“Crazy Rich Asians” has claimed its rightful place as number one on the box office list.
A romantic comedy based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan, the film grossed over $76 million within the first two weeks of its release.
The film was created to demolish a racial wall between standard Hollywood movies and the Asian-American community. According to USA Today, Hollywood hasn’t seen an all-Asian cast in 25 years.
With comedy similar to “Meet the Parents” and romance comparable to “Cinderella”, “Crazy Rich Asians” will have you crying tears of laughter and emotion, begging for more.
The movie takes place in bustling Manhattan, where main characters Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) and her boyfriend Nick Young (Henry Golding) come to an agreement that after a long period of dating, they fly to Singapore over spring break to meet Nick’s family.
All seems to be going well for the happy couple, until boarding a plane with first-class tickets reveals a secret that Nick has been keeping from Rachel: he’s crazy rich.
Rachel had no clue that her boyfriend belonged to one of Singapore’s top wealthiest families and was next in line to receive the inheritance.
Coming from a poor family – Rachel’s mother was an immigrant who escaped to America after the death of her husband – Rachel needs all the help she could get from her wealthy college friend, Goh Peik Lin (Awkwafina), to transform her from a first-generation college graduate to a suitable, upper-class bachelorette for the heir to the Young fortune.
With a makeover, fancy dresses, and flashy jewelry, Rachel will definitely look like a perfect match
for Nick… but will it be enough to measure up to his mother’s standards?
According to comedian and actor Ken Jeong (Goh Wye Mun in the film), the film has already been given the green light for a sequel.
The type of impact this film has on society is inspiring, not just to the Asian-American community, but to other races as well.
Having a movie that is based on different culture where the race is not predominately white passes the spotlight to other nationalities, givesthem a chance to tell their side of the story and share their culture with the rest of America.
In addition, presenting this newer version of Hollywood may help destroy popular stereotypes that have been passed down from generations, prevent new ones from forming, and shed some light on the truth about other ethnicities.
Having familiar faces return to the big screen such as Ken Jeong (famously known as Leslie Chow from the “Hangover” trilogy) and Constance Wu (Mika Oh from “Electric Slide”) serves as a lure to expand the size of the audience and their list of favorite celebrities by featuring newcomers who have never been introduced to American audiences.
With a first-time success at breaking the Hollywood habit with reviews that keep climbing every week, America can expect to see more diverse films throughout the upcoming years.