But the more I read and thought about the stakes of the movie, the more I got to thinking about all the times while growing up in the States that I didn't see anyone on TV or in movies who looked like me. My childhood hero after I moved to the United States of A was the Yellow Ranger, the girl who didn't wear a skirt when she was fighting. (I always enjoyed a certain smugness knowing that those fight scenes were taken straight from the Japanese version, in which there was only one female Ranger.) It wasn't until I was in high school that Lucy Liu starred in Ally McBeal and Charlie's Angels (as NOT the brainy one, for a change). Lisa Ling was getting recognition for her work on The View, and Keiko Agena would have a main role in the Gilmore Girls. Eventually we would have movies like Better Luck Tomorrow and Charlotte Sometimes, but it would still be a few years before we would get characters by actors like Sandra Oh in Grey's Anatomy or even, for a brief time, Elizabeth Ho in Melissa & Joey. (OK, so that last one is iffy, but I admit I was excited to see an Asian-American character on a show with my favorite teenage witch.)
Clearly these are only the actors I knew with my limited exposure to media. And I'm sorry, I can't count Zhang Ziyi in Rush Hour 2 as a part of this list. (Or, even, most actors from Memoirs of a Geisha...) That's a whole 'nother discussion right there.
So, long story short, I really wanted to vote with my feet and money by going to watch Crazy Rich Asians in theaters. Even if I didn't care much for the story. Even if I might walk out at the end wanting to throw up a little at all the moneyness portrayed on screen. Even, even...
But dang it, can I be honest? I was tearing up by the time the opening credits were rolling. I can't even explain why—it was this feeling of, "Holy shit, I'm sitting in a theater, watching a movie with basically an Asian cast, and there are lots of other people here!!!"
Aside from a really thoughtful piece about the film on BBC and two other reviews I'd read online, I didn't go in knowing much about either the film or the book. I'm sure there are many things I missed about the story because of that, but I don't think it detracted from just how much I enjoyed watching the film adaptation.
The truth is, though, I started crying around Araminta and Colin's wedding and couldn't stop for the rest of the movie. In fact, I was basically bawling through the entire end credits, I'm pretty sure people leaving the theater thought I was crazy (though not crazy rich).
If you don't like spoilers, you should stop reading here. You can just take the take-away message, which is, "Sometimes, unfortunately, money speaks louder than words—so please go watch Crazy Rich Asians in theaters." But if you don't mind spoilers, or if you've read the movie synopsis on Wikipedia already, carry on.
So, you know what really got me about Crazy Rich Asians? It's the mothers. It's Michelle-fucking-Yeoh, who is brilliant and beautiful and amazing not just as a martial artist but also as a drama actor. Her expressions and the way she carries herself are enough to make me want to be like her when I grow up. (And really, isn't that what role models are all about?) I just loved her as Nick's controlling and loving mother.
But it's also Tan Kheng Hua, who plays Rachel's mother. Though I know nothing about the actress, the scenes she shares with Constance Wu in the second half of the film absolutely broke my heart. That moment where she comes to see Rachel at Peik Lin's (er, who am I kidding, Awkwafina's) house, it's like... you know, sometimes you want to see your mother, and other times you don't. And Rachel may not have wanted to see her mother in that moment, but I'm pretty sure that was a very good thing for her regardless.
What really killed me, though, was that scene where Yeoh's character Eleanor goes to meet Rachel at the mahjong parlor. The two play mahjong at the table for four, articulating all the reasons why things have gone down the way they have. Actually, it was inconsequential for me what Rachel said to Eleanor in that moment. It didn't really matter this whole "It was because of me" business. I mean, if Eleanor were the kind of person who would change her mind just because some Econ professor could beat her at mahjong, we wouldn't have the story in the first place. But what absolutely killed me was when, on her way out, Rachel stops by a table and is joined by her mother, who had been sitting there the whole time.
In that moment I was just like, "Oh my gaaaaaaaah!!" Tan's character Kerry stands up and joins her daughter, as they both walk out of the mahjong parlor. But Kerry turns around to look at Eleanor before she does. And hot darn, that look. In that brief moment I saw so many things etched into Tan's expression. It was a look that said, "You're the one giving my daughter hell?" "You don't deserve to have my daughter in your family." "My daughter will find someone who loves her much more than your son does." "How dare you tell my daughter what I've been wanting to tell her all these years?"
It was, in short, a look between two mothers. Mothers who, for wanting to love their children in the only way they know how, make some questionable decisions. Mothers who want their children to be happy, to be with partners who won't make their lives difficult for them. Mothers who want to protect their children and keep them close, for as long as humanly possible. Mothers who do so many wrong things because they are made to occupy that role in the institution of the family.
But for Kerry's character, it cuts deeper. The experience of being young, falling in love, making decisions one way or the other. Of being weak, or being made weak. Of witnessing people change in front of your eyes, feeling the fear of being hurt by them. Of falling in love again but being made to think that there is something wrong with that. Of being racked by shame and guilt, not being able to tell your daughter about her father, who was not your legal husband.
And then having someone violate you and stripping you of the choice to speak or not.
Yeah, the younger actors are fun to watch (and I admit I drool every time Gemma Chan comes on screen)—but if I got to make a sequel without having read any of Kwan's novels, I would make it all about Kerry and Eleanor.
Anyway, enough of all this crazy rich talk. Most importantly: Did you hear how Ken Jeong's character went to Cal State Fullerton?! Boo-yah!
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