CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE

Racist Ideologies and Entertainment Media:

An exploration on how the film Crazy Rich Asians challenged Hollywood

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts in

Mass Communication

By

Lova Yazdani

May 2020

Copyright by Lova Yazdani 2020

ii The thesis of Lova Yazdani is approved by:

______Professor Gretchen Macchiarella Date

______Professor Darleen Principe Date

______Professor Melissa Wall, Ph.D., Chair Date

California State University, Northridge

iii Preface

Growing up, I was never a fan of romantic comedies. I thought they were cheesy, predictable and a waste of my time and money. I could not understand why all my childhood girlfriends loved the genre. I was the only person of color within my friend group in this small, Wisconsin town. When we went to the movie theater, my white friends saw characters that reflected them on the big screen. Julia

Roberts, Kate Hudson and Sandra Bullock were great actresses, but I simply could not identify with them. My specific heritage of Thai and Persian was rare, and I did not ever expect to see someone exactly like me on screens, big or small. But, I was hoping for a “close enough” representation. The first time I saw someone on a screen that had similar physical features as me was Mila Kunis in the television sitcom That ‘70s Show. She had dark hair, she was petite and the show was set in

Wisconsin. Mila Kunis is of Ukrainian decent.

It was not until the release of Crazy Rich Asians did I realize why I was never a fan of rom-coms. I never saw myself in any of those movies. For the first time in decades, ethnically Asian men and women were presented in a sexy spotlight. Lead actress Constance Wu played Rachel Chu, a young professional with a very

American accent. She reminded me of myself. Her immigrant mom had an accent, but knows the English language well. Her mom reminded me of my own mom.

The movie featured foods I would eat with my family: rice, noodles and dumplings.

I bare a physical resemblance to not just one, but a handful of the actresses in the movie. For the first time, I loved a romantic comedy.

iv The trailer for Crazy Rich Asians was released during my first semester of graduate school, and decided then I would write a thesis about this film. I knew this movie was not just another romantic comedy; it would be the start of a movement.

Asian representation in Hollywood is an issue I am passionate about. As an entertainment media content producer, I want to help push diverse yet specific stories that accurately portray ethnically Asian people. Stereotypes need to be a thing of the past, but shifting paradigms cannot be done alone. We need allies in

Hollywood and movies like Crazy Rich Asians prove they are out there.

v Acknowledgments

Going to graduate school and maintain a full-time career is intense, so I must first thank my friends who kept me sane. My local LA tribe gave me encouragement and loving support, which kept my head on straight and focused on the prize. I am forever grateful for Ben Soper. My dear friend provided me unconditional technical support with all my projects throughout my entire graduate school career. Without his expertise, I would not have made it.

I did not expect to make life-long friends in graduate school, but Tara Atrian,

Erick Montano and Celeste Farrar have become just that. They were live-savers.

Our study sessions at Whole Foods gave me sustenance to keep pushing forward and survive. Our group chats supplied me with the much-needed laughter and camaraderie I will look back upon fondly. Once this Covid-19 quarantine is over, we will celebrate as graduates of 2020!

At California State University, Northridge, I would like to thank all the professors I had during my graduate career. After my first night of class, I was uncertain I would make it to the finish line, but many of you offered the guidance I needed to succeed. I want to acknowledge Professor Richard Chambers and David

Blumenkrantz for being accommodating and sympathetic when my father passed away. They offered me the space and flexibility I needed to continue my studies while being with my family in Wisconsin. I am indebted to Dr. Melissa Wall. Not only did you accept me into this program, your instruction as my advisor and chair was invaluable. I am forever grateful for your leadership. I must also express my

vi gratitude for my committee members Professor Gretchen Macchiarella and Darleen

Principe. Darleen, from the first day we met, you always offered me support. I truly appreciate you.

I would like to thank my Momo. You came into my life unexpectedly and encouraged me to keep plugging away on my thesis. If it wasn’t for you cheering me on, this pandemic may have gotten the best of me. You got me over the finish line, and I will forever love you for that.

And finally, thank you to the creators behind Crazy Rich Asians for inspiring my thesis topic.

vii Table of Contents

Preface ...... iv Acknowledgments ...... vi Table of Contents ...... viii List of Figures ...... ix Abstract ...... x Chapter 1 Introduction ...... 1 Chapter 2 Literature Review ...... 11 2.1 Representation Theory ...... 11 2.2 Framing Analysis ...... 13 2.3 Racist Ideologies: Historical Analysis ...... 15 Chapter 3 Methodology ...... 32 3.1 Data Collection ...... 32 3.2 Procedure ...... 33 3.3 Textual Analysis ...... 33 3.4 Encoding ...... 35 3.5 Ideological Analysis ...... 36 3.6 Limitations ...... 38 Chapter 4 Findings and Interpretations ...... 40 4.1 Content ...... 40 4.1.1 Anti-Foreigner Narrative ...... 40 4.1.2 Defying Gender Roles ...... 55 4.1.3 Non-Model Minority ...... 62 4.2 Style ...... 64 4.2.1 Diverse Asians ...... 64 4.2.2 Set Design ...... 67 4.2.3 Music ...... 69 4.3 Absence ...... 71 4.3.1 New Reality ...... 71 4.4 Intentional Messaging ...... 73 4.5 Discussions ...... 75 Chapter 5 Conclusion ...... 78 5.1 Framing the Future ...... 81 References ...... 85 Appendix A: Crazy Rich Asians interviews ...... 94 Appendix B: Director Jon M. Chu and Novelist Kevin Kwan Select Audio Commentary from CRA DVD ...... 99

viii List of Figures

Figure 1: Movie posters tagged with #starringjohncho on Twitter...... 8

Figure 2: Warner Oland in “Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo” (Twentieth Century Fox, 1937)...... 19

Figure 3: March 24, 1997 cover of National Review (National Review)...... 21

Figure 4: Screenshot of Henry Golding and Constance Wu from Crazy Rich Asians ...... 58

ix Abstract

Racist Ideologies and Entertainment Media:

An exploration on how the film Crazy Rich Asians challenged Hollywood

By

Lova Yazdani

Master of Arts in Mass Communication

The film Crazy Rich Asians delivered beyond expectations forcing

Hollywood to re-evaluate how to approach diverse, entertainment media projects. Having earned nearly $237 million worldwide, Crazy Rich Asians proved ethnically Asian led productions are viable intellectual properties, and audiences will show up for diverse narratives. Using Stuart Hall’s Representation theory and

Erving Goffman’s Frame Analysis as the primary theoretical framework, this study aims to understand how the success of Crazy Rich Asians played a direct role in focusing the lens on Asian American representation by challenging racist ideologies as defined by Hollywood. This qualitative study examines the film as a cultural product using textual and ideological analysis. Encoded messages are also analyzed to determine intent behind the making of Crazy Rich Asians. The study finds the film’s content challenges racist ideologies in numerous ways like using anti- foreigner narratives, defying gender roles, portraying non-model minority

x characters, and celebrating the diversity of Asian cultures through language. Also the absence of stereotypes helps construct new realities and signifies a shift in the paradigm. The film’s producers intended to make more than just a movie. They considered Crazy Rich Asians a step in a larger movement. This research seeks to examine how Hollywood’s cultural perspective of Asian representation is evolving and minimizing the gap between Asians’ diverse realities and their racist portrayals in entertainment media.

xi Chapter 1 Introduction

“We needed this to be an old-fashioned cinematic experience, not for fans to sit in front of a TV and just press a button… taking it to the theater, it’s a symbol that a Hollywood studio system thinks it has value” Jon M. Chu, director of Crazy Rich Asians (McHenry, 2018, p.2).

Crazy Rich Asians (CRA) opened in North American theaters on August 15,

2018. It had been 25 years since a major studio film featured a majority ethnically

Asian (EA) cast in a modern setting (Ho, 2018); therefore, it was considered extremely risky to release a romantic comedy with EA lead actors. The movie, based on Kevin Kwan’s bestselling novel, is a love story about Rachel Chu and Nick

Young and follows their trip to Singapore, Nick’s home. It is Rachel’s (a Chinese-

American) first visit to South East Asia, and her boyfriend’s family and friends meet her with resistance. Rachel learns the Young family are “crazy rich Asians”, and she is considered an ambitious foreigner unfit for Nick’s affection. Regardless,

Nick wants to marry Rachel. After a few confrontations between Young family members, Nick and Rachel’s relationship is finally accepted. The film turned out to be a massive success. According to Box Office Mojo, CRA’s theatrical release has earned nearly $237 million worldwide. The film cost Warner Bros. Studio $30 million to produce. The over $200 million profit proves EA led productions are viable intellectual properties, and audiences will show up for diverse narratives.

Hollywood measures success by box office numbers, but this study aims to understand how the film CRA challenges ideological representation of EA people framed by Hollywood cinema.

1 Since the inception of Hollywood, EA people have been portrayed on screen through a racial lens. Mendacious stereotypes have developed because entertainment media have long employed misrepresentations of EA people (Gates,

2013). For instance, in silent films, EA actors often played marginalized people, and in talkies, white washing quickly became the norm, and “yellowface” was invented.

Over the years, fewer white actors have portrayed Asian characters, but the practice has not been completely eradicated. Studios often blame the lack of EA talent as the reason for casting decisions, but according to the University of California Los

Angeles, people of color have posted gains relative to their White counterparts in eight key industry employment arenas (Hollywood Diversity Report, 2018).

EA people are the fastest growing racial group in the United States, and analysts believe by 2055, 38% of all U.S. immigrants will be EA, making Asians the largest immigrant group in the country (Pew Research Center, 2015). Looking at the big screen, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative (2018) analyzed gender, race/ethnicity, LGBT and disability portrayals in 1,100 films from 2007 to 2017.

Their study found only 6.3% of the films included characters identifiable as Asian while 70.7% were white. Across the 1,223 directors, 1,121 directors were white and only 38 were Asian. And of those 38 at the helm, only three were female. Two of the films represent Jennifer Yuh Nelson’s work on two Kung Fu Panda films. Of

2017’s top 100 films, 65 did not include any Asian or EA females, and only one was directed by an Asian person (Case et al., 2018).

UCLA’S 2018 Hollywood Diversity Report (2018) examines the relationships between diversity and the bottom line in entertainment media. The researchers

2 analyzed content on both the small and big screen looking at the top 200 theatrical film releases in 2016, and 1,251 TV shows from broadcast, cable and digital platform’s 2015 – 2016 season. Theatrically, people of color monetarily outperform their white counterparts. Films with 21% - 30% minority cast had the highest median return on investment and global box office receipts. In 2016, minorities purchased the majority of ticket sales for five of the top 10 films. That same year,

EA lead actors earned a median of $140.1 million in the Global Box Office with just three films. White leads grossed $62.3 million with 149 films (Hunt et al., 2018).

Over on television, during the 2015 – 16 season, the coveted demographic median age 18-49 viewer ratings peaked in White households when broadcast scripted shows had casts with greater than 40% minority, and peaked in Black,

Asian and Latino households with casts with greater than 20% minority (Hunt et al.,

2018).

In the early 90s, Korean comedian Margaret Cho was able to crack the

“bamboo ceiling” (Hyun, 2005) on television, creating and starring in an ABC sitcom called All-American Girl. The reaction from the EA community was mixed.

On the one-hand many thought it was important to see Asian faces on the small screen, while others did not agree with the comedic content, unhappy with the way

Cho was presenting Korean culture (Nguyen, 1999). Regardless, it was a watershed moment for EA representation on television, but unfortunately, it was short-lived, getting canceled after just one season because of poor ratings.

The groundbreaking series Fresh Off The Boat (FOB) premiered in February

2015 on ABC. The sitcom follows an EA family unseen on television since

3 Margaret Cho’s All-American Girl in 1994 (Huang, 2015). Based on Eddie Huang’s memoir with the same name, Huang was unhappy with the creative direction accusing producers of whitewashing the show (Huang, 2015). Rooted in generic family dynamics instead of deep-rooted, immigrant struggles, FOB continues to draw viewers in its sixth and final, 2019 - 2020 season.

The beginning of the millennium saw notable increases in multi-ethnic casting, which is one solution to the problem of misrepresentation in Hollywood.

The Fast and the Furious franchise is significant because the storyline of the movie was rooted in the diversity of its characters. All but one of the actors in the main ensemble is multiethnic (Beltrán, 2005). Together, all eight films in the Fast and the

Furious franchise have grossed over $5 billion for Universal Pictures proving an astounding amount of money can be made with non-white actors (Forbes, 2017), which is the driving force behind most of Hollywood’s decisions.

This data reinforces to Hollywood gatekeepers that people of color do increase the bottom line. Yet EA people are still significantly underrepresented in entertainment media content despite proven financial success. Economics presumably drives Hollywood’s decisions, but policy change is needed to solve the misrepresentations of ethnic people in entertainment media. Inclusion riders are a possible solution. The term “inclusion rider” was first introduced into mainstream media after Frances McDormand demanded them in her Oscar speech in 2018. But, it was not a new idea to many in the entertainment industry. In 2014, USC

Annenberg School professor Stacy Smith and lawyer Kalpana Kotagal coined the term “equity rider” which was a template for an addendum to talent contracts that

4 held studios accountable for gender and race inclusion on projects. The idea that

Hollywood-produced content does not show a true mirror to our society has not gone unnoticed by audiences.

Perhaps globalization led the U.S. to handle entertainment media as simply a commercial good instead of a cultural exception (Mattelart, 2011), influencing studio executives’ decisions on creative content. Armand Mattelart (2011) defines cultural exception as the idea that cultural products like films and art are essential to the identity and values of a country, and therefore should not be treated like regular commercial goods. Cultural exception was the main topic of discussion at

UNESCO’s 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of

Cultural Expression. France and Canada fought to secure “cultural exception” clauses while the United States sought to liberalize or deregulate, the cultural sector in trade agreements, also referred to as globalization. The U.S. and Israel abstained from participating. Since the U.S. is a melting pot of cultures, one would assume the artistic content created in America would reflect the many cultures of those living in the States. Unfortunately, that is not the case and it is taking years to improve representations of diverse people on screens.

A recent example of cultural exception being overlooked for decades is Black

Panther, which was first released as a comic book in 1966. In 1992, Wesley Snipes first expressed interest in playing the superhero (Carr, 1992). Five years later, it was on Marvel Comic’s film slate (Dawes, 1997). In 2005, Marvel announced a

Black Panther movie would be made (Marvel, 2005). In 2014, Marvel Studios’ president reiterated the movie would be made and released in 2017 (Siegel, 2014).

