‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is paving the way
In the opening scene of “Crazy Rich Asians,” the rain-drenched Young family — just in from a flight from Singapore — attempts to check into a posh London hotel. The snooty clerk tries to shoo them off. “May I suggest you explore Chinatown?” he asks.
Matriarch Eleanor Young, played by the steely Michelle Yeoh, won’t be deterred. In retaliation, she immediately buys the hotel, and the family is ushered to its luxury suite.
She wouldn’t be dismissed. Neither will the Asian and Asian Americans who’ve been getting behind this romantic comedy, which opened Wednesday, Aug. 15, and campaigning for a box office hit. On Twitter, novelists such as R.O. Kwon and Lillian Li have offered book giveaways to those who send proof they’ve purchased tickets and others are buying out screenings — including one hosted on Friday, Aug. 17, at the AMC Bay Street theater in Emeryville.
With that success, the movie’s supporters hope to pave the way for greater inclusion and diversity in storytelling.
A quarter century ago, my freshman dorm trekked to see “The Joy Luck Club,” the Hollywood adaptation of Amy Tan’s bestselling book centered on the lives of Chinese American women.
We laughed and we cried in recognition and relief too, at finally being made visible.
Scenes from the movie remain vivid in my memory: The character Suyuan scolds her daughter, Jing-Mei, after she takes the worst crab from the dinner platter. “Everybody else want best quality. You, your thinking different . ... You took the worst, because you have the best-quality heart.”
A friend and I text each other crab emojis to reference that sense of sacrifice.
When the character Rose bakes her husband’s favorite peanut butter pie even though he’s divorcing her, her mother, An-Mei, tells her: “You think he sees this pie, now he so sorry take you for granted? ... You the foolish one. Every time you give him a gift, like begging.”
I think about that line, to remind myself of my worth, and to stand up for myself (not with husband, but in other situations).
Though “The Joy Luck Club” was a critical and commercial success, more Hollywood films did not follow — until now. To be sure, there have been wonderful independent films with Asian American leads such as “The Namesake,” “Saving Face,” “Columbus” and “Gook,” but this wide theatrical release has the potential to reach a larger audience.
The premiere of “Crazy Rich Asians” comes just as the television show “Fresh off the Boat” landed a syndication deal, the first for an Asian American show; an adaptation of Jenny Han’s charming YA novel “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” will be released by Netflix this week; Apple recently announced it will adapt Min Jin Lee’s epic “Pachinko” for streaming television; and John Cho will star in the forthcoming thriller “Searching.” At the same time, immigrants and the children of immigrants are under attack in this country, and Trump administration officials are attempting to curb legal permanent residents from becoming citizens.
That’s why “Crazy Rich Asians” — and its heroine, Rachel Chu, the Chinese American daughter of a self-made Chinese immigrant woman — feels so vital now. The movie is hilarious and heartwarming, culturally specific with inside jokes and yet still broad in its appeal. You can’t help but root for Rachel, played by the luminous Constance Wu, as she attempts to navigate the ultrawealthy, ethnic Chinese world of her Singaporean boyfriend.
I teared up when Rachel’s mother, Kerry, flies to Singapore to soothe her daughter’s heartbreak and, again, when she stares down the boyfriend’s mother at the mahjongg parlor. The fierceness and strength and the lengths to which parents will go to protect their children deeply moved me.
Some critics have questioned the movie’s ostentatious displays of wealth and wished that the movie had depicted more of the colonial history and the racial and socioeconomic diversity of Singapore.
Valid points, yet “When Harry Met Sally ... ” doesn’t stand in for all of New York. It’s impossible for one movie to be all things to all people, and it’s also a distortion to believe there can be only a couple of Asian or Asian American narratives.
My hope is that “Crazy Rich Asians” could inspire mainstream movies that draw upon stories that have been long overlooked.
Indeed, the movie’s actors reflect the differences within the Chinese diaspora. Wu is from Virginia; the Malaysian-born Yeoh was a Hong Kong martial arts star; Gemma Chan is British Chinese; Harry Shum Jr. was born in Costa Rica, grew up on California’s Central Coast and briefly attended San Francisco State University; director Jon M. Chu is from Los Altos Hills; and Awkwafina is a New York native. Our community is not a monolith; we never were.
We laughed and we cried in recognition and relief too, at finally being made visible.