In order to understand modern Greece, we must begin with the history which shaped modern Greece. Beginning in 2007, Greece was struck by a financial crisis. This severely altered the way in which society in Greece managed everyday life, especially so regarding familial relationships. In 2007, the unemployment rate in Greece was at 27%[1], putting a strain on households across the country. It became more important for individuals to be working if given the opportunity in order to support their families through the tough times. Families also relied heavily on the men of the household, as the wage gap was at a high of 22% in 2009[2]. This led to men having all around advantages, which allowed them to quickly outnumber women by far in the working field. As one can understand, this created a divide between genders and led to the man having authority and everyone else in the household being below him.
Further down the line, this led to the creation of films reflecting these struggles. In Masculinity and Gender in Greek Cinema, it is stated that, “In order to produce films attractive to the masses, the filmmakers try to present characters and settings which were somewhat familiar to the national… audiences,”(Masculinity and Gender in Greek Cinema, 102). As stated, referencing a national event that everyone has dealt with can be a huge way to have a film gain traction. Similar to US films referencing The Great Depression, Greek films have begun to reflect the events of the financial crisis. More commonly, they address effects of the crisis on the people. The trends of patriarchy through the representations of masculinity and honor, power relations among married couples, and patriarchal dynamics in modern Greek films are trying to prove the shift in modern culture from a patriarchal society to equality among all post financial crisis. Comments are closed.
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