Cultural evolution to ‘Crazy Rich Asians’
MONTHS before “Crazy Rich Asians” premiered, the film was already being celebrated for being a rare Hollywood studio film in which all the main actors are of Asian descent. Adapted from Kevin Kwan’s best- selling book, the glitzy romantic comedy stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Awkwafina and Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh.
But director Jon M. Chu has said that his goal is for “Crazy Rich Asians” to be not just a landmark film, but to start a movement for greater Asian American representation in Hollywood.
It’s a daunting task, especially considering that Asian Americans (and Pacific Islanders, who are often included to create the broader category “Asian Pacific American”) embody a vast array of cultural, religious, linguistic and economic backgrounds.
And Hollywood movies have had a rocky history when it comes to its portrayals of Asian Americans, from the early yellowface roles to the still-present examples of whitewashing. But there has also been much to admire. Here’s a timeline of some of the milestones and setbacks that have led up to “Crazy Rich Asians.” • 1918: Sessue Hayakawa creates a film studio Silent film actor Sessue Hayakawa is considered the first Asian American movie star, and, arguably, there hasn’t been a bigger one since. • 1935: Anna May Wong loses Chinese American role to Luise Rainer Wong was a silent film star in the 1920s, but she often found herself limited to stereotypical Asian roles. When Pearl Buck’s novel “The Good Earth” was released in 1931, Wong made public her desire to be cast in the film adaptation, because it was a rare opportunity to play a Chinese character in Hollywood. She later learned she was never considered because the producers wanted a white male actor for the Chinese lead, and anti-miscegenation laws prevented a non-white woman to be cast opposite a white man. • 1973: “Enter the Dragon” makes Bruce Lee a posthumous icon After starring as Kato in the TV series “The Green Hornet,” Lee struggled to find leading roles in Hollywood, even developing a TV project for himself that allegedly was lifted and retooled as “Kung Fu,” starring David Carradine. He left for Hong Kong, where he filmed three hit movies, before getting the attention of Warner Bros., which offered him the lead in “Enter the Dragon.” Sadly, Lee died six days before the film was released, just as his career in the United States was about to take off. That said, not only has Lee become a global legend, but he set the stage for martial arts
Ang Lee’s comedy ‘The Wedding Banquet’ (1993) became the most profitable film of the year when measured by percentage of cost, earning US$23.6 million from a budget of US$1 million.
stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li. • 1983 and 1985: “Gandhi” and “The Killing Fields” win big at the Oscars • 1993: “The Joy Luck Club” finds success as a film Director Wayne Wang had gained some recognition with 1982’s “Chan Is Missing,” which is considered the first independent film directed by an Asian American to resonate outside of the Asian American community. But “The Joy Luck Club,” based on the book by Amy Tan, was his first mainstream Hollywood film and became a commercial and critical success. • 1993: “The Wedding Banquet” kick-starts Ang Lee’s Hollywood reign Lee’s comedy “The Wedding Banquet” became the most profitable film of the year when measured by percentage of cost, earning US$ 23.6 million from a budget of US$ 1 million. He would later make history as the first non-white filmmaker to win an Oscar for best director, for 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain,” and he’d nab a second one for 2012’s “Life of Pi.” His 2000 martial arts film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is still the highestgrossing foreign-language film in America. • 1998: “Mulan” is the first Disney animated film with the leads predominantly voiced by Asian Americans For its adaptation, Disney hired a Chinese American writer ( Rita Hsiao) and hired mostly Asian Americans for the voices, including Ming-Na Wen, B.D. Wong, James Hong, Pat Morita and George Takei. Disney would later score more hits with Asian American and Pacific Islander stories, such as “Lilo and Stitch,” “Big Hero 6” and “Moana,” A live- action adaptation of “Mulan” is in the works for 2020. • 2004: “Harold & Kumar” is first Hollywood franchise led by Asian American actors When “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,” a stoner comedy starring John Cho and Kal Penn, premiered in 2004, it was not a huge box office hit. But as the film came out on DVD, it gained a cult following and gave birth to two more sequels. • 2009: Justin Lin helps turn the “Fast and the Furious” films into an international moneymaker After Justin Lin scored an indie hit with “Better Luck Tomorrow,” he directed 2006’s “Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.” None of the original stars were even in it, other than a quick cameo by Vin Diesel, but by Lin’s next movie, 2009’s “Fast & Furious,” Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster were back, and now, the series has raked in more than US$1.5 billion. • 2017: “Ghost in the Shell” whitewashing controversy Asian American activists have been speaking out against Hollywood whitewashing for years - “Short Circuit 2,” “21,” “Aloha,” “Dragonball: Evolution,” “Dr. Strange”; the list goes on - but the controversy around Scarlett Johansson’s casting as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the film adaptation of the Japanese manga “Ghost in the Shell” seemed like the first time Hollywood listened. Paramount executive Kyle Davies admitted that the whitewashing criticism was bad for business. — Washington Post.