The Clash Between Ideologies
Analyzing the Ideological Disputes in Crazy Rich Asians
In the modern capitalist society surrounding us, the rich get richer and the poor stay poor. The working class continues to use the tools of the higher classes to make a living, while simultaneously expanding upon the wealthy’s income. This paradox has created a great divide between the two classes, building upon different ideals, traditions, and guidelines that each follows. The fictitious guidelines created by each class have led to missed opportunities within relationships and businesses.
These ideas directly disturb Rachel Chu’s love life in Crazy Rich Asians, directed by John M. Chu. After meeting the love of her life, Nick Young, Rachel travels to Singapore to meet his family for the first time. However, Rachel is met with the richest family in Singapore. Being from a lower-class household, Rachel is rejected by Elenor Young, Nick’s mom, due to her bourgeoisie ideology. Rachel Chu’s struggle to gain Eleanor Young’s approval defines the clash between the ideologies of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, as Eleanor desires to keep status and wealth within the young family, rejecting those of the lower class.
A Peek into Crazy Rich Asians
Crazy Rich Asians occurs primarily in modern Singapore, where the Young family resides. Rachel Chu, a Chinese immigrant who worked her way up the social ladder and became an NYU professor, is invited by her boyfriend, Nick Young, to visit Singapore for a summer with him, where she will attend his best friend’s wedding and meet his family. Rachel soon finds out during her trip that Nick Young is the heir to the wealthiest family in Singapore.
Throughout her trip, Rachel battles against the jealousy and judgment of both Nick’s peers and family members. As Rachel struggles to fit into the elitist society within the Young family, she is met with more obstacles and objections from the family and its following. In particular, Nick’s Mother, Eleanor Young, rejects Rachel due to her poor upbringing, even going to the extent of exposing her background of having a toxic father and a single mother.
However, Nick declares his willingness to give up the Young family’s wealth and follow Rachel back to America. As a result, Rachel invites Eleanor to play a game of mahjong, where she folds a winning hand to show Eleanor that she is willing to give up Nick on behalf of the Young family. This eventually leads to Eleanor giving Nick her ring to propose to Rachel as a symbol of her approval.
What is Marxism?
Chris Barker, in The Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies, notes that Karl Marx divided our society into two classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Barker highlights that at the top of the capitalist food chain are the owners or bourgeoisie, who own the means of production. On the other end, Barker describes the proletariat as the working class people within our society who use the bourgeoisie’s means of production to make a living while simultaneously building upon the bourgeoisie’s wealth. According to Barker, Marx depicts that this paradox within capitalism creates a gap between the two classes, furthering the difference between their wealth and altering their ideology.
However, Barker notes that as our society has advanced the gap between the two primary classes developed another class that we call the middle class, or the white-collar workers. Barker explains that the middle class is defined by its name, and people of this class are socioeconomically in the middle of the two classes, not owning the means of production, but also not working hard manual labor to live.
Ideology: Proletariat vs. Bourgeoisie
Considering the drastic difference in wealth between the two primary classes described by Karl Marx, we have to infer that they share a different ideology. Mary Klage, in Key Terms in Literary Theory, points out that Louis Althusser describes ideology as something that manifests through a particular person’s actions. Furthermore, Klage notes that Althusser determined that someone’s ideology is intertwined with their material customs; this translates to the concept of how our class and possessions reflect upon our treatment of other people and our money. Concerning this interpretation of ideology, Murguía Salvador Jiménez, in the Encyclopedia of Global Religions, defines conspicuous consumption as a term developed by Thorstein Veblen that relates to the purchasing of goods to enhance status and portrayal of wealth.
These Marxist concepts highlight Rachel’s struggle for approval and acceptance into the Young family. These concepts establish the various barriers set by the bourgeoisie to protect their place in society, underscoring the effects of wealth on both Eleanor and Rachel’s ideologies.
The Proletariat: Rachel
Rachel’s background is rooted in proletariat history, coming from an initially poor working-class mother and an absent father figure. The proletariat heritage of Rachel has impacted her beliefs and ideology. Her somewhat proletariat ideology is displayed throughout the film, she often reflects on the price of certain things like the flight she and Nick take to Singapore when she declares, “We can’t afford this.” Rachel’s concern for the price of the airline ticket that Nick had purchased displays her frugality and value of materialistic items. This identifies with Rachel’s current status in the middle class, where she has worked her way up from the proletariat to one of the many white-collared workers.
Nick’s response to Rachel's questioning of how he was able to afford such an expensive ticket also identifies their difference in class as he calmly states, “We’re comfortable.” This understatement highlights the different classes’ perspective of materialistic things such as a plane ticket. Rachel with her proletariat ideology was seemingly blown away by the expensive ticket and the amenities provided along with it. Meanwhile, the bourgeoisie, in this case Nick, blows off the price tag like it’s nothing. Rachel serves the role of displaying the proletariat ideology as opposed to the bourgeoisie.
