The Asian Persuasion: My thoughts on “Crazy Rich Asians” trailer

By: Nguyen

I’m a type of individual who enjoys good (as well as not-so-great) movies. When I first saw the trailer for Crazy Rich Asians (2018), I had mixed feelings. Should I watch this movie because it had an “Asian-American Cast”? Should I buy tickets to show my support since we all know that there is a lack of  “Asian Representation” in mainstream media..? Or should I not watch it because it does not “really” represent the Asian community as a whole? Since it is a story about “rich” Asians. Perhaps, we need a film like Black Panther (2018) or Get Out (2017) that investigate the dynamics between Asian-America and their conjunction with white America. This trailer reeks of a movie studio wanting to exploit “Asianness”, rather than expose the racism in North America in which Asian-Americans are struggling. Sigh. I am in a predicament in which I want an Asian-American lead protagonist to succeed in the box office, yet the movie I feel is not really about “Asian” identity. I have some concerns that I want to talk about.

First off, the trailer made it out to be an Asian version of a Tyler Perry movie. There are many people in the African-American community that criticize Tyler Perry for his films promoting a negative, or stereotypical image of black people. For instance, Madea is a loud southern woman. According to Spike Lee about Tyler Perry:

“Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors, but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today that is coonery buffoonery.”

Jamilah Lemieux criticized Tyler Perry for:

“old stereotypes of buffoonish, emasculated black men and crass, sassy black women.”

Secondly, the Crazy Rich Asian (2018) trailer may have negative stereotypes. For instance, the mother of the male lead, Eleanor Sung-Young played by Michelle Yeoh is a strict and overprotective mother (AKA Tiger mom). Tiger moms are considered a mother that forces her children to achieve academic excellence and greatest! This stereotype may be true for some people, but definitely not for all. My mom (as well as Wing’s mom) supported their children by letting them flourish on their own and by helping them pursue what they’re passionate about through words of affirmation. Let just hope I am wrong about this stereotype for this movie.

Also, let us hope the character “Goh Wye Mun” played by Ken Jeong, and “Goh Peik Lin” played by Awkwafina are not the new reincarnation of “Long Duk Dong”. The “stupid/fool” caricature has been haunting Asians (by the mainstream media) for decades and thus, result in the emasculation of Asian men and internalized racism among Asian women. Also, you guys know my opinions on the Korean-American actor, Ken Jeong in my previous blog post. Fingers crossed that Ken Jeong can refrain from using his “Mr. Chow / Senor Chang” persona and finally portray a character that shines a positive light on Asian men. Also, let us hope the film does not use “lampshading” to resolve the criticism.

Thirdly,  the novel contains racism against the Asian community. Hopefully, the film removes racism remarks, internalized racism remarks, cliche, and outdated stereotypes (e.g., height) that was originally featured in the novel. Can this film empower Asian women and Asian men, similar to how Get Out (2017) and Black Panther (2018) empowered the black community? A person (u/Ifou0) on subreddit, read the whole book of Crazy Rich Asians. Here are some quotes below that could be alarming to the Asian and Asian-American Communities:

PART 1: CHAPTER 2

The place of honor on Carol’s Qing dynasty Huanghuali bed was always reserved for Eleanor, for even though this was Carol’s house and she was the one married to the billionaire financier,  Carol still deferred to her. This was the way things had been since their childhood as neighbors growing up on Serangoon Road, mainly because, coming from a Chinese-speaking family, Carol had always felt inferior to Eleanor, who was brought up speaking English first.

PART 1: CHAPTER 11

For Rachel, the problem began practically the day she hit puberty. She began to notice a phenomenon that occurred whenever an Asian of the opposite sex entered the room. The Asian male would be perfectly nice and normal to all the other girls, but special treatment would be reserved for her. First, there was the optical scan: the boy would assess her physical attributes in the most blatant way–quantifying every inch of her body by a completely different set of standards than he would use for non-Asian girls. How big were her eyes? Were they double-lidded naturally, or did she have that eyelid surgery? How light was her skin? How straight and glossy was her hair? Did she have good child-birthing hips? Did she have an accent? And how tall was she really, without heels on? (At five foot seven, Rachel was on the tall side, and Asian guys would sooner shoot themselves in the groin than date a taller girl.)

