GoKunming Forums

Crazy Rich Asians

dolphin (509 posts) • 0

- first western movie with an all-asian cast

- top at the box office now

sounds like a trashy film/concept ... or trashy stereotyping ...

anyone seen it?

ricsnapricsnap (193 posts) • +1

The title sounds bad, but I found by chance some interesting news about the issue on the NYT:

How ‘Crazy Rich’ Asians Have Led to the Largest Income Gap in the U.S. nyti.ms/2nSDSu1

ksmcqueen (96 posts) • +5

I met the director of this film briefly in Palo Alto a few weeks ago, he's a 2nd generation Chinese American, nice seeming dude and his mom, who I also met, is from Shanghai and just so friendly. His parents own a very highly recommended Chinese restaurant and are friends with my grandparents. I don't know if having a nice director means anything about the film, but I'll certainly go see it if it comes to Kunming! 加油

bilingualexpat (219 posts) • -1

@ksmcqueen

Are you just about done name-dropping? ;)

Another film adaptation from Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club also seemed to play up racial stereotypes of Western mainstream whilst embody a potluck of authenticity. The inescapable duality of 1st & 2nd generation immigrants.

That 1993 film deserves more trailblazing recognition for Chinese Americans than the over-hyped Crazy Rich Asians.

Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) was another "Asian representation" film that passed the torch, albeit dim to the point of dousing. Unfortunately, the low income plot didn't captivate audiences with eye candy glitz.

Hollywood films marketed as an "all-Asian cast" would've suffered weak box office in the past, let alone top it for two straight weekends.

I say enjoy this one-off while it lasts.

Dazzer (2813 posts) • 0

with mr wanda pouring his money into film industry, expect to see more. there will be a few flops and a few good ones. par for the course

veravdn (44 posts) • +2

I've been listening to the soundtrack over the last couple of days, I really like it. The reviews are good too, so I'd like to see it at some point.

kurtosis (86 posts) • +1

I find it disturbing that the title (which sounds like a bad porn movie) has such an Eurocentric ring to it. It basically reduces the world's most populous continent, Asia, to mainly one ethnicity in one country (Singapore Chinese).

In the west, nobody would call "my big fat Greek wedding" a title like "my big fat European wedding"... but hey, the title "Crazy Rich Asians" is still better than calling it "slant-eye story".

Related forum threads

Login to post