5 The first, black Marvel superhero film was finally released in 2018, 52 years after the comic’s debut. It is culturally significant because it is the first mega budget movie with an African-American director and predominantly black cast. In an op- ed for Time magazine, black journalist Jamil Smith writes:

“Those of us who are not white have considerably more trouble not only finding representation of ourselves in mass media and other arenas of public life, but also finding representation that indicates that our humanity is multi- faceted. Relating to characters onscreen is necessary not merely for us to feel seen and understood, but also for others who need to see and understand us. It’s a movie about what it means to be black in both America and Africa— and, more broadly, in the world” (Smith, 2018, p. 1).

The final tally by Forbes shows Black Panther grossed over $700 million domestically and $1.34 billion worldwide in the box office (Mendelson, 2018).

Movements on social media can also play a vital role in focusing efforts on representation in entertainment media. In August 2018, the Coalition of Asian

Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) coined the hashtag #AsianAugust and posted the hashtag on July 26 along with a list of Asian led movies (Rubin, 2018). The hashtag took off on all social media platforms, becoming a promising phenomenon for

Asian representation in Hollywood. The box office is usually sluggish in August, but it got a boost with the release of CRA and Searching (starring John Cho) convincing

Jeff Goldstein, Warner Brothers President of domestic distribution, “It clearly tells us all to take chances” (Rubin, 2018, p. 2). CRA director, Jon M. Chu, told Reuters,

“I think this is the start of a new movement” (Serjeant, 2018).

Many seized on director Jon M. Chu’s comment, creating the hashtag

#GoldOpen. Digital media entrepreneur Bing Chen tweeted “But EVERY

6 MOVEMENT NEEDS ITS MAFIA. That's why 100+ of us have bought out theatres to give #CrazyRichAsians a #GoldOpen” (France, 2018). According to the website

Goldhouse.org (2020), Asian directors, producers, writers and film executives first created the hashtag #GoldOpen in 2017. After being inspired by the African

American and Women groups who ensured opening weekend success for their own films, the Gold House group created their own plan that included buying out theatres and creating viral social campaigns like #GoldOpen.

“Asian-American Twitter refers to an occasional groundswell of Twitter conversation about topics of interest in Asian Americans” (Freelon et al., 2018, p. 61).

A major study “How Black Twitter and Other Social Media Communities

Interact with Mainstream News” (2018) analyzed over 44.5 million tweets and conducted interviews with 45 Twitter users and journalists between the years 2015 to 2016 (Freelon et al., 2018). Researchers found patterns within the Asian

American Twitterverse that suggest Twitter users are focusing the media’s lens on the lack of Asian representation in Hollywood. In fact, Freelon et al.’s (2018) research found representational issues and casting in entertainment media were the most popular topics and users shared many underrepresented hashtags including

#starringjohncho, #whitewashedout, #myyellowfacestory. The hashtag with the most common occurrence within Asian American Twitter was #freshofftheboat – about an ABC sitcom with the same name (Freelon et al., 2018).

Among the various hashtags that populated Asian American Twitter those that advocated for change within entertainment media (#makemulanright,

7 #cancelmailorderfamily, #yoshiforshang) were not the most newsworthy.

#Starringjohncho was one of the most remarkable hashtags within the Asian

American Twitterverse, but the hashtag was not demanding change in the

Hollywood system (Freelon et al., 2018), rather asking people to reimagine actor

John Cho in popular existing films by photo editing his face within numerous movie and television posters like The Martian, The Avengers, or as James Bond (Chong,

2017).

Figure 1: Movie posters tagged with #starringjohncho on Twitter.

In her article, “What was Asian American Cinema?” (2017), author Sylvia

Shin Huey Chong says the #starringjohncho campaign is a “new-media sit- in…replacing white bodies with Asian ones so as to highlight their erasure from popular representation…we are asked to accept the possibility of Asian American heroes and love interests” (Chong, 2018, p.1).

In 2018, films with diverse characters and storylines, including Black

Panther, Coco and CRA, were box office gold. CRA is now the highest earning

8 romantic comedy in 10 years (Fang, 2018). All the mentioned films delivered beyond expectations forcing Hollywood to re-evaluate how to approach diverse, entertainment media projects.

In determining CRA’s success, one has to look beyond box office numbers.

By engaging Stuart Hall’s representation theory and Erving Goffman’s frame analysis, this research will examine how Hollywood’s cultural perspective of Asian representation is evolving and minimizing the gap between Asians’ diverse realities and their racist portrayals in entertainment media. In this current time in history, when the United States President, Donald J. Trump, often makes false statements based on cultural stereotypes, racist misconceptions can be very damaging and even life threatening in today’s climate.

This research attempts to answer the following questions:

RQ1: How did the film Crazy Rich Asians portray ethnically Asian people? Did it challenge racist ideologies as defined by Hollywood cinema?

RQ2: What are the messages the producers encoded with Crazy Rich Asians and what was their intention behind the messages?

RQ3: How, if at all, did the messages challenge the status quo?

This qualitative study seeks to determine which narratives from CRA challenged

Hollywood’s traditional representation of EA people in entertainment media, and also explore the creative execution of CRA.

This thesis is organized into the following chapters. Chapter 2 will first outline the theoretical frameworks applied in this research. Chapter 2 will also provide a historical context of Hollywood’s portrayals of EA people by reviewing

9 existing scholarly literature on ethnicity and race as related to entertainment media.

Chapter 3 describes the methodology of this thesis, which uses a textual analysis approach while implementing a code system to dissect the film. The combination of analysis and coding will provide a clearer understanding when comparing the qualitative data to historical context. Chapter 4 details findings and interpretations of the data, and Chapter 5 concludes the study.

10 Chapter 2 Literature Review

This chapter provides an overview of existing scholarly literature concerning three major topics in relation to Hollywood cinema and EA representation as framed by producers. First is how representation impacts societal views. Second is the role of content creators. And third is the significance of Hollywood’s cultural perspective. These topics will be examined as they relate to EA people and the ideologies promoted by Hollywood films. But first, it is necessary to interpret the theories driving this study: representation theory and frame analysis.

2.1 Representation Theory

Stuart Hall defines representation as interpretations of real and imaginary objects, people or events of the world. We are able to construct these meanings of concept through language (Hall, 2013). Hall argues there are three ways to process representation. The reflective approach assumes the interpretation of an object, person, idea or event is like a mirror reflecting the actual meaning of how it already exists in the world. The intentional approach asserts the meaning is uniquely dependent on the speaker or author’s intent. A constructionist approach suggests meanings are made by applying social actors’ culture, language and other representational systems to construct meaning to objects, people and events in the real world (Hall, 2013). When using a constructionist approach a more realistic meaning is made.

“What cultural studies has helped me to understand is that the media play a

11 part in the formation, in the constitution, of the things that they reflect. It is not that there is a world outside, ‘out there,’ which exits free of the discourses of representations. What is ‘out there’ is, in part, constituted by how it is represented” (Hall, 1992, p. 14).

Hall insists that the media are dominant producers of ideologies, producing representations of the many meticulous machines running society. Ideologies can be defined as the dominant idea or social meaning assigned to people, group, class and society (Brennen, 2017). According to Hall (1995), three important concepts about ideology need to be understood. First, ideologies are formulated by different elements combined into set meanings. Ideologies are not made up of singular, individual, separate ideas, but rather an amalgam of notions. Second, ideological statements are made by individuals, but are not the product of a singular individual’s consciousness or intention. People craft intention within an ideology.

And third, ideologies are effective because they construct identification and knowledge of their subjects, resulting in ideological truths as if made by an authentic author.

Transforming ideologies has to be a collective process and practice (Dines &

Humez, 2003). The media’s productions are representations of the social world, therefore, creating meanings that become normalized. Films play an influential and powerful role in creating societal ideologies. The media’s dominant domain of operations is the production and transformations of ideologies (Hall, 1995).

These factual and fictional portrayals of reality lead to powerful interpretations of race and racism (Dines & Humez, 2003). Disingenuous representations are dangerous, and Hall distinguishes racism in two categories:

12 overt and inferential. Hall’s definition of overt racism is simple – media producing and allowing the advancement of racist policies and views. He explains inferential racism as narratives that are cleverly disguised, as natural representations yet are inherently racist (Dines & Humez, 2003).

When analyzing media, Hall’s model of communication of encoding and decoding can be applied. Producers can encode or position the audience or frame the message in a way to create a unified agreement on what the text means, while decoding is how audiences interpret the message (Hall, 1980). When discussing solutions on how to reverse racist agendas, Hall stresses the importance of defining one’s own cultural identity instead of relying on constructed representations. A sense of unity can be powerful and persuasive and puts the power of identity politics in the beholders (Hall, 1996).

The producers of CRA made a film that showed EA culture on their own terms. Family dynamics, personal relationships, love, heartbreak are all broad themes that were explored by the filmmakers. Portraying EA people in a more normalized setting helps break down racist stereotypes that Hollywood created.

2.2 Frame Analysis

Erving Goffman’s frame analysis organizes and applies meaning to various events or frameworks of life. He categorizes these strips of activities into two frameworks: natural and social. Natural frameworks are purely physical, unguided events versus social, which are guided doings that beget a realm of being (Goffman,

1974). Natural frameworks are seen as events that are not influenced, interfered

13 with and outcomes are always conclusively determined (Goffman, 1974).

According to Goffman (1974), social events provide an understanding of the will, aim and controlling effort made by human beings. These frameworks can be manipulated, cajoled, disturbed and threatened, therefore, becoming “guided doings.” Motive and intent help to understand the outcomes and consequences of social events.

Goffman’s theory includes many several different frameworks that can be applied to the understanding of the world around us. The theatrical framework is the most applicable for this research. Goffman (1974) defines the theatrical framework as a performance that transforms individuals into performers, therefore, becoming an object that can be analyzed by an audience. There is often a fee involved for witnessing a performance, and audience members experience occasional emotional reactions (laughter, tears, screams) and applause typically when the performance is concluded. Onlookers are exposed to the themes and characters of the cultural product. During the performance the actors are responding to each other as inhabitants of a shared realm (Goffman, 1974).

Goffman (1974) argues theatrical frameworks can influence thoughts and understandings of a particular strip of life. These dramatic scripts are mock-ups depicting unscripted, everyday social doings. Because these theatrical frames are offered commercially, they become a source hinting at the structure of a particular domain. People unintentionally learn theatrical frames, and false beliefs can be a result of dramatic scripting. Observers naturally and actively project their frames of

14 references into everyday scenarios around them (Goffman, 1974; Abelman &

Davis, 1983).

A central concept in frame analysis is keying. Goffman defines keying as a systematic transformation of a frame that is already in congruence with a schema of interpretation (Goffman, 1974). When applying Goffman’s frame analysis to entertainment media, patterns will expose Hollywood’s racist agenda toward EA people. CRA serves as a social cue and when using Goffman’s keying concept as a methodology to deconstruct the film, it will reveal how CRA producers attempted to reframe the status quo and flip the paradigm.

2.3 Racist Ideologies: Historical Analysis

“Whether we like it or not, cinema assumes a pedagogical role in the lives of many people. It may not be the intent of a film maker to teach audiences anything, but that does not mean that lessons are not learned” (Hooks, 1996, p. 2).

Often, actors of Asian descent play a stereotype. This portion of my thesis will provide an overview of the various racist ideologies that Hollywood cinema has presented to audiences. Historical context is essential to understand how EA people have been framed by Hollywood and the producers’ encoded messages through five characteristics: foreigner, white wash, gender roles, model minority and token presence.

Foreigner. Asians were often depicted as the yellow race, an uncivilized group threatening White Christian culture, and perpetually viewed as less than

American on the big screen. Defined as the “yellow peril”, this stereotype was

15 Hollywood’s first, dominant ideology created about EA people (Zhang, 2010). Gates argues (2013) there are two types of Asians in Hollywood cinema: “Asian” (racial) and “Asian American” (ethnic). “Asians” are often criticized for their preference of cultural autonomy, whereas, “Asian Americans” are supported because they have embraced and blended into mainstream American culture.

During the American silent film era, the “Asian” stereotype became prevalent. EA people were portrayed as blue-collar laborers, opium smokers and criminals who were cruel, dodgy and devilishly clever. Specifically Chinese were portrayed as inassimilable and only living in Chinatown communities, like in 1919’s

The Lighting Raider (Gates, 2013). These on-screen, subordinate depictions made it difficult for Chinese to earn acceptance into American culture and society. Asian

American studies scholars argue these Hollywood representations were inevitably a reaction to the influx of Chinese immigrants in beginning of the 20th century.

The United States government fueled racist ideas by passing the Immigration

Act of 1924 that denied Asian immigration into the U.S. It was not lifted until 1965.

Miscegenation laws banned marriage outside one’s race. A repercussion of the laws prevented EA families from being reunified in America. The United States Supreme

Court ruled miscegenation laws unconstitutional in 1967. And also during World

War II, by forcing Japanese Americans into internment camps, the U.S. has historically called EA people the enemy (Rajgopal, 2010). In the early 1900s, two major fictional, film characters sustained propaganda against Asian immigrants.

Wu Chung Foo (1914) and Fu Manchu (1916) were both “Oriental villains” and played into the narrative that Asians would overrun America (Gates, 2013). Scholars

16 have warned the Foreigner stereotype encourages racial harassment and hate crimes against EA U.S. residents (Zhang, 2010).

Many EA actors were born and raised in the United States. Pioneer film players include Richard Loo, Anna May Wong and Philip Ahn. Author Hye Seung

Chung (2006) wrote about the latter in a book called Hollywood Asian: Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross-Ethnic Performance and details much of Ahn’s struggles in

Hollywood. Born in 1905 in Los Angeles, Ahn’s family was originally from Korea.

Ahn identified as an American, and he did not visit his ancestral homeland until

1959. He started acting in 1935, but his big break in Bing Crosby’s musical

Anything Goes almost did not happen because Ahn’s English was too perfect. Ahn was initially refused the role, and his audition with Director Lewis Milestone was much quoted throughout Ahn’s career:

“You’re the type we’re looking for, but you don’t speak the kind of English we want. We want that laundry man pidgin English” (Chung, 2006, p. 41).

Immediately, Ahn faked Pidgin English and was then offered the small part.

This type of acting is referred to as “Oriental masquerade” where flagrant gestures, mannerisms and speech patterns are self-knowing hyperboles (Chung, 2006). Ahn often performed the “Oriental masquerade” to secure roles, which enabled racist casting. Sometimes Ahn would put on the accent to get the part then lost it when the cameras were rolling. Unfortunately, the damage was done and not just to his acting career. Ahn, himself, became synonymous with the diegetic narrative of EA people in Hollywood cinema (Chung, 2006).

EA Americans continue to be regulated to the “perpetual foreigner

17 syndrome” (Wu, 2002, p. 79) and are often treated as if they do not belong and are not perceived as full-fledged Americans. The stereotypes EA Americans face are nothing new being referred to as FOB (fresh off the boat), exotic, foreign, and inassimilable (Zhang, 2010). In 2005, an experimental study researched who is perceived as American. The study found the least American faces were Asian faces

(Cheryan & Monin, 2005). Cheryan and Monin’s 2005 study also found EA

Americans are frequently asked “Do you speak English?” and “Where are you really from?” confirming EA Americans are condemned as outsiders and less accepted in

American culture compared to other racial groups.