If she happened to pass this initial hurdle, the real test would begin. Her Asian girlfriends all knew this test. They called it the “SATs.” The Asian male would begin a not so covert interrogation focused on the Asian female’s social, academic, and talent aptitudes in order to determine whether she was possible “wife and bearer of my sons” material. This happened while the Asian male not so subtly flaunted his own SAT stats–how many generations his family had been in America; what kind of doctors his parents were; how many musical instruments he played;  the number of tennis camps he went to;  which Ivy League scholarships he turned down;  what model BMW, Audi, or Lexus he drove;  and the approximate number of years before he became  (pick one) chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief technology officer, chief law partner, or chief surgeon.

PART 1: CHAPTER 14 footnote

Not to be confused with the Singapore academy where the students are taught in–horrors–Mandarin,

PART 1: CHAPTER 15

Every man cheats. This is Asia. Every guy has his mistresses, girlfriends, flings on the side. It’s a normal thing. A status thing. Get used to it. Great-grandpa had dozens of concubines. Uncle Freddie had that whole other family in Taiwan. And how many mistresses has cousin Eddie had by now? I’ve lost count.

PART 1: CHAPTER 16

(Meeting the Gohs)

Everyone went around shaking hands with Rachel, who couldn’t help but notice that none of them happened to be over five foot five

PART 1: CHAPTER 18

Remember, this is Asia, and first impressions can be deceiving. You know most Asians hoard their money…these rich Asians so secretive about their holdings

PART 2: CHAPTER 2

Whether the Chinese want to admit it or not, the true connoisseur-ship of Asian art was outside of China for much of the last century, so that’s where a lot of the museum-quality pieces ended up–in Europe and America.

PART 2: CHAPTER 5

But then Michael appeared, and suddenly everything went into slow motion. He was taller and bigger than most Asian men,

PART 2: CHAPTER 13

“That’s not the case over here. No matter how advanced we’ve become, there’s still tremendous pressure for girls to get married. Here, it doesn’t matter how successful a woman is professionally. She isn’t considered complete until she is married and has children.

PART 2: CHAPTER 16

Even from a young age, Wye Mun had been made aware that being the Chinese-educated son of a Hainanese immigrant put him at a disadvantage to the aristocratic Straits Chinese landowners or the Hokkiens that dominated the banking industry. …His eldest son had done well by marrying the daughter of a junior MP, a Cantonese girl who was brought up a Christian, no less.

PART 3: CHAPTER 2

and Annabel (originally An-Liu Bao of Urümqi) wanted their young daughter to benefit from Singapore’s more Westernized–and in her eyes, superior–education system. …she longed to reinvent herself on a more sophisticated island where the ladies understood Armani and spoke perfect accentless English. She wanted Araminta to grow up speaking perfect accentless English.

PART 3: CHAPTER 3

“Yes, yes, you’ve said it for years. You have nothing to leave me, I’m the girl, everything has to go to Teddy,” Amanda lamented sarcastically.

PART 3: CHAPTER 5

Alistair’s auntie Felicity lived in an old wooden house with old Chinese furniture that wasn’t even polished properly. They were nothing compared to the rich families she knew in China, who lived in huge newly built mansions decorated by top designers from Paris France.

