Kevin Kwan and the Crazy Rich Christians
Assignment 3: Short Paper
By Linda Meyers
When the film Crazy Rich Asians came out in 2018, it was widely praised by both critics and audiences as a bold step forward in hollywood representation for Asians and Asian Americans. While I agree that furthering equal representation of minority groups in the media is an admirable goal, and was even achieved to some degree based on box office numbers, Kwan seems to be lost in the racecraft of his original text of the book Crazy Rich Asians, from which this effort was produced. He cannot seem to be able to decide whether he wants to play up the racecraft his characters perform in order to criticize of the way the Singaporean elite attempt to elevate their status by emulating western culture, or if he wants to use those same characters to reject racecraft by showcasing a multi-everything (national, ethnic, etc.) culture based on the very idea of mixing races to create something more grand than separation does — because in the end, the concept of race and the separation it produces is a flawed one. Unfortunately, much of the time his mixed messages muddle whatever point he is trying to make. The specific aspect of the book in which I find this issue most glaringly present is in Kwan’s handling of the Singaporean elite and their relationship to religion, and so it is through this lens I will describe Kwan’s failure.
Crazy Rich Asians is posed by both author and recipients to be a celebration of Asian cultures through a Singaporean cast. Nick describes his home to Rachel as a paradise of good food while other characters give us an idea of Singapore’s rich history through their discussions of Malay royalty and different source countries of Asian immigrants. We even get a mixture of languages through Singaporean, Chinese, and Malay slang tossed into speech with accompanying footnotes to guide us. So compared to the food, history, and language, why is the other extremely important pillar of culture: religion, so westernized? Rather than study religions or philosophies from an Eastern tradition, almost all of the characters we meet are Christian. The few exceptions are described like so: “His family had been Taoists, but his mother had forced all of them to attend First Methodist so they could mix with a ritzier crowd.” (Kwan 495) and “Annabel knew at that moment she had made all the right decisions for her daughter … forcing her to go to Youth Fellowship at First Methodist even though they were Buddhists” (Kwan 343). Though there are buddhist/taoist/other historically eastern religions present here, the highest of society (Eleanor and her group) have Christian bible studies, and the most revered school in Singapore is a Christian boys school. That parents will force children to study religions not their own as a way into high society shows that the eastern religions are considered lower rank than the western Christianity.
One possible explanation for this is to prevent orientalism from arising, or pushing the stereotype that all asians practice the same kinds of religions. The point isn’t to exoticize these characters, but rather to make them relatable to the reader despite the different cultural background. And extrapolating from where this book was published and sold, what language it as printed in, and what market it was made into a movie for, the target audience is Westerners. But the characters themselves never use religion as a point of inclusion or connection, quite the opposite, they use it to assign value to and from each other. This is problematic for a couple reasons. It implies that western culture and the institutions imposed upon these Asians through a history of European Imperialism are indeed superior — that white culture is a better indicator of a valued people than Asian culture. This idea then goes against the whole movement the book is supposedly at the forefront of: Asian culture is equally valuable to White culture and therefore deserves equal representation.
Additionally, this Christian education comes complete with lessons in proper English as well: “Annabel (originally An Liu-Bao of Urumqi) wanted their young daughter to benefit from Singapore’s more Westernized — and in her eyes, superior — education system… She wanted Araminta to grow up speaking perfect accentless English.” (Kwan 340). Despite the use of Singlish in the text, ultimately this melting pot lingo is not the one characters truly wish to be speaking, and the western English wins out. Even Nick Young, the desirable male character, comes complete with a posh English accent. What this amounts to is often characters will end up referring to white or western institutions being superior to their own or an indicator of a family’s status. Being raised speaking English as a first language is something the characters envy. Furthermore in this quote we can see the identity crisis produced by this constant striving to un-Asian oneself. Annabel has clearly westernized her name in an effort to fit in with the westernized high society.
Of course, it is obviously likely that Kwan recognized this aspect of Singaporean culture and is somewhat mocking it: for all their wealth and concerns about culture, they don’t even really embrace their own, speaking negatively about other Asians like the Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese, and American Born Chinese. Moreover they don’t truly believe in Christianity but merely wear it as fashion. In one of the earliest scenes of the book we get a glimpse of what high society bible study is like: “Tiny droplets of garlicky broth splattered onto the tissue-like page, but she managed to keep the good book open with one hand while deftly maneuvering her ivory chopsticks with the other. Nadine, meanwhile, was busily flipping through her Bible — the latest issue of Singapore Tattle.” (Kwan 24) Through the careless broth splatters, expensive eating utensils, substitution of verse for gossip, we see that faith takes second place to the fine dining and social maneuvering that is the true point of the gathering. This scene is played for laughs, which would lead us to see that Christianity is simply followed out of habit, not out of actual faith. It is a farce and therefore these women would be seen as silly for treating it as a status symbol.