An unforgettable moment of racially motivated discrimination was during the 1998 Winter Olympics. MSNBC broadcasted the headline, “American beats out

Kwan” referring to Tara Lipinski’s win over Michelle Kwan, who is an Asian

American figure skater (Zhang, 2010). The Olympics is usually one of the few world events that can unite a nation, yet we were reminded xenophobia still exists in

America.

White Wash. “Yellowface” refers to an actor of European decent playing an EA role. When Hollywood talkies emerged in the late 1920s, white men replaced

EA silent film actors. To physically achieve Asian attributes, the actors wore prosthetics including fake teeth and changed the shape of their eyes by using adhesive tape (Gates, 2013). This is inferential racism as defined by Hall.

In 1925, the first non-foreigner character of EA decent to gain popularity was

Charlie Chan, a Chinese detective working for the Honolulu Police Department.

Having appeared in 47 Hollywood films, the Charlie Chan character showed up in

18 small parts and was played by EA actors until Chan became the lead (Gates, 2013).

Charlie Chan Carries On was a film released in 1931 and Swedish-born actor

Warner Oland played the lead investigator. Oland portrayed the Chinese detective in

16 films. Then Sidney Toler, another white actor, embodied the role for 22 movies and finally, Roland Winters wore “yellowface” for the last six films. Because the

Chinese detective’s story was so successful, two other fictional EA detectives were created Mr. Moto and Mr. Wong, both played by white actors in “yellowface”(Gates,

2013).

Figure 2: Warner Oland in “Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo” (Twentieth Century Fox, 1937).

The Charlie Chan character was controversial for many reasons. There are arguments that the Chan character helped pull Hollywood away from the foreigner stereotype. Dressed in Western clothes, Chan was a nonthreatening Asian family man who was soft-spoken, polite and adopted American values (Gates, 2013).

19 Regardless, Chan was portrayed by white actors in “yellowface” therefore the shifting perspectives of EA people was just an illusion and not an authentic representation. Big picture, the Charlie Chan character was more detrimental than helpful to the overall cause of abolishing EA stereotypes.

In 1961, the iconic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s featured a Japanese character I.

Y. Yunioshi played by Mickey Rooney in “yellowface” including fake buckteeth.

Although racist humor was common during this era, the over the top performance received mixed reviews. Upon release, The Hollywood Reporter stated, "Mickey

Rooney gives his customary all to the part of a Japanese photographer, but the role is a caricature and will be offensive to many” (Powers, 1961, p.1). Decades after its release, the role continued to receive criticism. Rooney insisted that was not the intent, telling The Sacramento Bee (2008), he was unaware the portrayal was offensive and rather, it was pure physical comedy.

In modern times, the casting of Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell, a film adaptation of a Japanese manga series (comic or graphic novel made in Japan), was controversial. It was reported that Paramount and Dreamworks had even tested a visual effect on Scarlett to make her appear more Asian. Fans petitioned Scarlett’s casting and EA actress, Constance Wu, led the social media charge against white washing. Out of this controversy, the hashtag campaign #whitewashedout was created with the support of EA celebrities (Hess, 2016). Unifying and defining one’s own cultural identity is at the heart of Hall’s solution to defy constructed representations.

“Yellowface” also appears in political arena, reinforcing negative

20 stereotypes. In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton, first lady Hillary Clinton and Vice

President Al Gore were depicted in caricature form on the cover of National Review.

Figure 3: March 24, 1997 cover of National Review (National Review).

The cover story discussed allegations that the Clinton administration had arranged a quid pro quo with Asian campaign donors - policy favors in exchange for monetary contributions. The magazine editors suggested the first family was drowning in so much Asian money that they had literally turned yellow. The story prompted fierce dialogue among Asian-American academics (Tung, 2006).

Gender Roles. EA people are often regulated to stereotypes, and EA men and women face different clichés. It is also rare to see EA men and women together on screen as a couple. In recent years, more diverse stories are being told in entertainment media and allow couples of all kinds to appear on screen. In modern times, racially mixed couples became more acceptable, but until 1967,

Miscegenation laws were still in effect. These laws prevented race groups from marrying outside their own ethnicity, and Hollywood also strictly followed these

21 rules on-screen, which prevented EA people from being cast in leading roles as love interests opposite a white actor (Gates, 2103).

Unsexy, Kung Fu Master. EA American men were often depicted as criminals, untrustworthy and sexual contaminants by the American government through policies and practices described earlier in this chapter. After building much of the United States’ infrastructure, EA men were limited to jobs like cooks and launderers, roles that are stereotypically thought to be women’s work (Zhang,

2010). These images in society played out on Hollywood’s screens.

In the early 19th century, EA men were seen in films, television shows, cartoons and Broadway shows. They were primarily depicted as unmanly and sexually inept (Hamamoto, 1994) in entertainment media. They are regularly denied affection and constrained to roles like a nerdy science student, Kung Fu fanatic, or comedic sidekick. EA actors were not considered for love interest roles, which denied them three-dimensional masculinity across popular culture (Hillenbrand,

2008).

In 1913, the character of Dr. Fu Manchu was introduced in a novel. He made his way onto the big screens in 1923, was featured in dozens of movies and television series, and quickly produced several stereotypes for EA men. Firstly, the character was not even played by an EA actor, but white actors who taped their eyes to put on “yellowface”. This in itself created the idea that EA men are not worthy of having around because they may steal your jobs, which is the essence of the “yellow peril” ideology. At the same time, Dr. Fu Manchu also lacked heterosexuality (Shek,

2006). In 1952, NBC produced a series pilot that starred white actor John Carradine

22 as the Oriental doctor. It never aired. Coincidentally, John’s son David Carradine’s entire acting career was built around him playing EA martial artists, neither of which he embodied in real life. As recently as 2007, the character of Dr. Fu Manchu made a comedic cameo in the gritty film, Grindhouse. The doctor was portrayed by

Nicolas Cage in “yellowface” (IMDB, 2020).

The inept, lustful nerd stereotype was reinforced in the movie Sixteen

Candles. Long Duk Dong is an Asian foreign exchange student from an un- specified country and was portrayed by actor Gedde Watanabe, whose family is of

Japanese decent (Macadam, 2012). Dong did end up finding a love interest in the romantic comedy, but she was physically the complete opposite of him, towering over him. The insinuation is a gender role reversal; again bolstering the idea EA men are limited to feminine characteristics. To truly hit it home that Dong did not belong is this white, suburban town, a gong sound effect was played every time he showed up on screen (Shimizu, 2012).

In the last major studio film to feature a majority EA cast since CRA, The Joy

Luck Club did very little to challenge racist stereotypes EA men face; in fact it may have done more harm. Yen Ling Shek (2006) points out in her article, “Asian

American Masculinity: A Review of the Literature,” the EA men in The Joy Luck

Club were represented as cheap and misogynistic, which were the reasons why their

EA women left the relationships and found new love with white men. This storyline perpetuates the notion that the white man is better than the EA man.

Although Bruce Lee was able to gain popularity in mainstream media in the

1970s, his fame did little to correct the misrepresentation of EA men, instead

23 amplifying the Kung Fu master caricature Hollywood pushed. Lee did demystify the idea that EA men are weak. Lee not only looked powerful with his bulging muscles; he was capable of defeating any enemy he encountered. His magnificent body represented power and strength. Lee’s face was handsome, his chiseled chest was often bare, and he oozed confidence, yet Lee’s masculinity was still challenged.

In the article, “Straitjacket Sexualities: Unbinding Asian American Manhoods in the Movies” (2012), author Celine Parreñas Shimizu notes Bruce Lee was not described as sexy. Despite Lee’s physical attractiveness, he did not kiss, love or possess sexuality. Lee’s sexual ambiguity made it difficult to distinguish if his character was homosexual or heterosexual. These distinctions are crucial in cinema in order to transform the EA narrative. Vague personality traits, like Lee’s, substantiate the theory EA men are not sexually available and, in Lee’s case, to anyone (Shimizu, 2012). Lee was a rare breed in Hollywood. Men looked up to his strength and martial artist skills, but nothing more, unlike the superheroes of today that also “get the girl.”

In recent years, very few EA actors have become a mainstay in American popular culture. Chinese actor Jet Li made his U.S. big screen debut in Lethal

Weapon 4 as the villain skilled in martial arts. Although his first American role fit

Hollywood’s racist ideology regarding EA men, Li’s next role in Romeo Must Die had him starring as the lead love interest opposite Aaliyah (IMDB, 2020). Although his character was still using martial arts to fight the bad guys, and his leading lady was not white, Li made a step in the right direction. Hong Kong native Jackie Chan also got his start in Hollywood playing the stereotypical EA person on screen, but he

24 soon broke out into comedic roles like Rush Hour. Chan did have to showcase his martial arts expertise in the movie, but he also broke out as a lovable star in this buddy cop film. And, he did get the hot girl in the sequel. Chan quickly gained A- list status within Hollywood, and has continued working in American films, even voicing animated movies (IMDB, 2020).

Hyper-sexualized Geisha. EA women also face negative notions, from being meek, and submissive to the complete other extreme – seductive, hypersexual, ruthless dragon ladies. Some women are frequently referred to as exotically beautiful yet dangerous (Rajgopal, 2010). They are continually represented in erotic terms like geisha girls, Madame Butterfly or China dolls. On screens, EA females are often portrayed as obedient characters awaiting white knights to rescue them from their life of peril, a scheme to feed white males’ sexual fantasies (Hillenbrand, 2008).

Third generation Chinese American, Anna May Wong began acting in 1919.

Hollywood’s racist Orientalism relegated Wong to stereotypical roles like the

Chinese Madam Butterfly, a Mongolian slave girl, a dancer murdered for seducing a white man, or the Dragon Lady plotting to kill a white man. Although Wong was born and raised in Los Angeles, the entertainment media labeled her as “the little

Chinese actress” and she was unable to break out of the typecasting (Wang, 2005).

Wong often spoke against racism, but decided to move to Europe in 1928 where audiences looked beyond her race and were impressed by her talents. She later returned to the United States in the 1950s and became the first Asian American to

25 star in a leading role on television in the series, The Gallery of Madam Liu-Tsong

(Chow, 2020).

EA women also endure the racist ideology that Asians’ accents are un-

American. “Mad TV” on Fox created the character of “Ms. Swan,” a nail salon owner who only speaks in gibberish. This character was on television for over a decade and was played by a non-Asian actor wearing a black wig. The Asian-

American community petitioned to have the character taken off the air, arguing that by poking fun of the way she talks, the show mocks her ethnicity. The “Ms. Swan” character reinforces the message Hollywood has been delivering for years; EA people talk funny, are unable to assimilate into American culture and do not belong

(Tung, 2006).

Actress Lucy Liu is of Chinese decent and despite becoming a household name, her reel continues to be regulated to stereotypical roles. At the height of her fame, Lui’s characters included a deadly beauty in the Kill Bill and Charlie’s Angels franchises, an expert in sexual pleasure in the television series, Ally McBeal, the model minority doctor slash detective in the procedural drama Elementary. Most recently, Lui was cast in a primetime soap called Why Women Kill (IMDB, 2019). It seems she continues to be typecast.

Model Minority. Originating in magazine articles in 1966, the model minority can be summed up as intelligent over-achievers especially in mathematics and technology, self-sufficient and law-abiding (Zhang, 2010). Simply put – Asians are perceived as successful, goody two shoes nerds and in the last several decades, it became the dominating stereotype of EA people in entertainment media. The

26 model minority stereotype has been engrained in society’s perception as a result of repeated misrepresentation on screens. This is George Gerbner’s cultivation theory at work. Cultivation theory suggests persistent exposure to stereotypes in the media may result in acceptance of clichés in social reality (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, &

Signorielli, 1980). The model minority stereotype does not seem offensive on the surface. The model minority theory suggests EA people excel in school, are wealthy, have commendable work ethic, are free from problems and crime, and to top if off, they have perfect families. The media promoted EA people as the shining example every racial group should strive for, even whites, which can cause fear with whites that that EA groups will dominate society (Zhang, 2010).

As a result of the model minority stereotype perpetuating society, real afflictions including poverty, illiteracy and racism, of Asian Diasporas have been overlooked (Zhang, 2010). The representation framed by Hollywood producers omits serious complications in Asians’ everyday lives; consequently causing unaware pockets of society to believe EA groups are never faced with troubles or worries. The model minority is someone who was able to persist a generation of racial discrimination and come out on the other side economically successful. The misrepresentation also inherently disparages other racial groups and makes them appear as “problem” communities. Consequently, EA people have become more vulnerable to racial harassment and victimized for an untrue idea that was created by the media (Zhang, 2010).

Research also reveal the pressure EA students endure to be excellent in school has many young people experiencing extreme depression and stress. In

27 order to live up to the unrealistic standard of the model minority, EA people will choose studying over a social life, which leads to loneliness and estrangement from peers. Because these psychological issues are largely unrecognized, EA students receive little support to cope with these issues. Overall, the model minority stereotype has impacted EA people’s psychological, emotional, and mental well being. (Deo et al., 2008).

In 2003, film director Justin Lin (Taiwanese-American) attempted to challenge the model minority stereotype with his film Better Luck Tomorrow. The movie centers on Asian American, high school student Ben. He is portrayed as the ultimate model minority (good grades, extracurricular activities including quiz team and basketball team, works part-time at a fast food restaurant, and volunteers as an interpreter at the hospital), and his packed schedule is only to improve his chances of getting into an Ivy League university. Then, Ben gets caught up with Asian

American gangsters and begins to lead a life of violence and crime.

Researcher Margaret Hillenbrand (2008) argues on the surface level it appears as if Lin proved the model minority stereotype is a myth in Better Luck

Tomorrow, but scenarios are still grounded in geeky ideology. Ben’s first criminal action is low-grade, providing “cheat sheets” to classmates. His actions quickly escalate into misdemeanors and eventually murder, but in the end of the film, Ben is not a career criminal and is still college-bound. Better Luck Tomorrow is a “quirky example of the ‘educative representational mode,’ a contribution to the Asian

American ‘cinematic tradition’” (Hillenbrand, 2008, p. 59).

28 Token Presence. Often times, Asians are simply a token presence or completely omitted from entertainment content. The over representation of whites and under representation or exclusion of people of color reaffirms racist ideologies and white privilege (Deo et al., 2008). Although inclusion of Latin and African

American characters has increased, Deo’s study found the exclusion of EA characters from highly EA populated areas like Hawaii and San Francisco reinforces the idea that large blocs of Asians do not exist – they are virtually invisible.