PART 3: CHAPTER 7

People like Mrs. Lee were used to only one kind of Chinese wedding banquet–the kind that took place in the grand ballroom of a five-star hotel. There would be gorging on salted peanuts during the interminable wait for the fourteen-course dinner to begin, the melting ice sculptures, the outlandish floral centerpieces, the society matron invariably offended by the faraway table she had been placed at, the entrance of the bride, the malfunctioning smoke machine, the entrance of the bride again and again in five different gowns throughout the night, the crying child choking on a fish ball, the three dozen speeches by politicians, token ang mor executives and assorted high-ranking officials of no relation to the wedding couple, the cutting of the twelve-tier cake, someone’s mistress making a scene, the not so subtle counting of cash envelopes by some cousin, the ghastly Canto pop star flown in from Hong Kong to scream some pop song

PART 3: CHAPTER 7

     “Who’s the guy with her? The one in the diamond-studded jacket who looks like he’s wearing eye shadow?” Rachel queried.

     “That’s her husband, Adam, and he is wearing eye shadow,” Oliver answered.

     “They’re married? Really?” Rachel raised a doubting eyebrow.

     “Yes, and they even have three children to prove it. You have to understand, many Hong Kong men revel in being fashionistas–they are dandies in the truest sense of the word. How flamboyantly dressed they might be is no indication of which team they play on.”

PART 3: CHAPTER 7

     “And you know how Malcolm is. He’s a traditional Cantonese man–what remaining money he has will all go to his eldest son.”

PART 3: CHAPTER 8 footnote

Among the ginseng connoisseurs of Asia, the ginseng from Washington State is more prized than anything from China. Go figure.

PART 3: CHAPTER 20

(Rachel’s mother recounts her childhood)

It was so hard to get into university in those days, especially if you were a girl,

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Kevin Kwan

These quotes from the novel are very concerning, especially since the author, Kevin Kwan, is an Asian-American. I am not sure whether he meant what he wrote, or whether he is writing this novel to appeal to predominately caucasian readers (and what he thinks the publishers would like). Therefore, its all about the money for him and not really about his “community”. I feel that having an Asian-American author writing negative connotations about Asians and/or perpetuating stereotypes hurts more to the Asian community than if it was written by a Caucasian author. Since, bigoted people will have another excuse (or ammo) to say negative remarks to Asians by just saying: “It’s just a joke, Kevin Kwan is Asian and he joked about it before!”.

Jon M. Chu

Another concern about the film is the director’s lack of foresight and knowledge about the issue the Asian community in America faces. On August 1st, 2018, news has surfaced about how Constance Wu urged ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ director, Jon M. Chu (who is also Asian-American) to remove the part about “never dating Asian Men” from the script. What does it say about this Asian-American director, who needed someone to tell him to change that line in the script? It is obviously wrong to put that line in the script which will regress Asian men to inferiority. I propose a question for you readers: Knowing what you know now, is it hard to root for the novel’s main protagonist, Rachel Chu (played by Constance Wu) who holds racist attitudes towards Asian men, and on top of everything still illustrated as an affectionate and courageous person?

Another question: Is it a progressive move on Constance Wu’s part to remove “never dating Asian men” line? Or is it erasing the real issue in the Asian community?

Lastly, I do not know how I feel about the cast members of Crazy Rich Asian (2018) not commenting “well” on the controversy about Asian issues and how they present themselves. I understand some readers will say “What do cast members’ opinions and behaviours have to do with the film or how the audiences perceive the film?” Good question! We need “woke” Asian cast members that are aware of the current affairs in order to effect change and bring forth accountability to the film and movie studio.

For instance, Henry Golding says to The Hollywood Reporter while promoting the movie Crazy Rich Asians (2018) that he wants to continue to go for leading man roles:

“That’s the intention, really, with a trajectory of staying as a leading man, a colorblind leading man. I can only hope that we do keep getting those meaty, good leading roles. I think now’s the right time.”

I believe he is wrong about colourblind casting. The colorblindness ideology is troublesome. There are Caucasians who strive to differentiate themselves from their more openly racist counterparts by stating things such as “I don’t see color”, which I believe is an equivalent to saying “I have a black friend” or “My wife is Asian”. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva defined colourblindness as a subtle, but more harmful approach/ideology for Caucasians to avoid talking about race and the root cause of racism (Medium, 2017). For instance, you may hear them say “we’re all part of the same race: the human race … and why do you always making everything about race”.

