Since I watched the "Crazy Rich Asians" brilliantly edited trailer, I have been counting down the days until I could see the movie. I've been waiting for a good, classic romantic comedy of this generation to come along and make me want to fall in love, and this film did just that. It's everything you could ever want in a studio film, with more layers than what you see on the surface. It's not just a romantic comedy, but a movie about family and culture.
"Crazy Rich Asians" tells the story of NYU professor Rachel Chu (played by my favorite Constance Wu) who goes to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick Young (played by newcomer Henry Golding) for his best friend's wedding. On the way there, she finds out that her man's family is actually super rich, which takes her on a trip she wasn't prepared for. Nick's mom, Eleanor (played by the incredible Michelle Yeoh) is protective of her son and has groomed him to take over the Young company. She views Rachel as a foreigner and doesn't approve of Nick's choice of a girlfriend. Rachel finds herself on a journey to try and prove that she is deserving of being with Nick in a world that she doesn't understand, with the help of her college friend who also ends up being rich, Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina).
One of my favorite things about this movie, which might be a bit of a spoiler (but should be a given because we all know what kind of movies this is), was how pure the love between Rachel and Nick is. Rachel loves Nick so much that she is willing to let him go in order to be with someone his family would approve of. And Nick loves Rachel so much he's willing to leave his family behind to be with her. It's so cute and makes me believe in love. Rachel doesn't get caught up in the money, she actually couldn't care less about it, she just simply wants to be with Nick. Another great thing about this film is that the soundtrack is one amazing song after the other. Please don't ask me how many times I've listened to Miguel's “Vote" since seeing the film because it's an embarrassing amount. Plus, everyone in this film is BEAUTIFUL, which made it even better.
It's been 25 years since The Joy Luck Club came out and achieved success with an all-Asian cast, and "Crazy Rich Asians" looks like it's going to achieve the same success and maybe even more. "Crazy Rich Asians" is more than just a great romantic comedy and family movie, it's a trailblazer for hopefully more films with predominantly Asian casts. We're still living in a time when 1% of lead roles in films go to Asian actors.
The success of this film is so incredibly important because NEWSFLASH: films need more diversity. Even though we are trying to bring more attention to that fact and are creating momentum, there are still whitewashing trash films being made like "Ghost in the Shell" and "Aloha." Luckily, audiences have not been kind to movies like these and they have been deemed "flops," but that still doesn't help that fact that roles made for people of color are still being given to white actors in this day and age.
And I don't care if some small-minded white people think "Well I can't relate to movies with people of color in lead roles," because people of color have been watching films with all white casts for decades—since film was invented—and have been able to find any small aspect they can in order to relate it to their own lives. So I think we can begin to do the same. I was able to relate to this movie because, like Rachel, I grew up living with just my mom and had to deal with people judging us and my upbringing. On the other side of that though, it was so interesting to see another cultures perspective of what an "ideal family" is and the pressures that come with that.
Go see "Crazy Rich Asians." You won't regret it, I promise.