When EA people are represented on screen their primary existence is to benefit the white lead actors. EA characters are rarely developed, they have little personality, there is no discovery into who they are as people, or the problems they may face. There is no interest in the EA characters aside for their singular purpose to serve as a storytelling device to push forward the white storyline (Hamamoto,

1994).

Also, the lack of EA actors in situational comedies can drive the popular perception that EA people do not fit the quintessential “American” family. EA actors are more present in dramas, which typically include medical, police and legal themes, pushing the model minority stereotype versus comedies, which generally features people of all walks of life (Deo et al., 2008).

In the past, the lack of EA writers, producers and network executives were to blame for the lack of EA stories told on screens. The entertainment industry is ever evolving, and albeit it is slow to promote people of color into gatekeeper roles, a shift is starting. African Americans were able to break through before any other marginalized race group. Series like The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,

29 and Sister, Sister had storylines and characters that agreed with the upper-middle class white ideology (Tung, 2006). Despite that, these shows helped pave the way for future programming like The Bernie Mac Show, Everybody Hates Chris, and

Black-ish. The African American experience on screens has increasingly become more aligned with how whites are portrayed without racial boundaries (Tung, 2006).

“Network television is a creature of the supranational interests of media oligopolies, one of its implicit function is to provide ideological legitimacy for an unstable, crisis-ridden advanced capitalist social order that ever threatens to fragment along class, gender, age and racial lines. Network television personnel must therefore adhere to the basic entertainment creed – recognition and identification of the wildest possible audience. So long as network television maintains its structural relationship to the inner workings of oligopoly capitalism, there is little that Asian-American representations will change for the better” (Hamamoto, 1994, p. 207).

More EA characters are seen on screens, although not completely void of stereotypes. Mindy Kaling’s The Mindy Project was a sitcom that did not tell EA storylines rather generic life happenings. Although it was refreshing to see, the lead character, Mindy, was a doctor, which perpetuates the model minority stereotype.

Fresh Off The Boat was received with acclaim by fans and critics alike, but the title itself, FOB is a derogatory phrase used to insult new immigrants. What does ring true to many EA families, is the multiple generations living under one roof. The grandmother does not speak English, the parents speak with an accent, and the children have no accent at all, fully assimilated to American culture. Aziz Ansari’s show Master of None is about an actor, of Indian decent, living and working in New

York City. Master of None devoted an entire episode about actors doing an Indian or Pakistani accent just to get work. The debate throughout the episode centers on

30 whether it is better for an actor to do the stereotypical accent and be seen or not do the accent and, therefore, stay invisible.

Historical context and theoretical framework was detailed in this chapter. The following chapter will lay out the methodological approach used to answer the research questions posed in this thesis. Striving to connect together the above discussion on CRA, entertainment media’s historically racist ideologies and the entertainment media’s affects on society, the methods explained in chapter three seek to compile a qualitative study of how CRA challenged Hollywood.

31 Chapter 3 Methodology

Based on the argument that entertainment media produces society’s ideologies, often creating racist narratives, especially when it comes to EA people, this research sought to identify how the major studio film, Crazy Rich Asians, challenged Hollywood cinema’s definition of EA people by using ideological analysis. It also sought to identify the messages CRA producers encoded in the film and how, if at all, the messages challenge the status quo. Furthermore, the study explored the creative execution of CRA’s promotional and social media campaigns to determine the movie producers’ intent behind this project.

The research design, which is detailed in this chapter, comprises textual analysis and ideological analysis by focusing on three main areas: content, style, and absence (Cormack, 1996). The film was dissected scene-by-scene, and promotional materials, including video and print interviews with CRA actors, screenwriters, and director were collected from news media outlets and analyzed to determine intention.

3.1 Data Collection

The film was the main source of data for this research. The film’s 136-page script was used in tandem with watching the film. The special features on the DVD include director Jon M. Chu and novelist Kevin Kwan providing audio commentary over the movie playback, which provides insight on intention behind decisions.

Each of the 106 scenes represents a singular piece of data and was analyzed.

32 Additional data collected included video and print interviews conducted by news media outlets during the month of August 2018. The film was released on

August 15, 2018; therefore, pre-release and post-release interviews are included.

Interviews with the film’s key creative team including actors Constance Wu, Henry

Golding, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, director Jon M. Chu, screenwriter Adele Lim and novelist Kevin Kwan were the focus. The film is based on Kwan’s bestselling books. 20 interviews from the creative team were collected.

3.2 Procedure

Each scene from the film was assessed and an ideological analysis was performed based on three elements: content, absence, and style (Cormack, 1996).

Furthermore, five areas of racist ideologies: foreigner, white wash, gender roles, model minority, and token presence were studied and examined. Scenes that addressed any of the specific categories were analyzed.

The 20 interviews from the creative team were coded into the categories: date, media outlet, video or print interview, and interviewee along with common themes and keywords like “shift”, “movement”, and representation”.

3.3 Textual Analysis

Textual analysis was chosen as the primary method of analyzing data.

Language is the foundation of textual analysis. Social realities are created through language and it is how meanings are constructed (Brennen, 2017). As Brennen

(2017) points out, in qualitative research, the concept of “text” in textual analysis

33 can be more than printed or typed words. Texts also refer to documentary evidence that becomes cultural artifacts of society. Hall notes that:

“[texts are] literary and visual constructs, employing symbolic means, shaped by rules, conventions and traditions intrinsic to the use of language in its widest sense” (Hall, 1975, p. 17).

Simply put, we use texts to make meanings. Films, newspapers, photographs, websites, games, television programs, advertisements, books, and music are all examples of the different types of texts researchers analyze to understand the relationships society has with media and its impact on culture

(Brennen, 2017). According to Brennen (2017), qualitative researchers agree these types of texts are rich with interpretation of both surface meanings and underlying intentions. Findings often reveal people make sense of their lives through these texts.

As this study sought to gain an understanding of how the film Crazy Rich

Asians portrayed ethnically Asian people in contrast to how Hollywood cinema has traditionally represented EAs in films, a textual analysis is a necessary method.

Another important concept in textual analysis is intertextuality, which is the way one text refers to other texts (Brennen, 2017). Comparing how the film’s creative team reflects on and discusses the movie will provide more comprehensive findings. This is possible by analyzing director Jon M. Chu and novelist Kevin

Kwan’s audio commentary on the DVD.

34 3.4 Encoding

The production of these texts, including the author’s intention and rationale for the creation, is an important focus of textual analysis. To fully understand the relationship between a text and a specific society at a given time, insights in context are imperative. Context encompasses historical, cultural and economic connections

(Brennen, 2017).

Hall’s (1980) encoding/decoding model of communication is the practice of interpretation. Interpretations are a cycle of encoding (actively using code) messages, then interpreting or decoding the meaning of the messages.

Hall argues producers intentionally encode or construct a specific meaning into each text. The intention of the text producer is directing audiences to a unified understanding about the text (Hall, 1980). But, Hall (1980) points out meanings are always evolving, therefore, what was intended at the time of the text’s creation may shift into a different meaning as culture changes.

Although text producers hope for a singular takeaway, Hall says audiences will uniquely decode texts, constructing various interpretations. Hall suggests researchers explore beyond encoding of texts, and also analyze decoding a message, maintaining this data is equally as important in understanding the relationship between society and the media. This study will not include in-depth research on how audiences decoded the film CRA.

Identifying what the CRA creative team intended and created with this film is the focus of this research. Not only was the making of this movie sending a specific message, but how the film was rolled out to the public revealed very clearly stated

35 intentions. Published interviews with CRA’s key creative players will provide valuable data on the producers’ intention.

3.5 Ideological Analysis

Another central concept in textual analysis is ideology.

“Ideologies may be understood as the dominant ideas of an individual, group, class or society, the way meanings are socially produced, or even as the false ideas upon which a social, political or economic system is based (Brennen, 2017, p. 211).

Hall (1995) argues the dominant producer of ideologies is the media, and as a cultural product, movies inherently produce societal ideologies. The media’s main mode of operation is the creation and transformations of ideologies, and a singular individual cannot shift them. A movement in ideology must be a concerted effort in strategy and routine (Dines & Humez, 2003).

Understanding how texts encoded with dominant ideologies relate to race, class, age, gender and ethnicity is a primary focus for many qualitative researchers

(Brennen, 2017). Cultural products are often analyzed when using ideological analysis (Cormack, 1996). My research analyzed the cultural product, the film

CRA, and focused on ethnicity. I evaluated three main areas: content, style, and absence.

Content. For Cormack, content is a broad category, but the researcher breaks it down into four elements: judgments, vocabulary, characters and actions

(Cormack, 1996). These four sub-categories of content are used to articulate a sentiment of reality – a sentiment the audience is invited to share.

36 Judgments include opinions, beliefs, values and assertions that are sometimes not explicitly stated in language used. According to Cormack (1996), judgment is the element most audiences refer to when asked about the ideological content of cultural texts.

Vocabulary used in text refers to the choice of descriptive language used.

There is inherent judgment with the selection of adjective in any description including primary and secondary texts. Discussions of these texts circulate definitions and evaluations of cultural products (Cormack, 1996). Cormack (1996) encourages analyzing cultural products in their setting rather than in isolation.

Characters represented in cultural products, including stereotyped characters, constrain real people to fit into character roles so as to achieve ideological homogeneity (Cormack, 1996). This idea extends beyond a portrayal of a person in a fictional cultural product. Generalizations like “the dirty player”, “the player past his prime” in sporting commentaries and news reports describing heroes and villains in a certain way create a constructed reality.

Actions are also often stereotyped. For example, the typical actions seen in western films include saloon doors swinging open to reveal a villain and a fast draw gun battle between the protagonist and antagonist. Cormack (1996) asserts that actions express and resolve conflicts in cultural products. For the audience, actions become points of greatest involvement and pleasure.

Style. Evaluating the use of color, design, fashion, music or genre can also provide insight on the ideology the text is presenting (Brennen, 2017). For this research, analyzing set design and styles of verbal language of CRA will provide a

37 more comprehensive understanding of the film as a cultural product. According to

Cormack (1996), style may seem the least important method of analysis, but for example, the crime genre known as “film noir” used very little lighting, creating shadowy images representing dark and danger.

Absence. What is missing from the text may be more telling than what is included. Because of dominant ideologies, expectations in customs, conventions and experiences are anticipated. Therefore, elements that were unsaid, missing or avoided are noteworthy because it shows how a specific text is constructing a reality that could shift a paradigm (Brennen, 2017). Cormack (1996) mentions the film analysis of the 1939 movie, Young Mr. Lincoln. A French magazine’s review noted how the film avoided two areas of President Abraham Lincoln’s life – his sexuality and his actual politics. By doing this, the film’s director created the persona of

Lincoln as a superhuman unifier of the States.

The findings are focused on three of Cormack’s areas of analysis: content, style and absence. When taken together, these elements helped to understand the constructed reality Crazy Rich Asians created about ethnically Asian people and how it compares to the dominant ideology as defined by Hollywood.

3.6 Limitations

There are limitations of this study. Two areas of ideological analysis were omitted from Cormack’s model: structure and mode of address. When it comes to structure, the cultural product must be analyzed as part of the whole artifact

(Cormack, 1996). CRA could be examined and compared to the romantic comedy

38 genre as a whole in entertainment films. That research topic alone could be an entire thesis. Mode of address is how a text talks to its audience. Cormack (1996) distinguishes between direct (newscast) and indirect address (film), specific (fashion magazine) and general address (totality of a nation), and unified mode and fragmented mode of address. A unified mode of address, focused on a particular point, is how most cultural products operate. A fragmented mode of address will enfeeble ideological certainties (Cormack, 1996). CRA’s mode of address is indirect and fragmented wanting to challenge ideologies as defined by Hollywood. Using this particular ideological analysis would require much further and in-depth research on the marketing and promotional strategy behind CRA.

A significant weakness is the lack of in-depth data regarding audience response to CRA. How audiences decoded the film would provide a more comprehensive understanding on if CRA impacted or shifted society’s view of the dominant ideology that Hollywood created.

Whereas this chapter detailed the methodology used to conduct this research, the next chapter will discuss the findings and interpretations of the data collected.

39 Chapter 4 Findings and Interpretations

The findings elaborated in this chapter attempt to analyze how the film Crazy

Rich Asians challenged Hollywood’s traditional representation of ethnically Asian people as framed in entertainment media, and also explore the creative execution of

CRA. The chapter is organized into five sections. The first three sections categorize and construe data gathered from the film by using an ideological analysis research method. The fourth section, which begins on page 70, presents CRA’s creative team’s published interviews data collection and explores intent behind the film’s production. The final section delivers a summarizing discussion. Altogether, the findings focus a lens on CRA’s attempt to shift the paradigm on entertainment media’s racist ideologies.

4.1 Content

When it comes to exploring the content in CRA, this research examined four sub-categories: judgments, vocabulary, characters, and actions. The scene-by-scene breakdown and portions of Jon M. Chu and Kevin Kwan’s audio commentary on the

DVD shed light on CRA’s efforts to challenge racist ideologies as defined by

Hollywood cinema.

4.1.1 Anti-Foreigner Narrative

“The thought that I would be able to write about my people from this tiny little place in Southeast Asia for the big screen for the American audience, it's beyond a dream come true.” Adele Lim, screenwriter of CRA (E! News, 2018)

The very first scene of the movie shines a spotlight on how EA people have often

40 been portrayed as the “foreigner” by entertainment media. The Young family arrives to an upscale London hotel only to be met by racist hotel workers. Clerk #1 refuses to give the Singaporean family the suite they reserved in advance:

CLERK #1 May I help you? This is the Calthorpe, a private hotel –

Eleanor goes to the desk and replies in PERFECT ENGLISH -- her pronunciation is BRITISH, with a lilt unique to uppercrust Chinese from former British colonies.

(NOTE: The specific accents of our players are important character details, indications of their background, education, and socioeconomic status.)

ELEANOR I’m Mrs. Eleanor Young. I have a reservation. The Lancaster suite. (sees his name tag) We spoke on the phone when I confirmed yesterday.

CLERK #1 Sorry, don’t seem to have your reservation. (Chu, 2018, p. 1-2)

This scene perfectly illustrates the racism EA people face. Clerk #1’s first impression of the Young family is that they do not belong at this fine establishment.

This assumption is purely based on their physical appearance. By refusing to give the Young family their room, Clerk #1 makes a judgment call rooted in racism. The action block after Clerk #1’s first line of dialogue states Eleanor speaks in

“PERFECT ENGLISH.” The decided use of the word “PERFECT” by the screenwriters and the inclusion of the “NOTE” clearly informs viewers of these characters’ backgrounds. While this exchange is happening Clerk #2 pushes a button that calls for the hotel manager. Clerk #2’s action suggests he agrees the

41 Young family do not belong here:

ORMSBY Good evening. I’m Reginald Ormsby, hotel manager. Is there a problem?

