‘All the Boys’ expands diversity with light touch
Netflix teen movie joins new wave of stories about Asian Americans
“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is more than another teen movie or sappy romantic comedy. It’s a feel-good film that reflects our increasingly diverse younger generation.
Set in tranquil suburbia, the Netflix original movie, which premiered last Friday, Aug. 17, introduces us to a teenage girl who writes love letters to her secret crushes and hides them in a hat box in her closet. When the letters unwittingly end up in the hands of their intended recipients, she must survive the angst and drama — compounded by social media — that follows, with the support of her two sisters and doting father.
But “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” based on the young adult novel by Jenny Han, sets itself apart by being a charming rom-com that happens to have an Asian American lead — a far cry from the monochromatic romcoms of yore (pre-“Crazy Rich
Asians,” of course).
Focusing on Lara Jean Covey, a half-Korean, half-white 16-year-old (played by Vietnamese American actress Lana Condor), the film touches on issues of race and ethnicity, yet not overtly so. One scene featuring an Asian yogurt drink serves as a perfect example.
A bottle of the yogurt drink is nonchalantly introduced to Lara Jean’s “fake boyfriend” Peter Kavinsky (Noel Centineo) by her younger sister. Looking to avoid questions about their is-it-pretend-or-not relationship, Peter, who is white, asks, “Can I have some of that?” before gulping it down and calling it delicious. The yogurt drink is a shorthand nod to Lara Jean’s Korean heritage — those with close ties to Asia will instantly recognize it — but the bottle is handed over to Peter as if it’s just a new flavor of soda.
What’s more, there isn’t an obligatory bowl of kimchi at the dinner table during a scene at Lara Jean’s house. There’s no forced need to sprinkle in a few Korean words in the dialogue. And there are none of those Asians-are-good-at-math kind of stereotypes thrown in (though Lara Jean is taking trigonometry).
For so long, Asian Americans have been invisible on screen, or completely whitewashed out of films (Emma Stone in “Aloha,” to name just one). In the rare instances that they have a starring role, they’re limited to certain narratives such as the Vietnam War and immigration. Now that’s changing. “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” may be riding the wave of what is being dubbed #AsianAugust: “Crazy Rich Asians,” which stars an almost entirely Asian cast, landed at the top of the box office in its opening weekend with fans already eager for a sequel, and “Searching,” a thriller starring John Cho, is out in theaters Friday, Aug. 24. But the true success of “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is that it has the potential to become a teen romcom for the ages.
Teen romances have a special place in our hearts. We watch them on repeat, so much so that bits and pieces of each film become embedded into our memories, into our cultural references, into how we see the world around us.
If “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” indeed becomes one of this generation’s iconic teen films, Asian Americans growing up in the real world will no longer have to live in the shadow of Long Duk Dong from John Hughes’ “Sixteen Candles” (which the film calls out for being “super racist”). They can simply be known as teens who fall in love with someone who loves them right back.