Crazy Rich Asians, directed by Jon M. Chu and produced by Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, and John Penotti was released on August 15, 2018, in the United States.
You follow the main character, Rachel Chu (played by Constance Wu), an economics professor at New York University. Her boyfriend, Nick Young (played by Henry Golding), invited her to be his plus one to his friend's wedding in Singapore. Rachel asks why she and her boyfriend aren’t staying with his parents but at a hotel instead. Nick replies saying that he wanted it to just be the two of them for a while before the wedding, but in reality, his mother doesn’t approve of Rachel.
When the two arrive, the pair meet with Nick’s friend Collin (played by Chris Pang), and his soon-to-be wife Araminta (played by Sonoya Mizuno). They hang out and enjoy the nightlife in Singapore. Rachel decides to visit her old college roommate, Goh Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina), and learns that the Youngs (Nick’s family), are extremely wealthy making them near royalty in Singapore.
At the dinner party later that night, Rachel meets Nick’s mother Eleanor (played by Michelle Yeoh). Eleanor immediately has a dislike for Rachel but the grandmother of the family loves her and proceeds to make dumplings with her. At the bachelorette party, Rachel meets Nick’s ex-girlfriend, Amanda Ling (played by Jing Lusi), who tells Rachel she might be rejected due to her status and her modest background. She soon gets her room vandalized by other women who see her as a “gold-digger” but gets comforted by Nick’s cousin Astrid (played by Gemma Chan). Astrid is currently dealing with her husband, Michael, cheating on her. He, like Rachel, comes from a more humble background as well. At Collin’s bachelor party, Nick proceeds to tell Collin that he wants to propose to Rachel and make her his wife. Collin looks wary telling Nick about the potential conflicts that could cause for his family. In addition to their class differences, Rachel loves her job and plans to stay in New York City, while Nick plans to fly back down to Singapore and run his family’s corporation.
Nick soon apologizes to Rachel for not telling her who he really is. This makes way for Eleanor to continue to make jabs at Rachel for her American background, specifically targeting the American unwillingness to place family over self and all of the sacrifices she herself had to make to get into the Young Family. Rachel will never be enough for her or her family.
At the wedding, Nick’s family finds out that Rahcel’s father is still alive and that Rachel is the daughter of an extramarital affair, her mother fleeing to the United States. The family did not want to be associated with this scandal if it were ever leaked to the public. Rachel soon finds out and flees to Peik Lin’s home remaining depressed for several days. Nick proposes to her a few days later promising he would abandon his family, position, and wealth to be with her. Rachel declines.
At the end of the movie, Rachel sets up a meeting with Eleanor at a Mahjong parlor. Mahjong is a tile-based game developed in China. As they start playing, Rachel reveals that she declined Nick’s proposal. She continues to explain that Eleanor put the three of them in a position that was bad for all of them. She loved Nick, and she wanted to marry him, but she didn’t want Nick to leave his family because she knows how much his family meant to him. She gets the winning tile but decides to throw it away and Eleanor grabs the tile, winning the game at the end. Rachel could’ve kept the tile for herself and won, but she didn’t demonstrate her willingness to place family over herself.
In emotional distress, Eleanor meets with Nick and it cuts to Rachel getting back on the plane to New York. Nick runs to the plane and proposes to Rachel, but this time with Eleanor’s ring signifying that Rachel got the blessing of his mother to marry into the family. Rachel says yes and they hold their engagement party in Singapore with Eleanor nodding at Rachel in respect this time.
The cultural influence from China this movie shows is the status of families, the location of Singapore, and most importantly the importance of family. Many Asian families want their kids to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc, and think less of any other careers. They have this notion that anything but those careers will result in their child being poor and unhappy but neglect the fact that these careers could make them unhappy as well. The family and societal pressure get to a lot of people and they end up being in a career they don’t want to be in. Most traditional Asian parents want their kids to marry an Asian, an Asian preferably with a good high-paying job. That can be an issue as shown in Crazy Rich Asians with Rachel and Nick. Some relationships may not end with a happy ending though. Divorce is also seen as a taboo topic in the Asian community. The elders usually assume/want their younger generation to choose their vision over what they want to make them happy. This can be extremely toxic but it’s true. I like that this movie portrayed the beauty of Chinese culture, the elaborate wedding and the characters, as well as the bittersweet Eleanor and her family values.
I remember crying at the end of this movie seeing that Chinese culture is being portrayed accurately but also played by Chinese actors. After seeing the Asian community so disrespected, this was a fresh breath of air.