ELEANOR I’m Mrs. Eleanor Young. My family and I would like to be shown to our suite. We’ve had a long flight.

Ormsby takes in Eleanor et al, makes a snap judgment.

ORMSBY We’re fully booked, madam. You must have made a mistake. I’m sure you and your lovely family can find other accommodations. May I suggest you explore Chinatown? (Chu, 2018, p. 2)

The screenwriters clearly states the hotel manager “makes a snap judgment,” one of the exact elements of ideological analysis, and offers the Young family to look for a room in “Chinatown.” The Ormsby character’s choice of vocabulary is undeniably bigoted; suggesting a family that looks EA must only be allowed to lodge in

Chinatown. The Young family refuses to back down. They are forced back outside in the rain to make a phone call before returning to the hotel lobby:

ORMSBY Mrs. Young! I must ask you to leave, or I’ll have to call the police.

ELEANOR Please, go right ahead.

Ormsby is taken aback. He moves to stop her when the elevator DINGS and OPENS and an ELDERLY MAN IN A SILK ROBE AND SLIPPERS comes

42 out -- LORD CALTHORPE, the same man in the opening portrait and owner of the hotel. Ormsby snaps to.

ORMSBY Lord Calthorpe! My apologies for this disturbance –

Lord Calthorpe ignores Ormsby and beelines for Eleanor.

LORD CALTHORPE Eleanor! I just got off the phone with your husband.

Lord Calthorpe kisses Eleanor on the cheek, and snaps at the clerks.

LORD CALTHORPE Get the Lancaster suite ready. Now.

Ormsby reacts, confused.

ORMSBY Surely you’re joking, sir.

LORD CALTHORPE I assure you, I’m not. As of this evening, my family’s long history as custodians of the Calthorpe is ended. I am selling the hotel to my dear friends, the Young family of Singapore.

Ormsby looks at Eleanor, shocked.

LORD CALTHORPE Meet the new lady of the house, Eleanor Young. (to Eleanor) Join me for a toast.

ELEANOR We’d be delighted. (turns to address Ormsby) Do get a mop. The floor’s wet. (Chu, 2018, p. 3-4)

43

The scene ends with this racist encounter flipped 180 degrees, landing on the white men as the butt of the joke instead of the joke being made on the EA people’s behalf.

This scenario is one of only two scenes in the entire two-hour film that includes white actors.

The second scene with a white actor happens to also be the second scene in the movie, and it, too, is a power play reversal with a white male and an EA woman:

Staring across a table is RACHEL CHU (29, Chinese-American, beautiful, sharp). She exudes confidence. PULL BACK to reveal a pile of chips in front of her. We see someone else’s hand checking the cards they’ve been dealt: 2 KINGS, 2 NINES, and a JACK. They’re in the middle of a five card draw poker game.

As the CAMERA TILTS UP we see CURTIS (late 20s, T.A., white) is the player sitting across from Rachel. He stares at her over his black-rimmed glasses, trying to read her. She stares back, revealing nothing. Rachel pushes the pile of chips to the center of the poker table.

RACHEL I’m all in.

Curtis has FIVE CHIPS left. He checks his cards again, then FOLDS.

CURTIS Fold.

Rachel flips over her cards. She’s got nothing.

CURTIS Nothing! (Chu, 2018, p. 5)

One could conclude to intentionally include white actors in just two out of 106 scenes is a tease, perhaps offering a token presence to the white man. The film normalizes the EA characters’ existence as simply who they are as human beings based on their past, education and socioeconomic status.

44 That said, the racist foreigner narrative applies to Rachel Chu, which is news to her. Before heading to the Far East with her boyfriend Nick, Rachel and her mom, Kerry, go shopping. Her mom foreshadows what is to come when Rachel meets Nick’s mother for the first time:

RACHEL I mean, his parents can’t not like me, right?

Kerry has a sour look on her face and turns away to begin rummaging through a clothes rack.

RACHEL What was that look? I saw that.

KERRY Nothing. It’s just, Nick bringing a girl all the way there to meet them can mean a lot to these overseas families. Eh, they’re different from us.

RACHEL How are they different? They’re Chinese, I’m Chinese. I’m so Chinese, I’m an economics professor with lactose intolerance.

KERRY Yeah, but you grew up here. (in Mandarin; subtitled) Ni kan qilai shi huaren, ni jiang de shi zhongwen. Keshi zheli he zheli... [Your face is Chinese. You speak Chinese. But here... (points to Rachel’s head and mouth) ... and here... (in English) You’re different. (Chu, 2018, p. 15)

45 Director Jon M. Chu explained in the DVD’s audio commentary the producers made a conscious choice to center this story on Rachel:

Jon M. Chu: This is really Rachel Chu’s journey, an Asian American going to Asia for the first time. It’s something that I really relate to… We made a very strategic decision to make it about Rachel. It’s really not even about her ending up with Nick, getting the guy in the end; it’s really about her own journey of identity, cultural identity and figuring out who she is. (Chu, 2018, 0:11:42)

The Chinese-American, Rachel Chu is considered a foreigner in Singapore and her boyfriend Nick’s family and friends note her otherness, especially Nick’s mother,

Eleanor, played by Michelle Yeoh. When Eleanor meets Rachel for the first time, she points out an ideological difference when it comes to parenting in America versus Singapore. About Rachel’s mom allowing her to follow her heart when it came to life decisions:

ELEANOR Pursuing one’s passions. How American. Well, your mother is very open-minded, not like here, where parents are obsessed with shaping the life of their children. (Chu, 2018, p. 55)

Soon after this scene, Eleanor and her son, Nick, share a private moment:

ELEANOR Well, I’m happy I finally met Rachel. She is very impressive.

NICK I think so, too. And I thought you might be excited that the first girl that I bring home is a Chinese professor.

46

ELEANOR (noncommittal smile) Chinese-American. (fishes) You know, bringing her home, introducing her at a large family gathering... Some people may say --

NICK When there’s something to say about Rachel and me, you’ll be first to hear. (off Eleanor) But some things I need to figure out on my own. (Chu, 2018, p. 66)

Although Eleanor is set up as the antagonist in the film, actress Michelle Yeoh made it very clear before signing onto the project, she would not stand for that:

Jon M. Chu: My first conversation with Eleanor, with Michelle when I was asking her to be a part of this movie, she said, ‘I won’t play a villain. If that’s what you want. I need to, I’m going to defend our culture, our beliefs in the best way and you defend the American side in the best way. We’ll let the audience decide what they want.’ (Chu, 2018, 01:45:01)

Nick’s elitist cousins and friends are not much better when it comes to Nick’s relationship with Rachel. Although afforded access and the opportunity to live formative years in both Eastern and Western cultures, this privileged cohort did not absorb the good from either, instead their aristocratic nature was exemplified. It is exhibited numerous times through out the film like when Rachel meets Nick’s cousin Eddie for the first time:

EDDIE Okay, sorry, time out. So, you’re not from a Taiwan Chu family?

47 RACHEL Nope.

EDDIE Hong Kong telecom Chus?

RACHEL No.

EDDIE Malaysian packing peanut Chus?

RACHEL Is that really a thing?

EDDIE Yeah, it’s everywhere. You just --

Before Eddie can continue, Nick cuts in.

NICK I’m gonna stop you there because I’m gonna take her on the rounds. We’ll be back, though.

As Nick and Rachel leave, Eddie calls after.

EDDIE No, wait. Hang on. China instant noodle Chus. Rachel... (as Rachel turns) Chu are you? (Chu, 2018, p. 58)

Eddie’s harassment does not end there. While at Colin Khoo’s bachelor party, insults about Rachel’s background continue to be hurled at Nick:

EDDIE Oh, my God, Nick. What are you worried about? You don’t have to keep Rachel happy. She’s just lucky to be here.

COLIN Nice, Eddie.

48 EDDIE Oh, what? So do we pretend like that’s not the truth? Are we in some kinda fairy tale story that I don’t know about? Did you find a shoe at midnight and jump in a pumpkin? Yo, I got so much shit about marrying Fiona and her parents own the biggest shipping company in Hong Kong. (to Colin) Hey, Araminta’s adorable, but you think your dad would be spending millions on this wedding if her parents didn’t own a billion dollar resort chain? What’s Rachel bringing to the table?

Alistair sits with his arms wrapped around two women, one wearing a sash labeled “ISRAEL.”

ALISTAIR Oh! Small tits!

They all laugh. Nick steps to Alistair, about to hit him, but Colin stands in the way.

EDDIE Oh...

ALISTAIR Oh!

Colin stops Nick --

COLIN Hey, hey, hey. It’s not worth it, man. They’re drunk. (Chu, 2018, p. 76)

And Rachel continues to be reminded by Eleanor that her American upbringing makes her a foreigner, which is unacceptable for her son. While the entire family is together wrapping dumplings, Rachel notices Eleanor’s ring:

49 ELEANOR (surprised; then) Nick’s father had it made when he proposed to me.

RACHEL That’s very romantic. How did you guys meet?

NICK Actually, they met at Cambridge. They were both studying law together.

RACHEL Oh, I didn’t know you were a lawyer.

ELEANOR I wasn’t. I withdrew from university when we got married.

RACHEL Oh...

Eleanor reads into Rachel’s reaction.

ELEANOR I chose to help my husband run a business and to raise a family. For me, it was a privilege. But for you, you may think it's old fashioned. It's nice you appreciate this house and us being here together wrapping dumplings. But all this doesn't just happen. It's because we know to put family first, instead of chasing one's passion. (Chu, 2018, p. 93-94)

Later, Eleanor reveals to Rachel her husband’s mother, Ah Ma, did not approve of their marriage. Surprisingly, that experience did not change Eleanor for the better.

50 Furthermore, her past memories and discrimination only fuels her goal to make

Rachel crumble.

ELEANOR I’m glad I found you. I’m afraid that I’ve been unfair.

RACHEL Oh, no, you know what? I'm sorry I made an assumption. I didn't mean to offend you.

ELEANOR Not at all. (then) You asked about my ring. The truth is Nick’s father had it made when he wanted to propose to me, because Ah Ma wouldn’t give him the family ring. I wasn’t her first choice. Honestly, I wasn’t her second.

RACHEL Gosh, I'm so sorry. I had no idea.

ELEANOR I didn’t come from the right family, have the right connections. And Ah Ma thought I would not make an adequate wife to her son.

Rachel is surprised how Eleanor is seemingly opening up.

RACHEL But, she came around, obviously. Eleanor gives a tight smile.

ELEANOR It took many years, and she had good reason to be concerned. (off Rachel)

51 Because I had no idea the work and the sacrifice it would take. There were many days when I wondered if I would ever measure up --

Eleanor pauses, looks at Rachel.

ELEANOR But having been through it all, I know this much... (gets close; gently) You will never be enough. (Chu, 2018, p. 96)

But, Rachel proves Eleanor wrong in a strategic game of Mahjong, an ancient

Chinese tile game. Rachel confronts Eleanor head on:

RACHEL I know Nick told you the truth about my mom. But you didn’t like me the second I got here. Why is that?

ELEANOR There’s a Hokkien phrase. Ka gi lan. It means ‘our own kind of people.’ And you’re not our own kind.

RACHEL ‘Cause I’m not rich? ‘Cause I didn’t go to a British boarding school or I wasn't born into a wealthy family?

ELEANOR You’re a foreigner. American. And all Americans think about is their own happiness.

RACHEL Don’t you want Nick to be happy?

52 ELEANOR It’s an illusion. We understand how to build things that last. Something you know nothing about.

RACHEL You don’t know me.

ELEANOR I know you’re not what Nick needs.

RACHEL Well, he proposed to me yesterday. (off Eleanor) He said he’d walk away from his family and from you, for good.

Eleanor’s hand slips, she drops a tile. The other women exchange looks, sensing the tension:

RACHEL Don’t worry, I turned him down. Eleanor tries to regain her composure.

ELEANOR Only a fool folds a winning hand.

RACHEL There’s no winning. You made sure of that. Because if Nick chose me, he would lose his family. And if he chose his family, he might spend the rest of his life resenting you.

Eleanor grabs a tile that Rachel had just discarded.

ELEANOR (realizing) So you chose for him.

RACHEL I’m not leaving ‘cause I’m scared or because I think I’m not enough. Because... maybe for the first time

53 in my life, I know I am. (Chu, 2018, p. 127-128)

Rachel let Eleanor win the game, and it stings Eleanor. Regarding the choreography and intent behind Rachel and Eleanor’s Mahjong scene:

Jon M. Chu: It was almost a fight scene between these two even though they weren’t moving anywhere; they were just looking at each other.

Kevin Kwan: Every moment is so symbolic. Eleanor is sitting in the East, Rachel is sitting in the West and how they really have this intense strategic game is a giant metaphor for their relationship for the whole crux of the issue.

Jon M. Chu: And even the sounds. The sliding, the shuffling, the grabbing, the piling, we wanted it to feel like almost a knife fight from Crouching Tiger, that it has an aggressiveness to it in what looks like a gentle game.

Kevin Kwan: It was a constant face-off. It worked so beautifully.

Jon M. Chu: Yeah. And I think they remind each other of people in their lives and so I think this generational, this clash, this cultural clash between these two is very real.

Kevin Kwan: It’s very palpable. (Chu, 2018, 01:42:33)

Upon arrival in Singapore, Rachel faced many obstacles simply due to her being an

American, a foreigner. But time and time again, Rachel displayed she was fluent and capable of navigating both her “Asian” and “Western” cultures by making meaningful connections with the family members and friends who were open to accepting her as she is. Rachel has successfully unified both cultures and that is something Nick admires about her. She went on this trip blind to who Nick really was, which he purposely kept from her:

NICK I made a mistake. When we first

54 met, you had no idea who I was, who my family were. You didn't care!

RACHEL Yeah, I don't care about that stupid stuff.

NICK Well, exactly. You are so different from all of the women that I grew up with. And I love who I am around you. And I don't want that to change. And that's selfish, I know.

In the end, Rachel came out on top, and Nick knows he needs Rachel to bring out the best in him in both worlds. Nick and Rachel being open-minded, inclusive, and accepting of others became the couple that got their deserved happily ever after.

4.1.2 Defying Gender Roles

“We need to have a couple of scenes where the guys are the eye candy. We need to flip the paradigm” Kevin Kwan, novelist and producer of CRA (Lee, 2018, p. 6).

Typically EA men fall into the unsexy, nerd or dorky, comedian sidekick or a

Kung Fu master in Hollywood films. This romantic comedy deliberately frames EA men in sexually desirable ways. Henry Golding, who plays Nick Young (the male lead and Rachel Chu’s love interest), is the main fodder for eyes to feast on.

