Opinion | Changing stereotypes and a world of Crazy Rich Asians
Blockbuster film raises some issues about stereotypes, but it should be enjoyed for what it is – a story that matters
Much has been made of the potential impact of the box office success in the United States of the film Crazy Rich Asians. From heartfelt social media posts by Asian-American celebrities and everyday people to widely watched appearances on news and entertainment programmes by the film’s cast, director and author, the hope is palpable the film could lead to broadening the representation of Asians and Asian-Americans in US films.
In parts of Asia, including Singapore where I am now based, some of the reactions to the film have had an added, sometimes critical dimension. Some critics have called out the lack of economic and ethnic diversity of the Singaporeans portrayed on screen.
Where are the Singaporeans of Malay and Indian descent? What is the change, they ask, that many are heralding in a film that focuses solely on the richest of the rich among Singapore’s ethnic Chinese?
For me, an Asian and Chinese-American, that discussion should be welcomed as part of a drive for change but should not distract from the film – a movie that matters. The film remains an important step forward and one that Kevin Kwan, author of the book Crazy Rich Asians, on which the film is based, and I addressed on stage at a “Mic’d Up” session at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles earlier this year. Our theme was a world in transition – including, as Kwan’s book and film make clear, the rise of wealth in Asia, and the rising visibility of Asians and now, Asian-Americans, and Chinese and Chinese-Americans.
Asian-Americans, crazy rich or not, just want acceptance
That same changing world is very visible in Hong Kong and also across Southeast Asia, with the rising visibility of mainland tourists, state-owned enterprises and businesses.
Some 25 years have passed since the last major Hollywood production to generate a similar buzz and hopes for change. That was The Joy Luck Club, brought to screen by Hong Kong-born American film director Wayne Wang in 1993 and based on author Amy Tan’s bestselling novel of four Chinese-American women and their mothers, born in feudal China.