Episode 30: Crazy Rich Asians and My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Culture clash wedding films. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Crazy Rich Asians and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, two romantic comedies that have broken Box Office records. Our discussion begins with acknowledging that My Big Fat Greek Wedding has not aged very well, so we try and find redeemable qualities in the film. We burst out in outrage at the poor Health and Safety protocols of John Corbett's teacher character. As teachers, we were not amused. The film is not pretty to look at, with corny wipes, bland colour schemes and setups with limited depth. We compare My Big Fat Greek Wedding to another one-woman stage show adaptation, No. 2, and another stage to film adaptation, Mamma Mia! Our conversation then jumps into a discussion about Crazy Rich Asians, talking about the clear appeal the film has with audiences. We talk about the strength of the four main female actors, particularly Awkwafina and Michelle Yeoh. The film is beautiful to look at, particularly as an advertisement for holidays in Singapore. The consumerism on display in the film is unsettling and we talk about how we came to terms with it. We then talked about specific scenes of the film, like the opening prologue, the best friend's family and the wedding itself. When then investigate the strange music choices made in Crazy Rich Asians, particularly the 1950s post-war Chinese music. We then return to My Big Fat Greek Wedding and discuss the use of voice over.