Asian Millenials

SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD!

I've watched many movies in my 17 years on this planet and I'm certainly not a fan of romance. Your typical romance consists of a reckless best friend, an impossibly perfect man and a shy/smart/artsy bookworm. Crazy, Rich Asians! however, is definitely a gamechanger.

Modern:

CRA is definitely a movie of its time, displaying a modern, first world problem. Let me explain: A woman worked hard, is educated and successful and living a comfortable life with the man she loves - the only problem is her nightmare of a mother-in-law. It sounds boring and usual but it actually goes deeper.

Gen X vs Millenials:

It goes deeper because it conveys a problem that many millenials, such as the characters, experience - the everlasting effects of Generation X. People part of Gen X are typically born between 1965 and 1975. They are generally characterised by the destruction of the planet, a disregard for logic, high divorce rates and being more preoccupied with their work than their kids. Just like in CRA, the Asian families are rich and definitely worked hard and long to get there, yet they expect their children to do the same.

Millenials, these days, focus more on making lasting impacts and attaining happiness. They see happiness as the reason for existence, making money and success only a way to get there. Millenials are famous for a very important question; why? Why do things have to be the way they are? In CRA, we are constantly pondering over this. Why do rich have to marry rich? Why is money more important than living a fulfilling, happy life? Will this generation ever truly be happy with what they have?

Culture and tradition aside, Generation X tends to impose their personal beliefs and views onto their children, citing no other possible outcomes or possibilities with little to no logic behind this. That, to me, is what stuck out most in this movie. Let the way in which the older generation behaves sink in. Explore the parallels between them and people in your own life and you will see what I mean.

Asian Representation:

What kind of review would this be if I didn't mention Asian representation? The story followed Asian families, so just like Black Panther, the abundance of 1 race in the movie made complete sense. It is refreshing to see that Hollywood could finally display the emotional depth that Asian actors can show and the fact that they are distinguishable from eachother, totally squashing the go-to excuse that famous directors often use for casting other races as clearly Asian characters - that one simply cannot find a suitable actor out of the Asian population in America.

• Chinese - 3.79 million

• Filipino - 3.41 million

• Indian - 3.18 million

• Vietnamese - 1.73 million

• Korean - 1.7 million

• Japanese - 1.3 million

However,

CRA is still a romance movie. It still has key elements of a beloved teen movie being,

a makeover scene

an "I'm coming with you!" scene on a plane

a self-righteous speech

and a gay best friend

This leaves Crazy, Rich Asians! as a highly relatable romance movie that I would definitely recommend. It is a refreshing break but not necessarily a legendary movie as it was mildly sad, had a very good happy ending and didn't leave any loose ends- definitely not your Lion King. Let me know what you think!

If you want to download it: https://yts.am/movie/crazy-rich-asians-2018

sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Asian_Americans

- siya