Rachel’s friend, Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina) has choice words the first time she sees Nick:

Two of the servants open the front doors and Nick, in a linen suit and perfectly-tousled hair, walks out. Looking every bit the prince of the manor.

55

PEIK LIN (awestruck) Damn, Rachel. He’s like the Asian ‘Bachelor.’ (Chu, 2018, p. 48)

Another scene has the romantic leads, Rachel Chu and Nick Young, waking up for the day. A shirtless Nick gets out of bed:

She moves her glasses back and forth on her nose, in and out as if trying to get a better focus on Nick’s body.

RACHEL Hubba-hubba.

NICK How can I resist?

RACHEL Ah. Ooga-ooga. (Chu, 2018, p. 37)

On page 79 of the script, Nick and his best friend Colin Khoo (played by Chris Pang) enjoy beers on the beach, shirtless. The script does not specifically say the men are shirtless in this scene, but it is natural for men to appear only in swimming trunks when at the beach. This scene showcases men in an ordinary setting without regard to their ethnic background, pushing for a more normalized view of EA men:

Jon M. Chu: Chris Pang and Henry Golding, they do have a camaraderie this really true friendship and it’s not like bro-y in a way it’s like it’s deeper.

Kevin Kwan: Yeah, exactly.

Jon M. Chu: It’s emotional, and it’s trying to be more it’s not just Asian men that we’re trying to redefine. It’s masculinity in general. Masculinity has been sort of laid out to us about how it should be by movies and media. And by other people having perspectives and telling their stories, you get to shift that and I think masculinity in itself is being changed now. Even with all the

56 “Me Too” stuff, to me this is a very important time in our history to show two grown men talk about emotions and love in a movie like this great and hopefully we see a lot more.

Kevin Kwan: For Filipinos around the world, for them it’s a triumph to see Chris in this role and just representing. (Chu, 2018, 00:59:15)

Nick Young is not the only man portrayed in an over sexualized manner. On page

34 of the script, viewers meet one of Nick’s in-laws:

We see a man taking a shower. This is MICHAEL TEO, 30s, Astrid’s husband, former Army Sergeant, and ripped/hot as all hell, exits the bathroom in a towel. (Chu, 2018, p.34)

The writers chose to describe the Michael Teo character as “ripped” and “hot as all hell” a representation of EA men not typically seen in Hollywood. About this particular scene: Jon M. Chu: Pierre Png and his abs, which have gotten so much attention in the press ever since the movie has come out, it’s pretty amazing. It’s interesting there are articles that talk about gazing on Asian men in this movie that hasn’t been done a lot, to see especially in a Hollywood studio movie that gawking at Asian men is something we get to do in this and how groundbreaking that is which sounds crazy.

Kevin Kwan: It was so important to really showcase the Asian male as this attractive and powered guy that can be an object of beauty and that’s so important for all the other actors to come after this. To have this scene, I remember a friend of mine who’s an actor said please have at least one shirtless guy just so we can actually start dreaming of the possibilities of doing movies where we are desired men and that was very profound on me and why not shirtless and wet (laughter).

Jon M. Chu: And not cutaway. It was very on purpose that we stayed there with him and walked him through. Cause traditionally Hollywood has always turned the camera on the women, it’s always about the trope is all about the seductive Asian temptress. (Chu, 2018, 00:24:00)

These specific scenes display decisions that demonstrate CRA creators’

57 determination to portray EA men in an alluring way. Director Chu told Time Magazine (2018), he heard directly from fans that have watched the movie, including men, who said they are “proud to be an Asian dude.”

Figure 4: Screenshot of Henry Golding and Constance Wu from Crazy Rich Asians

The movie’s creators did poke fun at Hollywood’s racist, gender role stereotypes by creating characters that are caricatures. When Nick’s cousin Alistar and his girlfriend, Kitty, are introduced to viewers, the scene is intentionally obnoxious:

INT. MOVIE SET (TAIWAN) - NIGHT

A HERO faces off against a VILLAIN. In the b.g., a BUXOM HEROINE is chained to a wall. The Hero and villain launch into a fast-paced, stylistic KUNG-FU FIGHT. The Hero wins and sets free the Heroine, who clutches him.

SUPERIMPOSE: TAIWAN

NICK (V.O.) Well, there’s my cousin Alistair, based in Taiwan, works in movies.

Sitting on movie set is ALISTAIR CHENG (30s, sunglasses, dapper). The empty chair next to him has the name KITTY PONG on the back.

MALE DIRECTOR And cut!

58 NICK (V.O.) He’s dating Kitty Pong, an actress.

ALISTAIR Kitty.

Buxom Heroine KITTY PONG (20s, DD implants) runs into the arms of Alistair. She speaks with a GIRLY TAIWANESE ACCENT.

KITTY Alistair. You like it? I was feeling very... very the emotions. Can you feel it?

Kitty grabs his hand and places it forcefully on her boob.

ALISTAIR Oh, I can feel all of you. And all of me.

Alistair grabs Kitty’s left thigh and yanks it up onto his hip. The DIRECTOR and Hero/Actor have an aside. On the back of the chair “TAIPEI TIGER 2”. (Chu, 2018, p. 18-19).

The word “Kung-Fu” appears in the CRA script, but it is transparent the scene and these two characters, Alistar and Kitty, are spoofs. Every time Alistar and Kitty show up in the movie, they are oblivious of their surroundings. The world revolves around them, and this selected personality trait purposely makes it difficult to take

Alistar and Kitty seriously.

There was also a gender reversal when it came to men and women roles in the film. Traditionally, men are the head of households in Confucian families. In this story, many of the women have taken on that duty. Nick introduces Rachel to his mom, Eleanor, while she is in the middle of hosting a party. She is busy and

59 distracted in the kitchen making sure everything is handled while her husband is away taking care of the family business:

ELEANOR I’m very glad to finally meet you, too. And I’m sorry Nick’s father couldn’t be here. He was called to business in Shanghai.

NICK I told Rachel when duty calls, Dad answers.

ELEANOR As it should be. (Chu, 2018, p. 53)

Jon M. Chu: I always wanted to find a place to introduce her that wasn’t just the party and so growing up in a restaurant family I knew the power center was always the kitchen so to see her not necessarily getting her hands dirty but commanding the ship, the pirate ship to me was so powerful and she has this cape on almost that’s so elegant. To meet our big obstacle for Rachel in this venue with fire in the background, commanding people around, everyone sort of listening to her and following her lead, it was really important to set up her character and I love that she doesn’t really pay attention to Rachel (laughter) she just ignores her.

Kevin Kwan: She’s more concerned about the food and the presentation. She plays the role of admiral of the kitchen. (Chu, 2018, 00:39:09)

Eleanor not only ruled the house while her husband was absent, she tries to protect her son Nick from Rachel, whom she thinks is simply an ambitious person after the family money. Rachel’s mother, Kerry, is also the head of her household having raised Rachel as a single mother. After Nick’s mother and grandmother verbally attack Rachel, her mother comes to her rescue in Singapore. Astrid’s storyline also puts her in command of her family. Her husband, Michael, is often away dealing with his start up while Astrid is the one putting their son to sleep. He seemingly

60 cannot handle the responsibility of head of the family. Also, Michael is insecure about his wife’s prominent and wealthy family. As their story unfolds, we learn

Michael is having an affair, and Astrid will not tolerate it:

MICHAEL Hey! Look, you know, it's not just my fault that things didn't work out.

Astrid pauses, then:

ASTRID You’re right. I shouldn’t have kept things from you. Hidden my shoes, turned down jobs, charity work, worrying that it might make you feel lesser than. But let’s be clear -- the problem with our marriage isn’t my family’s money. It’s that you’re a coward. You gave up on us. But I’ve just realized -- (then) It’s not my job to make you feel like a man. I can’t make you something you’re not. (Chu, 2018, p. 130)

Jon M. Chu: Gemma’s performance is just so solid, especially her last line that audiences clapped and cheered when she says it.

Kevin Kwan: They do! (Chu, 2018, 01:47:23)

Even in the standard white led romantic comedies, it is usually the father protecting the daughter. Here, all the mothers are safeguarding their children.

Jon M. Chu: My wife was pregnant while we were shooting this movie and so she was, my little girl was born two weeks after we finished shooting. So there is a lot of influence, a lot of thought about what we wanted to pass down to our kids & the next generation, which I never thought about before. So it’s cool to have such amazing women leaders like Constance like Michelle like

61 Gemma like Lisa who plays Ah Ma, who has been in so many movies through out the years such a trailblazer, to be a great role model for my the next generation not just for women, little boys, too. (Chu, 2018, 00:07:32)

4.1.3 Non-Model Minority

“The fact that Asian Americans never get to center the narrative means that their parts are always going to be not as whole or fleshed out. They will always be a little one-dimensional which I think is where the danger with stereotypes comes in.” Constance Wu, actress in CRA (AP News, 2018)

In recent years, the model minority stereotype of Asians dominates

American screens. The model minority EA person is an intelligent over-achiever, most likely excelling in mathematics and technology, and a rule follower (Zhang,

2010). The film does lean into the stereotype. Rachel Chu is an economics professor, but most of the model minority stereotypes are suggestively cultural differences. For example, when Rachel tells her mother, Kerry, she knows nothing about Nick’s family despite dating for a year. Kerry offers a cultural reason:

KERRY Maybe he’s embarrassed. Maybe his parents are poor, and he has to send them money. That’s what all good Chinese children do. (Chu, 2018, p. 14)

The term “good Chinese” is used again when the romantic leads, Rachel and Nick, are on a plane heading to Singapore. Nick tells Rachel they will stay in a hotel rather than a family members’ home:

RACHEL So, if you have all this family there, why are we staying in a hotel? Aren’t good Chinese sons supposed to stay with their parents? (Chu, 2018, p. 24)

62 Nick’s decision to stay in a hotel could stir up trouble between him and his family. It is later revealed in the film that Nick chose to stay in New York City instead of returning to Singapore to run the family business. Nick is portrayed as a rebel, the opposite of the model minority we are used to seeing on screens.

Being a romantic comedy, the film does not shy away from making a mockery of the model minority generalization. While in Singapore, Rachel Chu visits an old university friend, Peik Lin. Rachel meets Peik Lin’s parents, Neenah and Wye Mun. Peik Lin’s father makes a quip about his daughter:

NEENAH So, Rachel, what you do in America?

RACHEL Um, I’m an economics professor.

WYE MUN (impressed) Whoa. Very impressive. Econ professor, eh? Wow! You must be very smart. Good for you.

RACHEL Mm-hmm.

WYE MUN (to Peik Lin) Let me get this straight. You both went to the same school, yet someone came back with a degree that’s useful. And the other came back as Asian Ellen. (Chu, 2018, p. 41-42)

Having a cast that is majority EA people allows for a range of characters.

Traditionally, the one EA person in the film has to fit into the racist mold Hollywood created, but with CRA, the actors are able to play a variety of non-conforming,

63 three-dimensional characters. As a result, CRA presents a more accurate representation of EA people.

4.2 Style

To get a more comprehensive understanding of CRA’s presentation of EA people, style is analyzed, specifically the element of verbal language, set design and music. Many different accents were featured in the movie, highlighting the diversity of Asians, and specific set design choices presented authenticity.

4.2.1 Diverse Asians

“We strived very hard to match the perfect accent to every actor, and I think we did a pretty amazing job, but sometimes we had to make concessions. Like, this actor was amazing, but he’s not going to sound like he went to Hong Kong’s top boarding school his whole life.” Kevin Kwan, novelist and producer of CRA (Time Magazine, 2018)

The multilingual script features a diverse array of accents, which provides audiences an authentic experience and provides the movie’s creators credibility.

The characters’ accents, in both their English and native tongues, are distinguished:

Eleanor goes to the desk and replies in PERFECT ENGLISH -- her pronunciation is BRITISH, with a lilt unique to uppercrust Chinese from former British colonies. (Chu, 2018, p. 2)

The creators also inserted a note into the script on page two that amplifies the importance of the various accents.

(NOTE: The specific accents of our players are important character details, indications of their background, education, and socioeconomic status.) (Chu, 2018, p. 2)

Upon arrival to Singapore, Rachel and Nick visit a hawker center (a food hall) with an assortment of vendors selling their signature dishes. Within this scene alone

64 three different languages are specified in the script: English, Mandarin, and Malay.

This first scene in Singapore was intended to showcase its diversity:

Kevin Kwan: We shot this at Newton my favorite childhood hawker center.

Jon M. Chu: I loved that it was outdoors because not all hawker centers are outdoors. The fact it was outdoor, we could do barbeque, the smoke, smell, Nick speaking several different languages. One of the first places we went to when we visited Singapore for the first time, was a place like this and it surprised me because usually you think of giant buildings, the high tech nature, the cleanliness of the city, but actually the heart of it is family, friends, all ethnicities together sharing a meal. I loved that vibe, like, “Oh, this is Singapore!” We really wanted Rachel to experience that first. And you realize the multicultural nature of Singapore in the food, in the cuisine. The fact you’ve got Malaysian satay, an Indian roti canai, and the ice kacang. It’s such a hybrid of all these cuisines.

Kevin Kwan: Singapore was this melting pot, this port city where all these cultures came and intersected and you see that in the incredible food (Chu, 2018, 00:19:48)

And although this scene highlighted the diversity between Asian cultures, it was the simplicity of friends eating together that got audiences excited.

Jon M. Chu: The amount of emotional emails I get or messages or people come up to me to talk about just the reality that they haven’t seen 4 Asian contemporary characters just hanging out, having a good time, driving in a car together, that talk & speak like them is crazy. And to see how much it affects people, it’s been profound I think for a lot of people. I guess that’s what surprised me the most is I knew what it meant to me, but I didn’t know there were so many people who felt that…we had to fight to keep these moments because just getting used to it, getting used to seeing us on the big screen like this, presented as aspirational and beautiful and having friends that look like us and speak like us it’s really cool. (Chu, 2018, 00:21:41)

Cantonese and Mandarin are the dominant Chinese dialects used in the movie, but other Asian languages used include Taiwainese and Hokkien. One

65 character is described as “Hong Kong Chinese” (Chu, 2018, p. 20), which clearly informs the reader what accent is expected. A housemaid who is employed by the

Young family also uses a Thai accent. Another scene showcases a Chinese character’s perfect French as she reads her child a bedtime story.

Once again, this movie being a comedy, the writers did highlight typical western views of EA characters, specifically the Pidgin English expectation. When

Rachel is visiting her college friend Peik Lin, Peik’s father plays a joke on Rachel:

WYE MUN Uh, uh, uh. Rachel Chu, we are so, uh, grateful for all the help you have given my, uh, Peik Lin back in her uni days. I mean, without you, uh, she would be a hot mess.

He chuckles.

