Tradition vs Passion? The American Values as the Antithesis of Chinese Ones?
It is surprising that Crazy Rich Asians, the cinematic pride and joy of the Chinese-American community this year (quite honestly, of the last couple of decades) was even shown in theaters here in Japan. It is distinctly lacking multiculturalism, despite its attempt to appeal to all Asians with a distinct story of the newly wealthy Asia and the familiar rags-to-riches Asian migrant story (not to mention the title of the film itself). It is difficult to see what the regular Japanese person is supposed to get out of the movie, considering that it takes place in a distinctively unfamiliar environment and conditions for the Japanese.
Yet, after watching the film, it is remarkable to find the story resonating with people of all backgrounds. While pushing the wealth of the Asian main characters as good marketing, in reality, all the crazy stuff money can buy just falls to the background once the story really starts to grip the audience. The audience soon comes to the realization that, in spite of all the wealth that allows the rich personalities of the film to acquire the best goods and services money can buy, deep down, they are no different from normal people with normal amounts of money. They deal with the same kind of everyday drama, filled with conflicts and love.
The wealth, ultimately, only serves to amplify the conflicts among the members and acquaintances of the "old-money" family in the middle of the story. Who gets to inherit the enormous wealth of the family, and how that wealth is acquired, become a source of constant suspicion among the family members toward outsiders, who are often put in a position of inadequacy where they have to find their own place, not as gold-diggers but independent individuals, under the pressure to excel in a family that has obviously be successful for generations. Social relationships, normally fractured, become even more so under such a unique background.
Yet, the movie tries to simplify the undoubtedly nuanced world of social relationships, particularly among Asians, into something simple and thus universally comprehensible to a large extent. As is often the case in Hollywood blockbusters, the protagonists and antagonists are clearly identified, and each of them is assigned a particular value that she fights for. Interestingly, the two values that are deemed to be in conflict are identified as a distinctively American "passion" of the individual and the "tradition" of the Asian family that preserve certain rules that allow the family and business to thrive.
It is a moment that underlines that the film is ultimately a celebration of American values that allowed Asians to thrive in America, rather than the celebration of the newly minted wealth of Asia. As the film progresses, the audience is shown the sacrifices that the members of the family had to make in order to keep and build upon the obnoxious amount of wealth. The jostling for power among the members produced a unique set of characters, many of which acquired certain toxic outlook on life and others, largely due to the influence of the family's background.
For them, the main protagonist, the Chinese-American daughter of a self-made single immigrant mother, stands as both odd and suspicious. The fact that she ostentatiously displays an utter disregard for the wealth of her boyfriend, the scion of Singapore's richest family, rubs off on his family members the wrong way. Those fighting for the love of the scion and hence, a place in the family, attempt to exclude her socially with materialistic markets of affluence. The female head of the wealthy family finds the protagonist's influence on her son to become more individualistic and less caring about the family business irritating, to say the least.
Given the deep-set conflict in values ground in both ideology and social class, it is unfortunate that the film took to such a rushed, vague resolution of the "passion vs. tradition" debate. With little additional explanation, the matriarch grants her son her well wishes and permits him to disregard the responsibility of taking over the family business to pursue his passion in New York. And all that was needed to change her mind was a couple of blunt talks with the protagonist about her willingness to give up her romance in order to help the family preserve its traditions.
The film has faced many criticisms since its opening in the US. The lack of portrayal of non-Chinese in a multicultural Singapore, in particular, has found opposition among Asian-Americans used to diversity in their everyday lives. While such criticisms have been acknowledged by Chinese-Americans as unavoidable for the first Asian-American film in decades, brushing off the insufficient story development based on a simplistic bipolar portrayal of Asian vs. American values may take more effort than blind encouragement. For Asian-Americans, in film and real life, more representation in America may require a deeper rethink on who they are, what they believe, and how their identity and beliefs should be communicated to the world outside their own.
Yet, after watching the film, it is remarkable to find the story resonating with people of all backgrounds. While pushing the wealth of the Asian main characters as good marketing, in reality, all the crazy stuff money can buy just falls to the background once the story really starts to grip the audience. The audience soon comes to the realization that, in spite of all the wealth that allows the rich personalities of the film to acquire the best goods and services money can buy, deep down, they are no different from normal people with normal amounts of money. They deal with the same kind of everyday drama, filled with conflicts and love.
The wealth, ultimately, only serves to amplify the conflicts among the members and acquaintances of the "old-money" family in the middle of the story. Who gets to inherit the enormous wealth of the family, and how that wealth is acquired, become a source of constant suspicion among the family members toward outsiders, who are often put in a position of inadequacy where they have to find their own place, not as gold-diggers but independent individuals, under the pressure to excel in a family that has obviously be successful for generations. Social relationships, normally fractured, become even more so under such a unique background.
Yet, the movie tries to simplify the undoubtedly nuanced world of social relationships, particularly among Asians, into something simple and thus universally comprehensible to a large extent. As is often the case in Hollywood blockbusters, the protagonists and antagonists are clearly identified, and each of them is assigned a particular value that she fights for. Interestingly, the two values that are deemed to be in conflict are identified as a distinctively American "passion" of the individual and the "tradition" of the Asian family that preserve certain rules that allow the family and business to thrive.
It is a moment that underlines that the film is ultimately a celebration of American values that allowed Asians to thrive in America, rather than the celebration of the newly minted wealth of Asia. As the film progresses, the audience is shown the sacrifices that the members of the family had to make in order to keep and build upon the obnoxious amount of wealth. The jostling for power among the members produced a unique set of characters, many of which acquired certain toxic outlook on life and others, largely due to the influence of the family's background.
For them, the main protagonist, the Chinese-American daughter of a self-made single immigrant mother, stands as both odd and suspicious. The fact that she ostentatiously displays an utter disregard for the wealth of her boyfriend, the scion of Singapore's richest family, rubs off on his family members the wrong way. Those fighting for the love of the scion and hence, a place in the family, attempt to exclude her socially with materialistic markets of affluence. The female head of the wealthy family finds the protagonist's influence on her son to become more individualistic and less caring about the family business irritating, to say the least.
Given the deep-set conflict in values ground in both ideology and social class, it is unfortunate that the film took to such a rushed, vague resolution of the "passion vs. tradition" debate. With little additional explanation, the matriarch grants her son her well wishes and permits him to disregard the responsibility of taking over the family business to pursue his passion in New York. And all that was needed to change her mind was a couple of blunt talks with the protagonist about her willingness to give up her romance in order to help the family preserve its traditions.
The film has faced many criticisms since its opening in the US. The lack of portrayal of non-Chinese in a multicultural Singapore, in particular, has found opposition among Asian-Americans used to diversity in their everyday lives. While such criticisms have been acknowledged by Chinese-Americans as unavoidable for the first Asian-American film in decades, brushing off the insufficient story development based on a simplistic bipolar portrayal of Asian vs. American values may take more effort than blind encouragement. For Asian-Americans, in film and real life, more representation in America may require a deeper rethink on who they are, what they believe, and how their identity and beliefs should be communicated to the world outside their own.
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