Crazy Rich Asians Is A Conversation
I have not seen a movie in theaters with my parents in over ten years. I can’t even remember the last time we went together. It’s possible tonight was our first time.
With the explosive popularity of Crazy Rich Asians, I found myself in a packed theater with my parents on Tuesday’s discount night. This is the third week of the film’s opening, yet we still had to crane our necks in the second row because all of the other seats were already reserved. I looked around — there were families of old and young everywhere. Many fellow parents and people of all ethnic backgrounds.

This is my third time watching. A week before the film opened, I watched it at a pre-screening in Houston packed to the brim with Asians. We were there for an Asian American journalists conference that fittingly opened with the film. Jokes landed easily and applause ringed throughout the credits. Almost everyone stayed till the screen went black and then some.
A week after the film came out, I watched it in a half-empty theater on a gloomy day in Seattle. An old white couple sat behind me and verbalized their reactions throughout the entire runtime. Sometimes, I think I cried more because of something they said than the story itself.
Crazy Rich Asians is a monumental achievement, regardless of what criticisms it may have. The last Hollywood feature to host a predominantly Asian cast was The Joy Luck Club in 1993. Some argue for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) as well, which was internationally successful and received many nominations at the Academy Awards, but was still viewed as a “wuxia” film, one that falls into the genre of Chinese fiction and martial arts films. Did it really take 25 years for another mainstream film to have a mostly Asian American cast in lead roles? Yes, it did.

Economically speaking, Crazy Rich Asians brought in an estimated $76.8 million domestically, with only a 6% drop in attendance from weeks 1 to 2 and judging by the crowd size on a random Tuesday night, the momentum only continues. But the power of this film lies beyond business; it is a cultural phenomenon.
“Awkwafina is good. She should be in more stuff.”- white couple outside the theater in Seattle
“I wasn’t going to watch it, but my friends kept telling me about how good it was, so I finally came. I would normally bring a girl, but I’m with my buddy here instead.”- middle aged man who proceeded to ask if I was Chinese (I am) and about Chinese culture
“I don’t know mahjong.”- white, elderly woman who sat behind me
“I’m still crying.”- my Asian American friend on Facebook
Asian actors and actresses are being celebrated for their work and recognized as considerations for the future. People who don’t often watch romantic comedies or even movies in general are heading to the theaters. Asian and Asian American friends are speaking up about their identities and about how proud they are to be Asian. And possibly even more importantly, non-Asians are learning more about the nuances in Asian cultures and confronting their previous preconceptions.
Coming out of the screening in Seattle, I was frustrated and hurt by the comments I heard throughout the night. “I’ve never seen Chinese people this beautiful.” “She has no breasts.” “I really can’t tell anyone apart anymore.” But my friend had the opposite reaction. He said, “At least they’re here, right?” Right. This elderly white couple that repeatedly commented throughout the film had come out to watch a movie about a culture foreign to their own. A conversation has begun. It’s as simple as that. They may not have understood the significance of the final mahjong piece, but at least they saw a little bit more about how it works and in a setting that does not criticize the gambling, but celebrates it.

Likewise with my parents, we discussed the Chinese aspects of the film and what they thought about the music, characters, casting, but our conversation easily transcended that. Just two days ago, my mom had said to me, “There’s a difference between us. You are not just Chinese. You are American.” We watched that exact conversation play out on screen. I remember feeling a pang in my stomach upon hearing those words spoken to Rachel Chu — it hurt because I viewed myself as Chinese and so desperately wanted to know and be everything Chinese, yet my own mother called me American. With my dad, I learned more stories about his immigrant history — struggles and experiences I had never heard about before. A conversation has begun.
On the flip side, many critical of Crazy Rich Asians allude to the lack of representation for ethnic minorities in Singapore. There have been efforts to raise awareness about Chinese privilege in Singapore that has come with colonization and business, which leads to the erasure of indigenous populations and those who are minoritized. There are many articles about the social situation and hierarchy in Singapore that readily place Chinese at the top and subject others to their shadows, much like the workers in the film.

These are valid observations and criticisms. But why can we not do both? Why can we not celebrate this film, but also call attention to the need for other narratives that highlight Asian ethnic minorities and present different views of the Chinese in Singapore? We absolutely need to do both.
In actuality, Crazy Rich Asians focuses on Chinese culture, and not just from any Chinese family, but within one of the wealthiest, most elite families in Singapore. I am fully Chinese, but I have had many experiences and expectations different than those portrayed. I’m sure that is the case as well for many others, especially for the plethora of ethnicities listed under the title of “Asian” ie. Koreans, Thai, Japanese, Malaysian, Indian, the list goes on. Still, we can celebrate.

We celebrate because we recognize parts of ourselves and our cultures on the big screen. We see cultural aspects that are presented, but not overdone. A Chinese tiger mom that is still a real human being with tenderness and pain. We see foods from grimy, but passionately run street stalls and recognize the messily beautiful chaos of an outdoor night market. We celebrate because there is a difference between being Asian and Asian American and although many of us still struggle to understand and identify with those differences ourselves, we are shown that that is complicated and okay. But at the same time, we have a platform to talk more about the disparities within the Asian American community itself from income to race. We celebrate because we hope that this one success will lead to many others that do amplify stories about Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Malaysian, and other ethnic minorities in Singapore, including those that portray Chinese in a different light.
We celebrate because a conversation has begun, and we are a part of that conversation.
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And if you haven’t had enough of Crazy Rich Asians yet, here are several interesting reads that will have you thinking more about the film:
Don’t Sweat the #Repsweats and Let ‘ Crazy Rich Asians’ Be What It Is
For Some Views, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Is Not Asian Enough
The moms of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ discuss the diversity of motherhood
One Way That ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is a Step Backward
Performing Blackness Won’t Fill Our Asian-American Culture Deficit
The symbolism of Crazy Rich Asians’ pivotal mahjong scene, explained
MSNBC segment that discusses the film and why it is also not an Asian “Black Panther”
For social movements impacting Asian Americans beyond Hollywood, see: #CrazyRichAsians Social Justice Donation List
