Growing up, I didn't get the chance to see many Asian faces on the screen. Therefore, I was so excited to hear that there is a full cast of Asians in a two-hour movie. Just by the title, I excepted the movie to show off how crazy Asians can be with their riches because, trust me, some of them can blow money like it's nothing. But the movie does a great job of showing the struggles of Chinese Americans and combining them into one love story. This movie has become a turning point for the Asian American community, where my people can now finally be more understood.
I related to the struggle of Asian Americans when Rachel Wu was picking out an outfit for the wedding and her mom was helping her. As she frantically searches for the perfect dress, she rants to her mom about how she wants her boyfriend's mom to like her. After all, she mentions that she is Asian, and they are her kind of people. However, her mom reminds her that on the outside she may look like one of them but on the inside, she acts differently from them. Therefore, it makes it harder for them to accept her.
This happens more than one expects. Not only have I been told this by multiple family members but also by my close friends. When I hear it so often, I start to believe it. If anything, I am an outsider to both cultures and have a sense of not belonging in this world.
At one point in the movie, there was a joke made that Rachel was trying to wear a red dress and someone was wondering if she wanted to look like an envelope wearing red. Most people didn't laugh but I died because, during Chinese New Year, children receive red packages filled with money from their relatives.
While most people in the audience laughed at the jokes that were made towards Rachel Wu for being an Asian American, I mentally thought to myself how I've been in the same situation. Similarly, I've been called a banana. For the ones who don't know what calling someone a banana means, it's just a label of what American Asians have because, on the outside, they look yellow but on the inside, they act just like white people.
Another common label is ABC, that was also mentioned in the movie, which stands for American Born Chinese. Some Chinese think it has a negative connotation because technically, most of them think they do not belong in either culture. However, as an Asian American, I wear this label with pride because it's what makes me unique.
