Why the Audrey-Lolo Friendship Matters in ‘Joy Ride’
The various ways we reckon with our Asian American identities.
The breakthroughs in bringing Asian American representation into Hollywood have been a thrilling journey to witness over the past five to ten years. The landmark moment of Crazy Rich Asians was incredibly significant for all of us in the AAPI community.
It gave us the tried-and-true rom-com formula but done with an all-Asian cast and a sumptuous showcase of Asian culture, cuisines, family dynamics, quirks, and everything in between. To see ourselves on the big screen was more than cause for celebration.
Crazy Rich Asians walked, so Joy Ride could run.
We are in the midst of what feels like another significant moment as Joy Ride struts onto the scene of the comedy genre in films. Joy Ride is one of the first of its kind, a big studio-produced raunchy comedy with an all-Asian cast and a kaleidoscope of Asian American immigrant stories to anchor it all.
I was not prepared for the moving core storyline of this film. While the film certainly centers heavily on Audrey’s (Ashley Park) journey of self-discovery and acceptance, the central friendship between Audrey and Lolo (Sherry Cola) is significant.
They serve as the perfect foils to each other in personality, which naturally tees up some of the great comedic bits throughout the film. But more importantly, the differences in their storylines showcase the various ways of reckoning with our Asian American identities. Let’s unpack this a bit more.
Note: spoilers for Joy Ride ahead.
Audrey’s Story of Discovery
One of the screenwriting choices I found most compelling in Joy Ride was Audrey’s journey of connecting with her roots as an adoptee into a white American family. Her storyline follows her journey from recognizing her unconscious prejudices against her Asian community to self-discovery by celebrating her cultural roots in Korea.
The choice to make her an adoptee into a white family emphasizes and more deeply amplifies the pressures of cultural assimilation into American society that many immigrant children experience. Audrey represents the deep human desire to belong in the prevailing cultural landscape. The costly by-product is her ignorance and lack of desire to understand her cultural roots.
Her character’s growth comes to fruition when she awakens to the beauty of her Korean heritage, which helps her discover a more authentic understanding of herself.
This central struggle around the tensions of conformity with the dominant culture versus the cultural roots of your family’s deep history is one that many Asian American immigrant children face. And while many of us may not share the exact same story as Audrey’s adoption story, the transformation of finally embracing, celebrating, and being curious about your own cultural roots is just as satisfying and emotional.
Lolo’s Story of Integration
Much like Audrey, Lolo also reckons with her Asian American identity throughout the film. However, her journey is distinctly different in nature. While Audrey’s journey is one of discovery, Lolo’s journey is one of integration.
I would argue that at the start of the film, Lolo has a closer relationship with her cultural identity as a Chinese-American. She recognizes her Chinese background and her family’s cultural values, and feels connected to her extended family in China when the film’s adventures take them to Hai Qing, China.
She is consistently encouraging Audrey to uncover her own cultural roots, recognizing the beauty and significance of how that shapes her own sense of self.
The primary tension that Lolo navigates throughout the film is how to reconcile her family’s cultural values with her art, a place of expression where she has achieved a sense of freedom and a desire to break down the barriers that have been built by cultural expectations. Lolo reckons with how she can stay faithful to her artistic passions while also honoring her parents’ expectations and values.
The ending scene of the film is a fabulous portrayal of this integration story coming to fruition: Lolo’s art is displayed as decor pieces in her parents’ Chinese restaurant, with more orders on the way from prospective customers, as she’s serving as a waiter to help support her parents’ business.
There have been recent films featuring immigrant family experiences, such as Elemental and Turning Red, where the child’s utter frustration with the pressures of the family’s expectations fuels a rejection of these values or expectations. It is presented as a zero-sum game, often ending in the parents evolving their expectations to accept the dreams of the child.
I appreciate Joy Ride’s desire to show us a different type of reconciliation that focuses on integration and balance. Lolo’s ending in Joy Ride depicts a more nuanced picture of an immigrant daughter who has remained faithful to her passions and honors her family’s business and legacy. Lolo’s ending is an example of how we can celebrate and hold space for all the multi-faceted aspects of our cultural identities woven together.
In Joy Ride, Audrey and Lolo couldn’t be more different in personality or their journeys of discovery, but their friendship matters. They help each other grow as they reckon with their unique cultural identities and what it means to be an Asian American woman.
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