Many sociologists are critical of colorblindness:

“the mechanisms that reproduce racial inequality have become more covert and obscure than they were during the era of open, legal segregation, the language of explicit racism has given way to a discourse of colorblindness. But they fear that the refusal to take public note of race actually allows people to ignore manifestations of persistent discrimination”

Another comment from Henry Goldings about the controversy of him being ” less Asian” on The View:

Although the View panelists were so dismissive of the criticism perhaps they may not know the situation facing Asian in America. First off, women of the View need to know that Asian-American is underrepresented in the media, and when a mixed-race actor/actress that can pass as white or ambiguous then it is somewhat a slap in the face to many Asian people, in a sense that we do not have the “appearance” (European features) to succeed in Hollywood or our “Asian” facial features are not welcome in Hollywood unless you play a role as a fool (e.g., Mr. Chow, Long Duk Dong) or a kung-fu master, but never a romantic lead. Hence, the emasculation of Asian men and internalized racism among Asian women (e.g., standard of beauty). For example, Sandra Oh’s admission of internalized racism.

Dora Milaje from Black Panther (2018)

It is the same for dark-skinned black actress versus light skin black actress. That is why one of the reasons Black Panther (2018) was so successful because it brings dark-skinned black actresses to the forefront as powerful, intelligent, independent individuals, thus the movie destroyed stereotypes (e.g., angry black women). There was a light-skinned black actress (biracial) by the name of Amandla Stenberg that came out and said she did not accept the offer to be part of Black Panther (2018) film because she wanted dark-skinned black actresses to shine, due to lack of opportunity for them before! Of course, there was a backlash with her comment which sounds like she is too “good” for the role, or she is “better” than other actresses. I believe she is being sincere … what’s the point of her addressing it? is it for her ego?

My question to readers: Are mixed Asian and non-mixed Asian actors situation similar or parallel to light-skinned and dark-skinned black actresses in terms of opportunities to be a strong protagonist / romantic leads?

Again, Asian-American casting in Hollywood films is such a rarity, so when they put a mixed actor as the romantic lead in a major blockbuster movie, it is soul crushing for many people. Perhaps, Hollywood is not comfortable putting Asian people in the forefront (Sharp, 2009). The controversy is not about Henry Goldings “Not ASIAN Enough”, because he is definitely Asian! It is about people just wanting to know the reason behind mixed Asian actors are getting a better chance to play the heroic figure / romantic lead and the non-mixed Asians are always the bad or stereotypical guys and never a romantic lead or the main protagonist that stop the bad guys. I believe it has to do more with movie studios trying to set a “standard of beauty” among the Asian community (aka erasure of Asian features). If these leading roles came along more frequently for non-mixed Asian, it would not be an issue. I have to applaud Henry Goldings for not dismissing the criticism on The View! Like he said, there should be a conversation! Whether you are mixed or not mixed Asian-American you’re always struggling with your identity… we are considered “foreign” in both worlds.

Question: What do you readers think the majority of the population in Western countries (e.g., US, Canada, UK) think the most attractive Asian-American actors/actresses: “Maggie Q & Daniel Henney”, or “Lucy Liu & Steven Yeun”? (I understand that the answer will be subjective)

The question at hand is just me saying there is a hidden bias in mainstream movies/ tv shows in terms of standard of beauty among Asian-American actors/actresses and how the studio pick and choose how they want Asian-American actors to portray certain roles.

