Asian Americans have come a long way, but American media still maintains an invisible wall between us. Asia is changing. So is Asia America. Asians, the largest majority on the globe, are the fastest growing population in America. But American media and Hollywood can’t catch up with this rapid change in Asian America. After the long history from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the number of Asian immigrants has been increasing. Legal or political oppression against Asians contributes to limited or distorted images of us.
Mickey Rooney’s horrendous characterization of a buck-toothed Japanese man in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” in 1961 sparked disgust and anger among Asian Americans. Similarly, Asian women have been the victims of media images in Hollywood as geishas or passive women. We still suffer from the images of Madame Butterfly or “Sayonara.” Or we are haunted by the extreme archetypes of the Karate fighter or the Tiger mother. In the 2015 film “Aloha”, Emma Stone, who played an Asian woman, eventually came to understand that the film was whitewashing. In 2019, Crazy Rich Asians finally tried to break the invisible wall in Hollywood movies, whether they could see it or not.
Strong economy is another topic. Singapore is rich and cool. Although this is a romantic comedy, the “Crazy Rich” part of the title is the backdrop for all of the action. In the film Goh Wey Mun (Ken Jeong) scolded his children at dinner table, saying “Clean your plates! There’s a lot of children starving in America.” I watched the film in a theater twice. Both times, I laughed at that scene, but I didn’t hear many laughs around me. Did they feel dissonance from what they believe? How many of them were told as children to finish their plates because children were starving in China? Maybe reality is a tough lesson. This joke should make people think about revising their outdate conceptions of Asia and America.
Singapore is the most transformed country in Asia in the 21st century. Singapore’s impoverished society has turned into a wealthy nation in half a century. Now the country is a global economic hub, aligned with New York, Tokyo, London and Paris. Like Liechtenstein, this small country is not only financially rich but academically rich. Behind the economic success, there are innovative education reforms. Singapore has been in the top ranking on all subjects in the world standardized academic assessments, PISA and TIMSS. If you are a teacher, you have heard of Singapore Math.
Crazy Rich Asians is a culturally rich film. The movie was not well-received in Asia, perhaps because it is not a novelty for them to see a movie featuring all Asians. Unlike Asian Americans, Asians in Asia have never suffered from being minorities that are underrepresented by the mainstream culture. Crazy Rich Asians is truly an American film, one that had its greatest impact on Asian Americans.
Asian American women’s images are not the only powerful change in this film. Asian American men’s images are also transformed. In Hollywood movies, Asian women tend to be sexualized, but in the contrary, Asian men tend to be desexualized. Crazy Rich Asians successfully depicted diverse images of Asian men, ranging from funny and comic figures to sexy masculine bodies.
Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh and Awkwafina were presenters at the 2019 Oscar awards, but nobody mentioned Crazy Rich Asians. Maybe a sequel could be be nominated in the future. Crazy Rich Asians still has so many opportunities to receive an Oscar nomination, exploring a Changing Asia and a Changing Asia America.
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