This year has been an incredible one for representation on the big screen. Whether it be “Love, Simon” for telling an LGBTQ love story to “Black Panther” having an all-black cast, and subsequently becoming the 3rd grossest selling film in the U.S., 2018 has given us many reasons to head to theaters thus far.
While these films are heavily lauded, as they should be, as being major personas for queer and black youth, unfortunately for the Asian community, representation on the big screen usually means having white actors play roles for us. Take the 2017 film “Ghost in the Shell” starring Scarlett Johannsson, which is based on a popular anime. Or the Netflix live-action remake of the anime “Death Note” and Matt Damon portraying a “white savior” on the Great Wall of China in “The Great Wall.”
But here comes the upcoming film “Crazy Rich Asians,” which perhaps will be one of the first predominantly Asian casts since “The Joy Luck Club”. Based on the book by Kevin Kwan, the film follows a college professor (Constance Wu), who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend (Henry Golding) for his friend’s wedding. While over there, Wu’s character finds out that her boyfriend is part of a wealthy Asian family.
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“Crazy Rich Asians” comes out on August 17, 2018, and until then, I’ll be eager to watch it. Given its broadly diverse cast of Asians from all around the globe, it will probably be one of the very few times where we see Asian actors meant to play Asian roles, a concept that Hollywood just cannot seem to grasp.
Moreover, this film will also be one where Asians are not seen as a fetish to white men or portrayed as naive international students navigating through American society. For once, Asians will be portrayed as ordinary people.
2018 has the ball rolling when it comes to films that depict robust representation at the box office. Consider seeing “Crazy Rich Asians” this summer, which will finally give genuine Asian representation that has been long overdue.
