As I walked into the movie theater, I instantly caught a whiff of the popcorn. Although I've already ate, I still couldn't resist not buying a bucket of that buttery mess. About 10 minutes into Crazy Rich Asians, I began regretting my purchase. 10 more minutes had pass and I finally sat my popcorn down. I just couldn't take another bite of that or the Twix bar I had bought. And dear lord, if my mom was here, I knew that she would have been disappointment with my $10 popcorn purchase that I didn't even finished.
It started with the Singapore night market scene, a very familiar scenario that remained me of my own family and culture. Food vendors lined up and down the block, back-to-back from each other offering a variety of Asian food. You got your rice noodles, chicken feet, wonton, hokkien mee, satays, and fishball noodle soup, just about everything you can find at any Asian night market whether you were in Singapore, Vietnam or Malaysia . It was just an amazing feeling seeing all of the different types of Asian food that the kids at school would find stinky or gross. It wasn't another burger, pizza or plate of pasta appearing on the silver screen - it was Asian food; the food that I grew up with. The food that defined my childhood. The food that help bonded my family together. It was my food.
Throughout Crazy Rich Asians, there were so many food-filled scenes that was carefully woven into the film. And if you paid very close attention, you would see that almost every important scene was filmed around food. For example, when Eleanor and Rachel first meet, it was in Eleanor's kitchen as she was prepping for the party. Same goes with the symbolic dumpling scene when Eleanor lectures Rachael about preserving the family tradition or "they'll disappear."
Food has always been seen as an act of devotion in Asian culture.
In Asian families, we don't say "I love you" or "I miss you," instead we offer food - like a lot of it- more than you can eat. Food is also a way to bond among the young and older generation, as it's the one thing everyone has in common despite having different hobbies and/or careers. It a time where we catch each other up on our day and life while making our favorite meals. A simple act that means so much more.
And of course, it was so hard to keep my mouth shut and not to drool over all the good Asian food filled scenes that was in the film.
And the fact that the movie theater didn't offer any dumplings on opening night of Crazy Rich Asians was such a shame. I got tired of munching on popcorn after 20 minutes. And the candy wasn't doing any better either. At that moment there, I wanted wontons not Twix; I wanted chicken feet not chicken tenders; I wanted dumplings not popcorn. I wanted my kind of food.
So, I advise all Asians who plan on seeing Crazy Rich Asians to sneak in your favorite Asian dish (that's quiet, of course) into the theater because it will make you appreciate why food is so important in our culture and the significance it holds so closely to our hearts.
And just because someone idiot finds it gross or stinky doesn't mean you have to be ashamed of it and live to their standards. Skip the damn overpriced popcorn and get yourself some dim sum. And if anyone has anything to say about our "smelly" food, I would slowly eat it right in front of them, letting the smell overwhelmed them until they can't stand it anymore and leave. Your ass paid for that ticket and you deserve to munch on something that you love.
Support Asian-American films and go see Crazy Rich Asians today.
