Beginning of Essay
Muriel's Wedding is a tragic comedy set in the town of Porpoise Spit, Australia. The movie is about Muriel, an ugly-duckling character, and her one motivation in life, to get married. Her motivation arises from the fact that all of her friends from high school, ....

Middle of Essay
.... and low self esteem which is evident right from the beginning of the film. Muriel's siblings are unemployed and show no desire for a better future and the father, Bill reinforces his families' low self esteem by constant negativity. Muriel's desire to get married is at some level her opportunity to escape this environment. Throughout the film, Muriel demonstrates avoidance behaviour. Music plays a large part of this process and becomes a symbol of freedom from her environment. She allies herself with a group of "trendy" and popular girls in an effort to disassociate from her lower class, dysfunctional family. Her motivation to improve herself ....