There is another moment of lucidity at the very end of the book: “Why do we Chinese never learn? Every time we get mixed up with the West, everything falls apart.” Eleanor quips as a woman crashes through her friends house smashing signs of wealth, quoting the bible in condemnation of these false idols. (Kwan 509) Here we get a brief glance near the end of the book of the possible rejection of the western religion, which in this chapter plays the role of separating an Asian family from their wealth/status instead of adding to it, and a recognition of the oppression cultural imperialism has historically wrought. Notably the items being smashed are great works of Asian art or historical artifacts from Asian history and religion. But it comes too little too soon, as the book ends one chapter later and the concept remains unexplored.
The primary issue with Kwan’s writing is that it’s really difficult to tell the difference in this book between what is played for laughs and what is played straight. Sometimes the author himself doesn’t seem to know. For example, on the other end of the spectrum from the bible study group’s absurdity, the whole of the plot centers around an extremely important wedding between two of the characters. Most of the maneuverings of other characters are done with this Christian wedding looming in the background, and it’s treated as something genuinely important. Furthermore, there will be times when the high opinion of Christianity, proper English, and a western education is stated, and neither opposed or contrasted with anything comedic. It is simply treated as a fact of life. The subject always seems to be looming but is never directly discussed by characters or brought into contention in the plot. To address the “why” of their religion would be to acknowledge an underlying belief in western superiority. When Kwan can’t commit to either side, one can’t help but remember this is a culture he is steeped in. So while he may attempt to give a critique, it seems that sometimes he is too absorbed in it and can’t remove himself enough to address its less palatable issues. It is much easier to tell a tale of simple classism than complex racism.
On that note, in my introduction I brought up Kwan’s interactions with racecraft in the text, but to define what racecraft is we must look to an article we discussed earlier in class. “Racecraft” by Karen and Barbara Fields opens with the discussion of how America feels the need to categorize people as multi and mono racial. This is based on “an old fallacy: the move, by definition, from the concept of “mixture” to the false inference that unmixed components exist, which cannot be disproved by observation and experience because it does not arise from them” (Fields & Fields 4) Essentially, the differences between racial groups that society creates (as in, society created the classification system as well as the circumstances to which the people of different classes were subjected to) are taken to be proof of race itself. In reality, these groups are so intertwined, to classify them, then treat them differently is silly. This manifests in Crazy Rich Asians in that the whole of Singaporean culture is predicated on a synthesis of cultures, a fusion of culinary traditions, a hodgepodge of vocabulary from different languages cobbled together to make an indistinct, multiracial dialect. And yet the characters still try their damndest to hold onto what institutional distinctions they can find in order to separate and elevate themselves. For Eleanor and her friend group, they do so through exclusive bible studies. For parents in general, through the Christian schools they send their children. Kwan wants to celebrate the fusion, but then at the same time shows a world in which practicing a western religion aligns oneself with white colonialists, perceived to be superior in their difference and therefore raising the practitioner above the others. This creates a narrative of racism.
The article goes on to state that “Racism is first and foremost a social practice.” (Fields & Fields 17) Consequently, racecraft is the mental maneuvering through which we justify that practice. The Christian, English speaking class is racist against (for one example among many) the “unrefined” Mainland Chinese constantly bemoaned in the book. They then align themselves as closely as possible to another race (white) whose education they determine is superior, and then use that mentally constructed superiority as an excuse to continue to discriminate against the Mainland Chinese. It’s reminiscent of the way many Korean youth use double eyelid surgery to more closely resemble white faces, then discriminate against those who don’t have the same process done. Kwan is clearly aware of this element of racism in everyday life, as he says in an NPR interview: “several people in my family had suggested that I should get the double eyelid surgery. … And I said, “Why would I do that? I like my eyes. I don’t feel like I need to have more Western-looking eyes, or what’s perceived as Western.” (Gross) In the same interview, he himself even seems to realize the ridiculousness of the concept of pure races: “What is an “Asian face”? … the vast array of facial structures and the size of your eyes or the size of your nose … I think it’s a very limited view to think that there’s only one representation of an Asian face, and it should be a Han Chinese descendant type person with a nose that is this many millimeters broad, or whatever it is.” (Gross) But this only adds to the confusion of whether his book is ironic or not. Additionally, the book must be able to stand on its own, and present clear ideas without the supplement of an author’s interviews and clarifications beyond its covers.
There is an intersectional element here as well, as only the wealthy and therefore higher class can afford the resources necessary to make this racial distinction in themselves. Perhaps if Kwan had either picked one view to champion or go in depth on (is Singaporean culture ultimately more mixed or more segregated? And which is for the best?) or if he had explicitly studied the paradox of high class society practicing racecraft while claiming to be proud of their metropolitan city-state, he would have had more success. As it stands, his writing remains full of lost potential. At least there is a saving grace in both the book’s entertainment value, as well as the jobs it provided for Asian actors in its adaptation for Hollywood.
Sources Cited
Fields, Karen E., and Barbara J. Fields. “Introduction.” Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in
American Life. London: Verso Book, 2016. 1–24. Print.
Gross, Terry. “‘It’s Taken On A Whole Other Life,’ Says ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Author Kevin
Kwan.” NPR.org. National Public Radio, Inc., 20 Aug. 2018. Web. 04 Mar. 2019.
Kwan, Kevin. Crazy Rich Asians. NY, NY: Anchor , a Division of Random House LLC, 2014.
Print.
