Originally posted August 20th to my personal facebook; posting here because 1) a friend asked why I didn't blog and 2) as backup/to find later because searching FB posts is tedious. Bonus because medium change: ability to embed links!
tl;dr- I get wordy on historical precedent and personal experience before finally reviewing Crazy Rich Asians at the end if you wanna scroll to that part.
I feel a tad obligated to write a longer post than my quick thoughts in the comments on previous posts, so bear with me. Partly because it's not a typical thing for various friends to ask "So, what'd you think about [movie]??" but on the other hand, it is more meaningful/relevant to my feelings than say, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was, so here's a big ol' thought post I can point at.
When I read "Crazy Rich Asians" a few years ago, I loved in both a 'wow so this is what a beach read is' way and 'yo this is Asian pride and prejudice' kind of thing. Fun, pulls no punches in skewering the people in this ridiculous 1% world, and would have stunning visuals if it ever got picked up for adaptation.
Note that "if". Asian American literature exists, from historical thinly veiled memoirs to serious fiction to fluffy YA lit, but adaptations are few and far between. The last one everyone remembers is The Joy Luck Club in 1993, but like... there are so many other stories that could be made in a visual medium. (not based on books but worth noting: Better Luck Tomorrow in 2001, and the Harold & Kumar trilogy in 2004, 2008, and 2011).
In online discussions if you express disappointment with a whitewashed casting announcement or something, inevitably some chucklefuck will pop in and will either say "Have you considered watching KDramas/overseas cinema?" at best and "Well, I don't demand Japanese movies put a white guy in for my feelings" at worst. The reason these are dissatisfying is that a) it implies that I need to look for an international rather than domestic piece to find reflections of my very domestic-have-not-left-the-US-ever life, b) that despite being a 4th generation US citizen, someone will inevitably assume that I should identify more with foreign content, and c) that American experiences = white experiences so if I am American, I should just accept the predominantly white media here and see myself in Kate Hudson et al's shoes.
It's the same sentiments that in the 1930s sent LA-born Anna May Wong overseas to work on European films after MGM decided to cast a white woman in yellowface for the lead role in The Good Earth (they had already picked a white actor to play the husband, and the Hays code prohibited interracial relationships despite him being in yellow face. More insultingly, the white woman won the Oscar for Best Actress with that role).
Even in person, I recall well-intentioned friends and acquaintances making this "default American = white" assumption. I remember in eighth grade when a friend made a joke in the band room about sneakers being made by kids in China and when I made some noise of displeasure he was like "But why should you be offended; you're American!" In a more serious conversation when discussing what to do with the unplanned pregnancy in 2011, I mentioned adoption rates for nonwhite babies and was told "Oh, we don't even think of you as a person of color; that's not a concern!" :|
These assumptions miss that there are differences between the experiences of Asians and Asian Americans (and this isn't even going into how wildly different experiences are between various Asian American communities- a pan-AsAm identity is a relatively recent idea from the late 1970s). The conflicts between CRA's main character Rachel Chu and her boyfriends' friends/family isn't just socieoeconomic class, but also background- The Shang/Young/T'sien clan left China for Singapore in the 1800s and are old money, whereas Rachel's mom is one of the post-1965 mainlander immigrants to the US. Rachel speaks Mandarin, whereas the Youngs dip into both Mandarin and Cantonese with a smattering of Hokkien (and singlish in the novel). And even though I can identify a lot with Rachel as an ABC (American Born Chinese), my family came to America during the Exclusion era from the Taishan region of Guangdong.
Some of the intercommunity criticism of CRA is that it focuses solely on east Asians (specifically, of Chinese descent) who, relative to other Asian groups, have more privilege- I've seen people suggest that we not be considered people of color- but I'd counter that this is a story about a specific family, and it's sort of akin to asking why Pride and Prejudice doesn't include any Welsh characters. More to the point- P&P doesn't encapsulate British literary identity, as people can look to Dickens or Thackery or the Brontes for other stories with British people (of a period, I guess- a better analogy would also list various other European authors of the era but I can't name any off the top of my head). My personal experience of being the only ABC family in my high school is gonna be different from someone who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley where it's majority Asian American, and that's going to be different than a teen currently living in Dearborn, Michigan, and yet all of these are Asian American viewpoints.
We need *more* stories and cannot rely on one to carry the experiences of the 18 million members of Asian America.
We need *more* stories and cannot rely on one to carry the experiences of the 18 million members of Asian America.
History aside, CRA is a solid romantic comedy, and a good adaptation of a book. The story is streamlined while keeping in the characters relevant to the sequel books (though I do feel it was a miss to omit Nick's very chill dad and Colin & Nick's Turkish friend Mehmet). The movie actually remembers that Rachel is an econ professor specializing in game theory and uses this in a film-only sequence that strengthens the story. Eleanor is nastier in the book, but Michelle Yeoh didn't want her character reduced to a Tiger Mom villainness, and I honestly think it's a best-supporting-actress nom worthy performance. The cast is extraordinary and Astrid continues to be Best Girl (I'd argue she's secretly the trilogy's main character). The movie ends on a high note for most of our characters, but leaves the door open for the threads in the second book, China Rich Girlfriend (and hopefully with an opening weekend like this, Warner Bros will greenlight it).
The movie doesn't break new ground as a romcom (we get a makeover montage, an airport chase, a sassy best friend), but if anything that's partly why it's such a win- people besides Matthew McConaughey and Katherine Heigel can lead romances and make bank at the box office.
p.s. if you want another romantic comedy with hijinks and the chinese vs. chinese american conflict as a plot point, and also features a wedding check out Flower Drum Song, a 1961 Rogers & Hammerstein movie musical
p.p.s diaspora Asian actors didn't pop out of nowhere; there are a fair amount of indie films out there with mostly-AsAm leads like Spa Night and Saving Face, and I *know* I'm missing more because I need to branch out.
p.p.p.s oh gosh this is already too long and i hit post but i just remembered I didn't gush about the food cinematography MY GOD; it's a shame the good dumpling place in town is closed until the school year begins because I have a nee
p.p.p.p.s another mention because I couldn't remember where to fit it in: if anyone's wondering if I teared up, mayyyyyybe some misting up during the wedding sequence, but otherwise my big emotional thing was feeling that nervous stomach butterfly feeling when you're in line for a roller coaster before the opening credits rolled (thanks for the eloquent description of anxiety, Bo Burnham & Eighth Grade) and just like, the wave of relief with the splashy opening.
