Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Summer 2004

Abstract

In this article, I dissect three primary claims made in mainstream publications about My Big Fat Greek Wedding. First, by examining the film's production, distribution, and exhibition history, I complicate assertions that the film can be labeled "the most successful independent of all time." Second, I challenge the assumption that films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding are rarely made anymore by Hollywood. I suggest that such arguments are based on narrow definitions of Hollywood and its product. Third, I problematize the declarations that My Big Fat Greek Wedditig represents a triumph in innovative "grassroots" marketing tactics and appealing to groups from the "bottom up." In place of such a perspective, I maintain that the tactics employed in selling the film are representative of long-standing tactics employed by niche marketers.

Comments

Published in Journal of Film and Video, vol. 56 no. 2 (2004), pp. 18-31.

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