Whether or not we choose to admit it, we’ve all imagined what it would be like to get married. Would we fit the ideal image of a perfectly happy bride or groom dancing the night away in beautiful wedding attire as our guests stare in complete admiration? After the perfect wedding, would we proceed into our perfect lives by purchasing a beautiful house in the suburbs and eventually having perfect kids? Marriage is a monumental institution that has played a vital role in affecting the ways in which individuals live and define their lives. For all people, especially for women, marriage has been portrayed as the ultimate goal that must achieved in order to find true happiness and a sense of completion. Certain expectation set in place in heteronormative marriages, inevitably assign roles based on gender, which each couple is encouraged to fulfill in order to be accepted by the greater society. Marriage between a man and a woman is considered a normal part of life, anyone who deviates from the norm runs the risk of being ostracized by a society that views marriage as a correct rite of passage.
In the movie Muriel’s Wedding, marriage is seen as important part of life for every person. Muriel, the protagonist of the film, is portrayed as a woman completely obsessed with the thought of her own wedding. She spends her days sitting in her room dreaming about the perfect wedding. Though she might not know who she will marry, she doesn’t care as long as she has her dream wedding. In the film it is obvious that marriage is the ultimate goal for every female. Muriel is no exception; she has bought into the notion that marriage will free her from her lonely and miserable life by transforming her into a beautiful and better-accepted woman. Ultimately, she believes that is she marries a man; her status in society will increase. The beginning of the movie begins with Muriel catching the bouquet of flowers at a friend’s wedding; the women in the movie are obsessed with the idea...