List of some mixed Asians in films/tv shows:

Ross Butler

• Maggie Q (Irish/Polish, Vietnamese): Nikita (TV series); Divergent film series
• Daniel Henney (Irish, Korean): My Lovely Sam Soon (more popular in South Korea than Hollywood)
• Lewis Tan (Chinese, British): Deadpool 2 (other projects forthcoming)
• Vanessa Hudgens (Irish/Native American, Filipino): High School Musical
• Chloe Bennet (Chinese, Caucasian American): Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Jessica Henwick (English, Singaporean Chinese): Iron Fist, Game of Thrones
• Forrest Wheeler (Caucasian American, Chinese): Fresh Off the Boat
• Darren Criss (Caucasian, Filipino): Glee, The Assassination of Gianni Versace
• Charles Melton (Caucasian, Cherokee, Korean): Riverdale, The Sun Is Also a Star (forthcoming)
• Ross Butler (British/Dutch, Malaysian Chinese): 13 Reasons Why, Riverdale
• Geraldine Viswanathan (Tamil, Swiss): Blockers, The Package
• Chai Hansen (Australian, Thai): The Legend Of The Monkey
• Kristin Kreuk (Dutch, Chinese): Smallville, Burden of Truth
• Dean Cain (Tanaka) (French Canadian, Irish, Japanese and Welsh): Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
• Olivia Munn (English, Irish, German, Chinese): X‑Men: Apocalypse, Magic Mike
• Michaela Conlin (Irish, Chinese): Bones, Enchanted, The Disappointments Room
• Russell Wong (Dutch, French, Chinese): Romeo Must Die, Vanishing Son
• Shay Mitchell (Irish, Scottish, Filipina): Pretty Little Liars, Mother’s Day
• Booboo Stewart (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Scottish, and Blackfoot): X‑Men: Days of Future Past, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• Ian Anthony Dale (French, English, Japanese): Hawaii Five‑0, Murder in the First, Tekken
• Keanu Reeves (Chinese, English, Irish, Native Hawaiian, and Portuguese): Matrix, John Wick

List of some non-mixed Asians in films/tv shows:

Steven Yeun

• Lucy Liu (Chinese): Elementary, Charlie’s Angels
• Kal Penn (Indian): House, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
• Margaret Cho (Korean): Drop Dead Diva
• Brenda Song (Chinese): The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
• John Cho (Korean): Searching, Columbus, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
• Steven Yeun (Korean): The Walking Dead, Okja
• Ken Jeong (Korean): Hangover, The Community
• Kelly Marie Tran (Vietnamese): Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Aziz Ansari (Indian): Master of None
• Mindy Kaling (Indian): The Mindy Project
• Daniel Wu – Tomb Raider, Into the Badlands
• Scarlett Johannson (Japanese): The Ghost in the Shell (I’m joking)

The issue of mixed Asian and non-mixed Asian is complicated, multifaceted and need to be discussed more in our Asian community. I hope I brought some attention to this issue.

Another example of a casting member’s actions and opinions about the movie industry is Constance Wu. Where she justifies portrayal of human trafficking if it means more Asian female gets an opportunity to get more roles and a higher salary. According to her twitter seen below, she is fine with playing a submissive Asian prostitute.

Her message tells me that she has a “price tag” and this situation changed my mind about how I feel regarding Crazy Rich Asian (2018) and the film‘s accountability to not perpetuate Asian stereotypes, and perhaps may use lampshading to not properly answer the audience’s criticisms.

Nevertheless, Crazy Rich Asian (2018) trailer may not do the film justice, like an old saying “Never judge a book by its cover”. Unfortunately, Wing is not going to watch the film no matter what because she thinks the film is basically a “white” movie with Asian cast members. However, I think I will watch it in order to see in fact what I wrote in this blog is true or not. I don’t want people to say “you can’t criticize it without watching it first!”. Off-topic, I am definitely watching Searching (2018) played John Cho, and BlacKkKlansman (2018).

Love reading my blog post, please read my other post:

• Ching Chong Ling Long Portrayal: Asian American Actors in Hollywood
• Asian-Canadian Identity
• Examining Ghost in the Shell (2017) and Rub & Tug: The Outrageous Case of Scarlett Johansson

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What do readers think? Please comment below your opinions and concerns about my reaction to Crazy Rich Asian (2018) trailer. I love to read people’s feedback, especially comments that oppose my point of view! Who knows, you readers may change my mind! 😉