My Big Fat Diary Entry

This is one of those subjects that I’ve been meaning to write about forever, and I figured now was as good as time as any, so here goes.

You’ve all seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Yes, you have. God knows, everyone saw that movie. One of the highest grossing movies ever when budget and such is taken into account. However, let’s examine this: Why was it such a big hit?

Well, there’s always the possibility that it was just really good and word of mouth caught on, right? Wrong. The movie sucks. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. I watch a lot of movies, and this one just isn’t particularly good, and it certainly isn’t good enough to warrant a recommendation spree to break out causing millions to flock to the box office. It just didn’t happen.

Ok, fine, but maybe the plot was just something that was particularly marketable, right? Besides, since when does quality have anything to do with a movie’s success? Initially, this seems reasonable, but, frankly, the plot isn’t very marketable. Let’s face it we’re American. Anything that deals with other cultures does not interest us in any way. So, any movie that’s got the word “Greek” in the title already immediately has two strikes against it. However, despite the two strikes this movie still managed to hit a home run. Which leads me to what indisputably has to be the reason why:

Fat.

That’s right, the word fat. The word fat grossed 241 million dollars. There is no other possible explanation. Now, before you get incredulous, let’s just be rational. Would you have seen the movie if it were called My Big Greek Wedding? Of course you wouldn’t have. My Big Greek Wedding? What kind of boring move is that? Another one of those tedious indy flicks about adapting to cultures, some nonsense like that? Who wants to watch it?

Oh, but My Big Fat Greek Wedding, now, that is a winner. By adding the word fat, suddenly we have a wacky impulsive comedy. The word fat itself has given the movie a strange intrigue, a sense of unpredictability. How is this? Well, the word fat does not belong in that title. It should probably read My Big Greek Wedding or perhaps My Fat Greek Wedding, but certainly not My Big Fat Greek Wedding. By including the word fat, the producers managed to create the impression that, since the title was uncompromising and exciting, the movie was as well. Of course, the movie was nothing of the sort, but it didn’t matter. The impression was already made. In fact, many people claim to have actually enjoyed the movie, most likely because their preconceived notion of the movie being uncompromising and exciting was so strong that they still thought it was that long after it had proven that it wasn’t. Amazing, no?

So, there you are. Any of you could have made millions of dollars, just by using the word fat in a grammatically inappropriate situation. Another lottery ticket thrown away. However, I still think I may be on to something. How does My Small Tiny Chinese Divorce sound?