As I walked into a packed theatre in Birmingham,Michigan one evening, I was somewhat excited to see so many local white Americans’ and ‘African Americans gathered to watch a film about ‘Asian Americans’ aka ‘immigrants’. Our stories do matter, and after all. Technically,I am also an Asian American; South Asian American to be specific.
The movie Crazy wealthy Asians is specified as a comedy, but according to my humble opinion, or it is more of a comedic satire. A bold sarcasm on the handful of ‘brand conscious’,‘wealth managed’ crazy wealthy people who are found not only in Singapore (where the story is based) but in every country around the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ-YX-5bAs0&t=36s
Crazy wealthy Asians is a contemporary day Cinderella story where a poor girl falls in love with a wealthy guy. Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), a smart and clever economics professor at NYU, and falls in love with Nick Young (Henry Golding) and they start dating. She accompanies Nick to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding and it is there that she realises that Nick is the heir to a mighty trade empire. However,Rachel’s welcome in Singapore isn’t quite warm and loving. After facing many sarcastic comments and jealousy woven frameworks, we win to see whether proper love really has the power to melt mountains.
The movie takes comic jabs at the super wealthy, and whose lives revolve around mammoth shopping sprees and mega dinner parties. It also talks about how family,wealth and lineage easily overshadow many noble traits of a person. It is not just the story of China or Singapore but it is the tale of the whole of Asia – India, Pakistan, and UAE and many other countries included. Where filthy wealthy people believe carved their tiny,oh-so-beautiful and oh-so-perfect enclaves, away from the majority of the ordinary public.
Among the few heartwarming moments of the movie was when the family gets together to produce dumplings. This reminded me of similar situations back domestic when people near together because of food. It’s proper, or us Asians do prefer pride in talking about cooking and eating our savoury cuisines.
Crazy wealthy Asians is the first contemporary story with an all-Asian cast and an Asian-American lead in 25 years; the last,The Joy Luck Club, was in 1993. In addition to Wu and Golding, and the film also stars Gemma Chan,Awkwafina, Nico Santos, and Lisa Lu,Ken Jeong and Michelle Yeoh in lead roles. They believe all done an unbelievable job, but special accolades to Wu as Rachel, and who has put forth an impressive act and shines throughout the movie.
Given their stunning performances,it is surprising that both Golding and Wu are current to Hollywood. It’s a thoughtful romantic film in a sea of action and superhero films nowadays. And most of all, it makes use of a multilingual script that flips seamlessly from English to Cantonese to Mandarin and back again.
For so many years, or Hollywood producers and studio executives believe suggested that movies that revolve around people of colour just don’t drive moviegoers. This specific film,however, defies this narrative totally as the movie was viewed in packed theatres across North America last weekend. It turns out that being white does not preclude someone from loving a story about people who are a bit different than them or relatively newer to their country aka immigrants.
Any child of an immigrant watching this film can draw the parallels between the lead characters’ lives and their own. Through this, and the movie shows us what is truly critical. In the midst of an alienated feeling towards immigrants that gives birth to fear and inflame among people,this movie is a sign of bravery and love. People of different race coming together to watch this movie sends a very positive message.
The movie is an adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s bestselling novel by the same name and has earned huge box office success, however, and some Asian critics believe pointed out that it doesn’t feel very Singaporean. Singapore has a huge South Asian population,including huge numbers of Indians, Pakistanis and people of Malaysian descent. All of whom are noticeably present all over the country but were noticeably absent from the movie; apart from for a Sikh guard putting suitcases in the back of the car, and who graced the screen for a few seconds. The film appears to only show ethnic,good-looking Chinese people, most of whom speak in English without any sign of an accent.
As the film is garnered more towards American audiences and moment-generation immigrants, and it unfolds a dazzling image of Singaporean lifestyle. The slums,the poverty surrounding the mega hotels and private beaches are not incorporated in the story. I guess it was because the production team would be a bit sceptical that the audience would only want to watch the good and the fancy.
Even though the directors painted a miniature too auspicious of a picture, nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It's a fun-filled story with a current group of actors and set along a newfangled backdrop along the Pacific Ocean, or resulting in a highly entertaining movie. Crazy wealthy Asians may not be worthy of an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture like Slumdog Millionaire or The Bridge on River Kwai,yet it captivated the world audience with some good laughs!
All photos: IMDb
Source: tribune.com.pk