I finally saw the movie Rachel Getting Married…and had mixed emotions about it. It was a touching story about a fractured family coming together for a joyous occasion, but there were tons of plot holes. I feel the audience was supposed to be so overwhelmed by the beautiful costumes, exotic music, and overall peacelovehappiness theme, we’d forget about them. (I didn’t.)
Reviews seem to be mixed (on the Internet, at least) as to whether an Indian-themed wedding (food, costumes, cake) for a black (maybe West Indian?) groom and white Jewish bride was adorable and kooky or tacky and overdone.
Indians were brought over as indentured servants to the Caribbean to harvest and grow sugarcane and tea, traditional Indian crops after Indians rebelled against colonialism and slavery was abolished, in the late 1800s and early 1900s The Indian men married the native women and created a new hybrid culture which is still present in such countries as Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Guyana. So maybe the groom has ancestors from these places.
Funniest moment of the movie: The scene where the effeminate father is offering various friends of the couple food as they plan the wedding in the days before the big event. “Who wants hot dogs and hungabungas?” he announces. I’d be willing to excuse the dorky dad using a nickname for hamburgers he probably used with his children when they were young, but so many of the other characters specifically ASK for a “hungabunga” with such seriousness, I thought there actually was a food called a hungabunga! Of all the unbelievable aspects of this movie, this was over the top.
And finally: Rachel’s blue elephant wedding cake is awesome. I’ve already showed it to my parents as the cake I have to have at my own wedding. You can’t see all of it, but it’s beautiful.
Photo:elementofstyleblog.com
..I literally just googled “hungabunga” while watching that scene in the movie because I, too, thought it was some cutsie name for a food that I didn’t know.
Also, I am madly in love with that cake as well.
Recently saw “RGM” enjoyed it, but now I’m bugged by something I can’t get out of my mind. The “foodie” Dad as mentioned offers to fix some food after they get home from the rehersal dinner. He says “We’ve got some cold soguwla” I’m spelling this (wrong)it’s as I heard it. Can not figure out what it is. Any idea?
He also says “Abu agave” same thing, no idea what he’s talking about.
Thanks
I love that other people have noticed these weird things too! Joe, I’m not sure what Dad says in this scene but I plan to rewatch the movie and write another post about the things I notice. I will be sure to listen closely – thanks for the observation
Cold Sagwala is like a chicken curry dish. : )