RACHEL Oh, my God, no. Actually, if it wasn’t for her, I’d be a big mess. She was a huge help to me in college. (beat) It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Goh.

WYE MUN Nice to meet you, too, uh, Chu. Ku-ku. Ku-Chu. You. Poo-poo. (laughs) No, I’m just kidding. I don’t have an accent. I’m just messing with you.

Neenah chuckles.

WYE MUN No, no, I, I studied in the States, too. Yeah, Cal State Fullerton. Yeah. I majored in

66 Thought. (Chu, 2018, p. 40)

Peik Lin’s mother, Neenah (played by Chieng Mun Koh), speaks in Singlish, which is a specific dialect in Singapore:

Jon M. Chu: And her Singlish is absolutely perfection. Will you explain what Singlish is to those that don’t know.

Kevin Kwan: Singlish is, I don’t know if I’m the right person to say it, it’s the local patois, it’s really kind of Singlish is like the evolving combination of English and Hokkien, Mandarin, Cantonese all mixed up into a very local Singaporean…

Jon M. Chu: It’s like a slang.

Kevin Kwan: Yeah, it’s like slang. (Chu, 2018, 00:31:41)

Diversity is celebrated in CRA and the many Southeast Asian cultures are illuminated through the many languages used. Albeit, the average American audience member probably could not distinguish between the different Chinese dialects as they were watching the movie, but the fact the creators put in the effort to specify the different languages in the script, proves authenticity was top of mind.

4.2.2 Set Design

When audiences see the Young family estate, Tyersall Park, for the first time, the beauty and grandiose scale of it embodies a majestic Hollywood production. The family is hosting a splendid, cocktail party complete with a jazz singer. The interior of the mansion is decorated in an art deco theme which director, Jon M. Chu said was an intentional, regal gesture:

Jon M. Chu: We sort of emulated old Hollywood movies classics from the 50s, 60s so that’s a throwback. Asian people could have been the leads of all these great classic movies, we just never had the opportunities to be just as

67 talented, just as emotional, just as iconic, so it’s cool that we can do that in a big Hollywood movie. (Chu, 2018, 00:04:16)

Tyersall Park also exudes Peranakan style, which is a blend of Chinese and Malay style. CRA production designer Nelson Coates explained to Architectural Digest magazine, "The style was basically from early immigrants in China who married into wealthy families [the sets showcase] incredible wealth of art, architecture, and formality that exists in the Peranakan style.” (Whitlock, 2018, p. 2) The grand dressing of Tyersall Park in the Peranakan style represents the Young family’s successful migration from China to Singapore, the fusion of cultures, and economic prosperity. Although in CRA Tyersall Park portrays tradition, the reality is Tyersall

Park represents progression in Singapore as people from different ethnicities and social status began living together and creating a new society.

Singapore’s melting pot evolution continues, as old and new generations co- exist together. While Tyersall Park represents tradition and old money, Astrid’s modern, downtown tower apartment exhibits contemporary designs and new ways of spending money. According to CRA set and interior designer Andrew Basemen

(2018), Astrid’s home displays a mix of cultures and time periods. A mix of midcentury, Scandinavian and contemporary Asian pieces represents the “New Old

Guard.” (Whitlock, 2018, p. 3) More broadly speaking, Astrid’s style represents a younger generation trying to break free from tradition. The subtle Asian accessories show cultural lineage, but it does not dictate. Unlike the older generation, which parallels the characters in CRA, tradition is of the utmost importance, must be respected, and breaking from custom is nearly impossible.

68 In this same scene, Rachel sees Nick in his natural habitat for the first time.

While producers were preoccupied with Nick’s debut at Tyersall Park, a significant set detail was overlooked:

Jon M. Chu: And of course this shot I thought was really important to show Nick, in new light, the prince light in that all white outfit as Awkwafina says the Asian bachelor. When we arrived on set all those lanterns were white and Michelle Yeoh said you cannot have white lanterns that’s for a funeral…

Kevin Kwan: That’s exactly right.

Jon M. Chu: And so we had to rush to make them red instead. This is actually by the way the importance of representation in front of the camera and behind the camera and having an open dialogue because there are things that I did not know, things I’m still learning actually, that we had to correct along the way. And you can’t have those conversations if you don’t have content about those things. So we’re really excited that this is the beginning of a bigger conversation, that we discover, figure out our own rules as we tell our own stories.

Kevin Kwan: Because there’s so much cultural specificity to this you know because some of these traditions are very much regional. What you know growing up as descendants of Taiwanese Americans is very different from Taiwanese Chinese is very different from Singaporean Chinese and their rules and their traditions and so it’s fun to see that mix. (Chu, 2018, 00:35:22)

Diversity in front of and behind the camera is necessary to tell authentic stories of all kinds. But, the first step is green lighting content that is unlike anything seen on screens.

4.2.3 Music

The film’s soundtrack is recognizable, yet most of the songs featured in the film were not in English. There are fourteen songs in total on the album, all popular music throughout different eras. From the 1950s and 1960s, popular Mandarin

69 tunes from Ge Lan (Grace Chang), and Sally Yeh's 1980 Cantonese rendition of

Material Girl by Madonna. One noteworthy song played during the film’s climax is a version of Coldplay’s 2000 hit “Yellow” performed by Katherine Ho:

Jon M. Chu: This song, this is a Mandarin version of Coldplay’s “Yellow” which they originally said no to, but I had to write a letter to convince them and Catherine Ho who sings this version goes to USC, my alma mater (Chu, 2018, 01:49:32)

According to the Los Angeles Times (2018), Chu’s plea to Coldplay explained how

“Yellow” has become an anthem for him and his friends, “[The word yellow] has always had a negative connotation in my life … until I heard your song…it made me rethink my own self-image.” (Roberts, 2018, p. 2)

As for the performer, Ho was just 19 years old and a pre-med student when she recorded the song. CRA producers found Ho on YouTube. She is a first- generation Chinese American, grew up in a Mandarin speaking household, and

“Yellow” is a favorite song of hers, “It’s really cool that this word — yellow — and the song have a deeper meaning past just the plot of the film” (Roberts, 2018).

According to The Hollywood Reporter (2018), since “yellow” is used as an ethnic slur against Asians, Warner Brothers Pictures thought the song was problematic, but that is why Chu selected the song. Chu’s persistence resulted in the re-appropriation of the word “yellow”, changing the meaning of the term from an insult to a compliment. Chu told The Hollywood Reporter, “We’re going to own that term. If we’re going to be called yellow, we’re going to make it beautiful.” (Sun,

2018, p. 3) In this case, the name of the love song took on a different meaning that appreciates and celebrates the EA people in this film.

70 The multilingual soundtrack was intentional. Director Chu wanted to underscore Rachel’s journey of merging Asian and Asian American cultures (Li,

2018). In order to find vocalists able to handle the cover songs, Chu and his music supervisor, Gabe Hilfer, had to do a deep dive on YouTube to find vocalists fluent in

Chinese. This points to the lack of non-English music in mainstream Western markets. Songs in Spanish have made its way onto pop radio in the U.S., but songs in other different languages have been unable to break through and gain a Western audience. That suggests it is not a priority for record labels to push non-English music in the West; therefore, many talented multilingual artists have been overlooked. The absence of non-English songs on the Western radio reinforces white superiority ideology. “Yellow” singer Ho was discovered on YouTube, and according to the South China Morning Post (2018), Ho’s version was number one on

Spotify’s Viral 50 Global chart.

4.3 Absence

Because of dominant ideologies, what is missing from a text is noteworthy.

Expected customs, conventions and experiences are anticipated and when they are not present, a different reality is created. These newly constructed realities can shift a paradigm.

4.3.1 New Reality

“What we knew, and I love Netflix and all that stuff & I love money, but ultimately we knew that the reason we were here was to put Asians in leads on the big screen that had never done before in this romantic comedy lead moment. We knew that if we didn’t do it, it would be years & years before anybody else did.” Jon M. Chu, Director of CRA (E! News, 2018)

71

Director Jon M. Chu turned down guaranteed millions from Netflix in order to give CRA a theatrical release (Sun, 2018). Partnering with a major studio, Warner

Brothers Pictures, meant Chu’s salary depended on how CRA performed in the box office. Chu stated Asians have never led a romantic comedy, and the absence of EA people in the “rom-com” genre has not gone unnoticed. To directly flip that unflattering fact, CRA producers made a deliberate choice to cast only EA people.

The absence of white actors in lead roles is virtually unheard of in movies made by western production companies and studios. CRA is missing white leads, and that is the most significant absence in this American-made, major studio production. CRA star Constance Wu told AP News in August of 2018, “Since I’ve graduated from drama school I never get to play the lead.” In an interview with

NPR’s Terry Gross (2018), CRA novelist and producer on the film, Kevin Kwan revealed, “a producer reached out with an offer: ‘I will option this movie if you are willing to change Rachel to a white girl.’” Kwan said he did not respond to the producer. CRA producers stood their ground, insisting they wanted to tell a very specific story that could only be told with EA actors. Albeit with the majority of the story taking place in Singapore, producers had a fair argument for showcasing primarily EA actors. This would not have been the case if the movie took place in the United States. If the film followed Rachel and Nick’s life in New York, their friend group would look ethnically different than what it does in CRA.

Many racist ideologies as defined by Hollywood were also absent from CRA.

There was no white washing. Although some of the actors are mixed race, there

72 were no Scarlett Johansson’s “Ghost in a Shell” or Matt Damon’s “The Great Wall” moments. No white actors portrayed EA people. “Yellowface” did not occur. The female characters in the film were not hyper-sexualized geishas, and the males were not unsexy, Kung Fu masters. Both the men and women were opposite of the gender roles previously assigned to EA people in Hollywood. CRA did not include an over representation of whites and under representation of EA people in a film that took place in a dominantly EA location. Yes, there were scenes that definitely joked about the bold face racism EA people are often relegated to in entertainment media, but those scenes ended with the scenario being flipped on its head.

4.4 Intentional Messaging

“We are putting possibility on the screens out there to show everybody that Asian American stories are worthy of their own stage.” Constance Wu, actress in CRA (E! News, 2018)

This research also examined 20 published or broadcasted interviews of CRA talent, screenwriters and producers and social media updates in hopes of understanding the intent behind decisions regarding representation. These interviews were captured during the month of August 2018, the movie’s promotional tour. The release of CRA had massive, worldwide coverage from a variety of news outlets, including many well-known agencies. Many of the interviews were gutsy and consisted of noteworthy buzzwords that imply a bigger picture was at play. Bold statements from the creators are quoted throughout this thesis. Constance Wu’s phrasings were used more frequently as she is a loud advocate for accurate Asian American representation in Hollywood, especially on

73 social media. Five important interviews are highlighted below. The keywords focused on were: shift, movement, and representation.

“That to me is a lingering memory of Crazy Rich Asians that I’m with my friends & I’m with people who all look like me, actors who have gone through similar experiences. We’ve all been the sidekick in that movie. It's like the Asian Avengers getting together. It was surreal. It's more than a movie, it's a movement.” Ken Jeong, actor in CRA (E! News, 2018)

“I'm ecstatic that people are enjoying the movie, more than anything of just being number one - the fact that people are emotionally connecting with the characters, care about it. I've never had a movie that has this kind of fervor and I've done big movies, but this one, there's something very personal to people, and it feels like a bigger movement than just the movie itself.” Jon M. Chu, director of CRA (AP News, 2018)

“I know [Crazy Rich Asians] won’t represent every Asian American, so for those who don’t feel seen, I hope there is a story you find soon that does represent you. I am rooting for you. We’re not all the same, but we all have a story.” Constance Wu, actress in CRA (Twitter, 2018)

“We just really wanted to open up the process, because we know how hard it is to get in the door, especially for Asian characters of different shapes, sizes and talents. It’s not a movie, it’s a movement.” Jon M. Chu, director of CRA (The Guardian, 2018)

“I was looking for this movie as a kid as I really hope that it influences & reaches out to young Asian American girls that wanted representation. When you're reflected in the media in a country that you love that you grew up in it means so much. This movie is so important for Asian Americans. I think across the board it signifies a general shift in Hollywood.” Awkwafina, actress in CRA (E! News, 2018)

It is clear when reading these interviews CRA was more than just a movie. It held a unique distinction of being a film that could start a paradigm shift in

Hollywood. Its impressive, worldwide box office numbers of $237 million

74 cemented CRA’s place into entertainment history. Director Jon M. Chu and novelist

Kevin Kwan discussed the impact of CRA in their DVD audio commentary that is quoted throughout this thesis:

Jon M. Chu: What I love about our cast is a lot of people are discovering them now and yet they’re not amateur actors. They have been around, they have done the work, they have played many different roles in many different capacities.

Kevin Kwan: Absolutely.

Jon M. Chu: When you see them doing interviews, they’re super pro because they have been here. They just didn’t have the opportunities to show off on the big screen the way others have and so that’s what’s really satisfying for me to be like yeah these guys are ready for this opportunity. And so I’m really excited to see what they all do. I’m sure we’re going to look back at this movie and say wow I can’t believe they were all in one movie at one time. (Chu, 2018, 00:46:09)

4.5 Discussion

This study examined how CRA portrayed EA people and the producers attempt to challenge racist ideologies as defined by Hollywood cinema. By doing a scene-by-scene breakdown, the findings reveal CRA framed EA people as authentically as possible for a story that takes place in Singapore. Aside from the opening scene of the Young family facing racist hotel clerks in London, the foreigner stereotype was not perpetuated throughout the film. And lets not forget that first scene ended with the Eleanor Young very much in command of the situation. Both the men and women roles defied typical gender roles of EA people.

The men were sexy and the women were not sex experts as often depicted.

75 Although Rachel Chu was an academic, her boyfriend Nick Young did not fit the model minority stereotype, breaking rules set by his family. The many different languages spoken, the many food featured in the Hawker scene, and the different cultural backgrounds of various characters throughout the film, highlighted the diversity among Asians, something that is often forgotten. And perhaps most importantly, the entire cast was EA. There was no possibility of an EA person to simply be a token presence, especially since a majority of the film took place in

Singapore. These representations directly challenge Hollywood’s racist ideologies of EA people.

As Hall says, interpretations of real and imaginary objects, people or events of the world create representations. The most realistic representation is made when using a constructionist approach, which is applying social actors’ culture, language and other representational systems to construct meaning to objects, people and events in the real world (Hall, 2013). Hall also argues the media is the dominant producer of ideologies and transformation of ideologies can only be done collectively, in Hollywood’s case by the community of content creators. CRA is a cultural product that attempted to change the representation of EA people as defined by Hollywood, but one film cannot change the damage that has already been done.

