crazy rich asians

so it's taken me 3 weeks to finally watch the film all asian americans are required to support. i couldn't get past the first chapter of the novel, but had a feeling the film would be a better medium for this narrative. it's true there hasn't been a film that truly captures the asian-american experience quite like this. i remember watching the joy luck club over two decades ago and cheering that it was filmed in the vicinity of my school based in the heart of san francisco's chinatown. yes, i saw myself in that film, especially in the strict upbringing i grew up with. what crazy rich asians illuminates is the faction of wealth and appearances that is so prevalent in my personal experiences as a chinese american. as a chiu, not chu or chew or jew, that bit in the film hit close to heart. my family was definitely not rich, but we sure knew folks in those spheres. only the nuevo rich, no old money rich. more mercedes and bmw's vs. bentleys. 

constance wu recorded a great video for the coalition of asian pacifics in in entertainment. 

kat chow of npr's code swtich also wrote a nice piece about watching the film in a largely non-asian and then a largely asian screening. i had the experience of the former and i have to say i laughed at bits that other audience members prolly didn't get. SPOILER ALERT! the loudest cheer came when astrid walks out on her cheating husband. for me as a mah jong player most of my life, the eleanor-rachel stand off scene really paid off imo. when i was riding home on the subway, i overheard a group saying they wanted to learn the game to find out what that hand was. rachel essentially had the equivalent of a royal flush, but passed on the 8 bamboo tile (aka white flag) to eleanor. i'd have to take another view to see if she had all bonus winds. in any case, i thoroughly enjoyed the rom-com and looking forward to seeing the sequel, china rich asian. yay harry shum jr, from my chinatown alma mater, st. mary's.