I have been on my toes in anticipation for Crazy Rich Asians since Entertainment Weekly put the film’s stars, Constance Wu and Henry Golding, on its cover in November. It is 25 years since Wayne Wang’s Chinese-American family saga The Joy Luck Club and, ever since, Hollywood has largely avoided commissioning south-east Asian (SEA) and east Asian (EA) stories. But the movie’s seductive, funny trailer suggests it will mark an important moment for both communities’ presence in the mainstream.
Directed by John M Chu, adapting Kevin Kwan’s bestselling book, the film portrays the opulent lives of affluent south-east Asians through the conventional, commercial lens of romantic comedy. The all-Asian cast is led by Wu, best known for her role in US sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, playing an economics professor who travels with boyfriend Nick (British-Malaysian actor Golding) to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding only to discover he is the son of the richest families in town (“The Prince William of Asia”, as she calls him). Rachel has to navigate the Dynasty-like world of Singapore’s wealthy elite, and avoid the sharp tongue of Nick’s mother, Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh), who, in the words of Rachel’s brazen friend, played by the comedian Awkwafina, is just like an “unrefined banana: yellow on the outside, white on the inside”.
As a half-Chinese woman born in pre-handover Hong Kong, role models of my own ethnicity were extremely limited in mainstream cinema. Disney’s Mulan from 1998 (which is currently being made into a live-action feature), remains an important, if flawed, part of my upbringing. The persistent lack of SEA/EA stories and ongoing negative pastiches and stereotypes – which I discovered working in the arts – led producers to deem our stories as “too risky”. However, in recent years, these issues have begun to be addressed.
Public debates around whitewashing and the stereotyping and marginalisation of minorities on screen and stage, are finally having an impact. On this site, Yuan Ren spoke of the damaging “depiction of Chinese men as sexually impaired”, a stereotype I am happy to report seems to have been exchanged in this film for smart and sexy (we see several impressively toned torsos of our Asian male leads in the trailer). But Crazy Rich Asians has not been without controversy. There has been criticism of the casting of Golding, who some claimed “wasn’t Asian enough” (the actor was forced to defend his own heritage), while criticism of its representation of people in Singapore persists. Regardless, excitement surrounding the trailer has drowned out most of those negative voices. In the UK, we still have a long way to go. Back in December, there was a virulent backlash against BBC Three’s comedy pilot Chinese Burn, which, despite its best intentions, managed to reinforce the stereotypes it claimed to break down.
In contrast, US television has led the way in increasing EA/SEA representation, with shows that give us unique and diverse stories, and prioritise the casting of east Asian or south-east Asian actors. Just to name a few: Dr Ken, Selfie, Master of None, Into the Badlands, Andi Mack, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. As a great fan of romcoms, I am similarly enthused by the potential of Crazy Rich Asians, even if the film does not end up fully delivering as the beacon of change the community has hoped for.
