Crazy Rich Asians: Representation Matters

Irene S.
Irene S.
Sep 3, 2018 · 4 min read

On August 15, 2018, Crazy Rich Asians, a movie with a majority East Asian cast, was released. This was the first movie where I got to see people who represented East Asian-Americans, in a modern setting, in theaters. I saw characters that looked like me, spoke my language, and, most importantly, shared my culture. For the first time, I didn’t need to look through old TVB shows, or stream popular South Korean dramas, or watch animated shows to see me in mainstream media.

It was an almost nightly tradition for me to sit with my family watching old style Chinese dramas ranging from historical period costume shows about old dynasties such as The Greatness of a Hero and Rosy Business to more modern medical and police dramas like The Hippocratic Crush and The Mysteries of Love. Although they were incredibly entertaining, I always felt a little disconnected from those stories because I could not relate to them. How could I see myself in a drama set during the Zhou Dynasty featuring the treachery of the imperial court? When would I ever be the next Mulan saving China from the Huns? Although the more modern style dramas were infinitely more relatable, I still could not be completely engrossed with them.


The pioneers of Asian-American representation in media came from unconventional sources, namely YouTube. I remember when I was in middle school and high school, some of the biggest inspirations were YouTubers like WongFu Productions (Philip Wang, Wesley Chan, and Ted Fu), Cathy Nguyen, Kina Grannis (who made a cameo appearance in Crazy Rich Asians), David Choi, and AJ Rafael. They broke the stereotypical mold of what an Asian-American was thought to be (usually someone who is good at math, aiming to go to university, and becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer) and branched out into the creative fields. They were storytellers, musicians, and artists. WongFu Productions, in particular, were one of the first to tell meaningful stories about Asian-Americans in a modern setting. One of WongFu Productions most recent web series, Yappie, touched on topics ranging from model minorities and interracial dating in a way that had never been spoken of before. They opened up paths that I had never considered possible before — they normalized the idea that just because one was Asian it didn’t mean that you couldn’t follow your passions or fulfill your dreams. And if you did decide you wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, that was okay too.

Although Crazy Rich Asians is dramatized by the grandeur and splendor of the insanely wealthy, like YouTubers before, the movie still shared a story that was relatable to modern day Asian-Americans.


One of my favorite scenes in the movie was the dumpling making scene. When I saw that scene, I immediately thought about all the times where my grandmother, mother, sister, aunts, and cousins gathered around the kitchen table peeling wonton wrappers on one side and everyone else reaching over one another to scoop in a mixture of meat and veggies into a wrapper to be folded in the shape of a yuan bao (gold nugget). The loud laughter around the table, the conversations flowing in a mix of English and Cantonese between cousins and aunts, including the latest gossip and drama with underlying talks of family problems, were so similar to the conversations of the Youngs — it felt like I was back home. The moment when Constance Wu, playing Rachel Chu, admitted to not understanding what the Youngs were saying when they spoke in Mandarin but enjoyed the familial atmosphere, reminded me so much of my own family.

Like many Asian-Americans, I can speak my family language conversationally though I am not fluent. I cannot write in the language nor can I understand different dialects. I always felt out of the loop, even within my own family. Many of my relatives have looked on at me with disappointment for not being able to speak our language and scolding me for my inability to communicate perfectly with them. I have always felt frustrated by the cultural and language barrier within my family. The feeling of being too Chinese for Americans but too Americanized for the Chinese (something that I call Impostor Identity Syndrome) was easily one of the most relatable moments of the whole movie.


Crazy Rich Asians is not the most groundbreaking, revolutionary movie, and it definitely should not be called the Asian Black Panther. The plot is rather basic and clichéd. It is another romantic comedy where the lead characters fall in love, are forced to separate, overcome the obstacles that forced them apart, find each other and fall in love all over again. In fact, I preferred To All the Boys I Loved Before starring Lana Condor and Searching starring John Cho and Debra Messing as I found them much more innovative, interesting, and well written. The difference is that for once, the Asian character is not relegated as the side character who never speaks or has only one line, the nerdy loser obsessed with anime, gaming, maintaining straight A’s, or exotic fetishized woman. Instead, we see that Asian men and women are sexy, courageous, funny, intelligent, and desirable. For once, we see a group that was severely underrepresented and ignored brought out into the spotlight (and they didn’t even have to know kung fu). Of course this is not to say Crazy Rich Asians does not have problems, the lack of Southeast Asian representation and the appropriation of African-American language to name a few. But I appreciate the movie for what it is and how it has brought our community together. With this groundbreaking box office success, I hope that there will be more opportunities for Asian-Americans actors as well as more Asian-American representation in entertainment and media.

Irene S.

Written by

Irene S.

“Imagine a new story for your life and believe in it.” — Paulo Coelho

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