The Bourgeoisie: Eleanor
Eleanor is the exact opposite of Rachel and possesses the innate ideas of the bourgeoisie, belittling Rachel and seeking for her son to find someone with wealth to carry on the family honor. However, Rachel, despite her poor background, was able to achieve considerable success, eventually becoming a professor at NYU. Despite Rachel’s success in America, Eleanor Young continues to deny Rachel her approval. This displays the high standards and ideology that the bourgeoisie possesses.
Furthermore, Eleanor continues to highlight her desire to shape her son's perfect life, built upon wealth and avoiding imperfections like Rachel and her proletariat background, when she says, “Well, your mother is very open-minded, not like here, where parents are obsessed with shaping the life of their children.” This underscores capitalism and its effects reiterated by Klage, highlighting its ability to uphold the ideas and concepts of the bourgeoisie as they push for ideologies sustaining their wealth and power. The strong bourgeoisie ideology that Eleanor sustains throughout Crazy Rich Asians creates a struggle for Rachel and Nick to make their relationship work, leading to many instances of drama and attempts to find approval.
Conspicuous Consumption
The difference between Eleanor and Rachel’s ideologies and lifestyles is represented frequently throughout the movie. Eleanor and the rest of the Young Family are the embodiment of conspicuous consumption. Eleanor’s need to display their vast wealth is seen often, particularly in one event in the film where she throws a huge cocktail party with lavish food, drinks, and even a rare Tan Hau flower that only blooms at night. This “irrational economic behavior” of Eleanor highlights the bourgeoisie ideology within her to almost belittle Rachel with her vast wealth, showing Rachel that she is not fit for her son.
However, Rachel is oblivious to the wealth and traditions of the family. Before she departs for the party she meets up with her college friend Peik Lin, who explains to her that the family is “posh and snobby, they’re snoshy,” and insists that Rachel must wear a designer dress or she won’t fit in, highlighting the materialism of the bourgeoisie. This alienation that Rachel experiences accentuates the large gap between the upper and lower echelons socioeconomically.
Bridging Ideological Gaps
Despite the large margin between Rachel and Eleanor in terms of wealth, Rachel hopes to bridge this gap and gain Eleanor’s approval by not changing the person she is, but by displaying her unique features. When Rachel plays Eleanor in mahjong towards the end of the movie, she folds a winning hand displaying to Eleanor her charisma and intelligence, implying that the difference in their wealth doesn’t matter. This connects to Karl Marx’s concept that if the people of the proletariat unite against capitalism it would crumble, as described by Klage. Rachel refuses to conform to the bourgeois ideology of Eleanor, underlining the proletariat and their resistance.
Rachel is also seen bridging the gap between the two classes at Nick’s friend’s wedding when she sits by an actual princess and sparks a conversation. Like the mahjong match, Rachel decides to use her charisma and scholarship to prove her character, not her wealth or relationship with Nick. Rachel’s display of intelligence to the princess makes her feel comfortable, leading to Rachel and the princess discussing microloans and economics. This show of character from Rachel underscores the irrelevance of class or wealth in building relationships and connections, slowly filling the void between the two classes and their separate beliefs.
Furthermore, Nick’s proposal to Eleanor at the end of the movie embodies Rachel’s hope to bridge the gap in ideologies, ignoring the barriers that wealth had previously created. This shows the possibility of creating an equal society where the bourgeoisie don’t rule over the proletariat but reside alongside them as equals. The change in Eleanor’s outlook on Rachel highlights that there can be a change in our society too.
The Takeaway
Crazy Rich Asians demonstrates the clashing ideology of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, represented by Rachel Chu and her struggle to gain acceptance into the Young family. This highlights the wealthy’s need to stay in power over the poor proletariat. Through this, capitalism is defined as an imbalanced system put in place by the bourgeoisie to keep their power and grow their wealth.
This societal divide created by the modern capitalistic society defines not only the trajectory of our society but our lives as well. As wealth gaps widen, the dynamics of our different classes alter along with their paired ideologies. However, Rachel displays the abnormality that we can all create, connecting the ideologies between the rich and the poor and reaching a mutual medium.
In a sense, Crazy Rich Asians serves as a platform to challenge the separate ideologies that capitalism has created, advocating for a future with socioeconomic equality among individuals.
Additional Sources Used in this Article
Chris Barker. “Class.” The Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies. 2004. Found on Credo Reference.
Chris Barker. “Marxism.” The Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies. 2004. Found on Credo Reference.
John M. Chu, director. Crazy Rich Asians. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2018.
Mary Klage. “Althusser, Louis.” Key Terms in Literary Theory. 2012. Found on Credo Reference.
Mark Klage. “Capitalism.” Key Terms in Literary Theory. 2012. Found on Credo Reference.
Mary Klage. “Ideology.” Key Terms in Literary Theory. 2012. Found on Credo Reference.
Salvador Jiménez Murguía. “Consumer Culture.” Encyclopedia of Global Religions. 2011. Found on Credo Reference.
