daughter to marry a Greek man just like them because of their Greek family’s cultural upholding. Because of such conflict, the woman is confused on whether she has to follow her father’s desire in her own marriage or if she should just let herself be happy with the person she wanted to be with regardless of differences in culture and personalities.
In perspective, the movie portrays how a person tends to get influenced by their family and the cultural upbringing that they used to subsist with. It depicts an identification of how culture influences a person’s deeds, outlook, inclination, and decisions in life. Hence, the movie gives an illustration on how significant it is to determine and resolve such conflicts concerning family heritage and cultural norms. It should give us the learning that cultural differences should not affect how we interact with other people. We should learn to accept everyone who comes into our lives so that we can appreciate their worth and their identity regardless of our differences in culture and tradition.
Furthermore, the movie depicts how culture persuades consumer behavior and has a considerable outcome or end result on consumers’ buying decisions. Consumer behavior is profoundly influenced by means of cultural aspects and differences between countries, nationalities, religion, and racial groups among others (Pantano, 2011). In essence, culture is an element of society that can convince people on how to act, interact, and communicate with other people and how to decide or choose the products they buy. For example, Muslims will not buy pork products because of their culture and religion. Conservative Asians may also not purchase skimpy clothes because of their conservative upbringing. In this regard, the people’s cultural background will identify the factors that can influence them in their decisions in life and their choices in terms of their acquisition of goods and services.
In addition, consumer behavior is influenced or persuaded by some family members who have the authority or say among the other members of the family unit. In reality, when deciding on what and where to buy or obtain goods from, consumers come to a decision based on ethical criteria like race, educational attainment, social rank, profession or livelihood, and religious association.
Just like the protagonist in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the woman represents the consumers who are puzzled with choosing between what really matters them as opposed to what is expected of them. Indeed, cultural norms and the differences in beliefs bring about conflict in the choices of consumers, that is, whether they need to follow to the norm or pursue their decision based on their personal preferences or lifestyle. What matters most is how we respect other people who have different views and beliefs from us and on how we take these differences positively without destructing or hurting other people’s conviction and principles in life.
Works Cited
Pantano, Eleonora. (2011). "Cultural factors affecting consumer behaviour: a new perception
model." EuroMed Journal of Business, 6. 1 (2011):.117 – 136. Print.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Dir. Joel ZWICK. Perf. Ia Vardalos and John Corbett. HBO
Studios, 2009. Film.