Goffman’s frame analysis suggests people unintentionally learn theatrical frames, which results in false beliefs. Furthermore, observers naturally and actively project these theatrical frames into everyday scenarios around them

(Goffman, 1974; Abelman & Davis, 1983). This theory suggests society’s expectations are influenced by what is seen on screens. For example, romantic

76 comedies can project unrealistic expectations of real life relationships. By portraying EA people opposite of how they are normally seen on screens, CRA took an important and necessary step towards disproving falsehoods framed by the media. Cultural expectations are better managed when a truer representation of a group of people are included in theatrical frames.

Hall’s model of communication of encoding was applied and it was clear the producers of CRA made a film that showed EA culture on their own terms, which

Hall stresses is necessary to reverse racist agendas. Family dynamics, personal relationships, love, heartbreak are all broad themes that were explored by the filmmakers. Portraying EA people in a more normalized setting helps break down racist stereotypes that Hollywood created.

The actions CRA producers took to make this film speak volumes. Refusing to offer the film on a streaming service and insisting on a theatrical release was intentionally done for the Hollywood studio system to understand its value. Asian representation in entertainment media can boost the bottom line. Casting only EA actors in the roles proves to content producers EA talent do exist and in abundance.

And not only were audiences craving an all EA cast, EA actors were as well. Two general messages can be gathered from the data:

Message One: Asian American representation in entertainment media has been overlooked, but is necessary.

Message Two: CRA was more than a movie; it was a movement.

CRA producers’ intentions were to get Hollywood’s attention in a big way and to give the diverse Western audiences an opportunity to see someone who looks

77 like them on screen. A central concept in Goffman’s frame analysis is keying, which is a systematic transformation of a frame that is already in congruence with a schema of interpretation (Goffman, 1974). Patterns in entertainment media exposed

Hollywood’s racist agenda toward EA people. CRA serves as a social cue and reveal

CRA producers attempted to reframe and flip the paradigm. The messages push status quo into the melting pot that is America.

“They think we’ll say yes to anything and we’ll just be grateful. We are not supporting roles. We are stars on our own journeys.” Constance Wu, actress in CRA (Time Magazine, 2018)

This chapter aimed to illustrate how CRA challenged Hollywood’s racist ideologies through the film itself, and the producers’ intentional messaging. The following chapter will discuss the final conclusions of this study.

78 Chapter 5 Conclusion

“It's mind blowing and you know what? It's down to the people who have gone out there to watch it multiple times 3, 4 times in the cinema - bringing their friends. The Gold Open hashtag really brought people.” Henry Golding, actor in CRA (AP News, 2018)

Since its release in August of 2018, Crazy Rich Asians made history as the highest grossing romantic comedy in a decade (Fang, 2018). It featured a majority ethnically Asian cast, the first time in 25 years (Ho, 2018), and it made nearly $237 million worldwide (Box Office Mojo, 2018). CRA had audiences and Hollywood buzzing, creating an impact that cannot be ignored by the entertainment media. The producers of CRA made a film that showed EA culture on their own terms. Family dynamics, personal relationships, love, heartbreak are all broad themes that were explored by the filmmakers.

This thesis hopefully increased awareness on how one specific cultural product, CRA, combated Hollywood’s racist stereotypes. By repeatedly framing a particular ethnic group in the same scenario or characteristics, misrepresentations will form. Entertainment media is arguably the largest culprit in developing stereotypes. Considering that, this thesis, through a mass media research lens, aims to understand how CRA challenged ideological representations of EA people as framed by Hollywood cinema. Using a cultural approach, the purpose of this study was to examine how Hollywood’s perspective of Asian representation is evolving and minimizing the gap between Asians’ diverse realities and their racist portrayals on screens. CRA is an example of this evolution and shows progress towards a more accurate representation of EA people.

79 There are limitations to this study. A substantial weakness is the lack of in- depth data regarding audience response to CRA. Cultural theorist Stuart Hall suggests how an audience decodes a message is arguably more important than how a message is encoded by producers. Said data would provide a more comprehensive understanding on if, at all, CRA’s impact created a shift in society’s view of the dominant ideologies Hollywood produces about EA people.

Hall argues there are three ways to process representation. The reflective approach asserts the interpretation of an object, person, idea or event is similar to a mirror reflecting the actual meaning of how it already exists in the world. The intentional approach suggests the meaning is uniquely dependent on intent of the speaker or author. A constructionist approach assumes meanings are made by applying social actors’ culture, language and other representational systems to construct meaning to objects, people and events in the real world (Hall, 2013). This approach leads to a more accurate and realistic meaning made.

As evidenced by this study, CRA producers used all three approaches to tell a more precisely represented story. But their primary technique in telling this romantic comedy story was the constructionist approach. Instead of generalizing

Asian culture, diversity was explored through various traditions and many different languages and dialects. Family traditions included a scene with the entire family making dumplings together and a game of the centuries old Chinese pastime

Mahjong. Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien were the Chinese dialects spoken in the film along with English, French, Taiwanese, and Malay. CRA producers used

Hollywood’s representational system to defy stereotypes that stigmatize EA people.

80 Although a constructionist approach was the dominant technique, the findings reveal CRA producers also implemented Hall’s two other approaches: reflective and intentional. By setting the movie in Singapore, the majority EA cast is a reflection of the true demographic makeup of that society. My research of the

CRA creative team’s interviews found a specific intention was in mind when making this film. It was to present EA people differently than how they have been traditionally portrayed in Western films.

The published and broadcasted interviews from the CRA creative team make bold statements relating to the intention behind the creation of film and the message producers encoded. The interviews reveal the creators themselves felt and wanted audiences to feel CRA was more than just a movie, but it was the start of a movement, a much needed paradigm shift in Hollywood. The creative minds behind

CRA deliberately changed the narrative when it comes to many EA stereotypes. By portraying EA people in ways not traditionally seen nor accepted in Hollywood productions, reframes theatrical frames, and these creative responses are required to challenge the status quo. The fact CRA was even made, with an entirely EA cast, signifies a step the right direction. Two more CRA movies are in production.

“This definitely is the first Asian American movie in a long time but I think on a universal level this will tap into a lot of things. Everything we love about a rom-com, the comedy, the heart, the family, the love, the friends, the comedic side characters you know it’s all there. It’s very epic.” Awkwafina, actress in CRA (E! News, 2018)

5.1 Framing the Future

Asian Americans are the fastest growing race group in the U.S. and

81 researchers project that by 2055, 38% of all U.S. immigrants will be EA, making

Asians the largest immigrant group in the country (Pew Research Center, 2015), yet studios often blame the lack of EA talent as the reason for non-EA casting decisions.

But recently, some strides are being made within entertainment media.

August 2018, the same month CRA was released, another romantic comedy with an EA lead actress premiered on Netflix. To All The Boys I Loved Before

(TATBILB) is a teenage rom-com about Lara Jean, played by Lana Condor, an actress of Vietnamese decent. The film is based on a New York Times bestseller, young adult (YA) romance novel with the same title. Author Jenny Han is Korean-

American and told Elle Magazine her light-hearted YA stories were met with resistance because of existing ideologies in the publishing world:

“Often, if you saw a book written by a person of color, you assume it was going to be a hard read, about suffering and struggle and pain. People walk past it thinking, ‘I just want something fun to read at the beach.’” Jenny Han, author of TATBILB (Yaptangco, 2020, p.2)

TATBILB was the first Asian lead Han wrote, and Lara Jean’s story became a trilogy. Although Netflix does not release its streaming numbers, the film adaptation was so successful, Netflix turned around the sequel “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still

Love You” a year and a half later in February 2020. The third installment of the movie, titled To All the Boys: Always and Forever is filmed, but Netflix has yet to set a release date.

Although it cannot be confirmed if CRA made an impact on what kinds of stories are being green lit by Hollywood executives, since CRA’s release, there is seemingly more romantic comedies featuring EA people in leading

82 roles. Netflix also released the film Always Be My Maybe starring two EA lead actors, Ali Wong and Randall Park. The film was acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for being culturally specific, and providing an authentic representation of working-class immigrants in San Francisco.

Mindy Kaling’s re-boot of Four Weddings And A Funeral on Hulu cast an

EA actor as the lead love interest. The romantic comedy features two lead actors of color, Nikesh Patel, a British Indian, and Nathalie Emmanuel is mixed race with an English, St. Lucian and Dominican ethnic family background.

Critics panned the mini-series, but fans are pushing for a season two on social media. Nothing has been confirmed.

Notably, it appears as if the streaming applications are willing to take a risk with their bottom line and produce diverse storylines and cast people of color as the star of the stories. Albeit, many of these series already have a built-in fan base when it is a book adaptation or a re-boot. Regardless, major studios still tiptoe around the idea unless there is an already built-in fan base, like when it comes to movies based on comic books. Disney’s Marvel Studios finally produced and release its first black superhero with Black Panther in

2018. In 2019, Disney announced the first Asian superhero would get his own movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Set to release in 2021,

Shang-Chi will be played by Chinese-Canadian Simu Liu. Although the story is inherently stereotypical when it comes to gender roles − Shang-Chi is a martial artist assassin − the studio hopes the film will be a cultural breakthrough similar

83 to Black Panther. The cast also includes CRA’s Awkwafina and is confirmed to be 98% EA (Galuppo, 2019).

A handful of movies and television series featuring EA actors do not statistically appear like much, but every single production helps continue the conversation of representation. Hall argues reversing racist agendas means defining one’s own cultural identity and transforming these constructed realties and ideologies must be a collective process. Written, directed and starring EA people,

CRA played its part in this movement, and as more EA people become gatekeepers of Hollywood, a true shift of the paradigm will begin to appear.

Jon M. Chu: The movie’s been out, it’s made a lot of money, made a big statement all across the world, but beyond that, the stories that I hear from our audiences who cry or bring their mother, or grandmother, or grandfather who haven’t been to movies in years. To experience it with an audience to cheer, to cry, to laugh…

Kevin Kwan: It’s united so many people. (Chu, 2018, 01:55:46)

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94 Appendix A: Crazy Rich Asians interviews

Outlet: E! News Talent: Constance Wu, actor Quote: “I got to audition with some of the most handsome talented men and he beat them all. Who's this guy and why does he have his shirt on because we like it so much when it's off!”

Outlet: E! News Talent: Awkwafina, actor Quote: “He has a sick bod all the men do. It's about time we had a bunch of those dudes because it's reality. To be around him all the girls are like hehe you know what I mean so but then also we're really good friends. We've all became extremely close.”

Outlet: Vulture Talent: Kevin Kwan, novelist Quote: “We need to have a couple of scenes where the guys are the eye candy. We need to flip the paradigm.”

Outlet: Time Magazine Talent: Jon M. Chu, director Quote: he has heard directly from fans about how it has changed the way they see themselves—including men who tell him they’re “proud to be an Asian dude” and those who never would’ve watched a romantic comedy before. “I didn’t know we would get that kind of reaction.”

Outlet: E! News Talent: Adele Lim, screenwriter Quote: “The thought that I would be able to write about my people from this tiny little place in Southeast Asia for the big screen for the American audience it's beyond a dream come true.”

Outlet: E! News Talent: Ken Jeong, actor Quote: “That to me is a lingering memory of Crazy Rich Asians that I’m with my friends & I’m with people who all look like me, actors who have gone through similar experiences. We’ve all been the sidekick in that movie. It's like the Asian Avengers getting together. It was surreal. It's more than a movie, it's a movement.”

Outlet: E! News Talent: Constance Wu, actor Quote: “We are putting possibility on the screens out there to show everybody that Asian American stories are worthy of their own stage.”

95

Outlet: AP News Talent: Constance Wu, actor Quote: “Since I’ve graduated from drama school I never get to play the lead, which is fine, there are fine, fine roles in supporting roles but the fact that Asian Americans never get to center the narrative means that their parts are always going to be not as whole or fleshed out. They will always be a little one-dimensional which I think is where the danger with stereotypes comes in, but I think if you center an Asian American perspective you get to see all facets of life. The parts that are influenced by being an Asian & the parts that are just human.

Outlet: Time Magazine Talent: Constance Wu, actor Quote: “They think we’ll say yes to anything and we’ll just be grateful. We are not supporting roles. We are stars on our own journeys.”

“Obviously, Korean is different than Chinese, which is different from the Vietnamese culture, but the way the [American] culture has treated us is a point that we can probably find some common ground on. They think that having an Asian in their movie is the same thing as having an Asian American, and it’s just not.”

Outlet: E! News Talent: Jon M. Chu, director Quote: “What we knew, and I love Netflix and all that stuff & I love money, but ultimately we knew that the reason we were here was to put Asians in leads on the big screen that had never done before in this romantic lead moment. We knew that if we didn’t do it, it would be years & years before anybody else did.

Outlet: E! News Talent: Awkwafina, actor Quote: “I was looking for this movie as a kid as I really hope that it influences & reaches out to young Asian American girls that wanted representation. When you're reflected in the media in a country that you love that you grew up in it means so much. This movie is so important for Asian Americans. I think across the board it signifies a general shift in Hollywood.”

Outlet: Vulture Talent: Jon M. Chu, director Quote: “We needed this to be an old-fashioned cinematic experience, not for fans to sit in front of a TV and just press a button… taking it to the theater, it’s a symbol that a Hollywood studio system thinks it has value.”

96 Outlet: NPR Talent: Kevin Kwan, novelist Quote: “A producer reached out with an offer: "I will option this movie if you are willing to change Rachel to a white girl...’”

Outlet: AP News Talent: Henry Golding, actor Quote: “It's mind blowing and you know what? It's down to the people who have gone out there to watch it multiple times 3, 4 times in the cinema - bringing their friends the Gold Open hashtag really brought people.”

Outlet: AP News Talent: Jon M. Chu, director Quote: “I'm ecstatic that people are enjoying the movie, more than anything of just being number one - the fact that people are emotionally connecting with the characters, care about it. I've never had a movie that has this kind of fervor and I've done big movies, but this one, there's something very personal to people, and it feels like a bigger movement than just the movie itself.”

Outlet: E! News Talent: Awkwafina, actor Quote: “This definitely is the first Asian American movie in a long time but I think on a universal level this will tap into a lot of things. Everything we love about a rom- com, the comedy, the heart, the family, the love, the friends, the comedic side characters you know it’s all there. It’s very epic.”

Outlet: Time Magazine Talent: Kevin Kwan, novelist Quote: “There wasn’t a single Asian person. It was a sea of white faces that came out. To see that level of interest just speaks to the universality of the story. ” (book tour in Zurich with 300 people.

Outlet: The Guardian Talent: Jon M. Chu, director Quote: “We just really wanted to open up the process, because we know how hard it is to get in the door, especially for Asian characters of different shapes, sizes and talents. It’s not a movie, it’s a movement.”

Outlet: Twitter Talent: Constance Wu, actor Quote; “I know [Crazy Rich Asians] won’t represent every Asian American, so for those who don’t feel seen, I hope there is a story you find soon that does represent you. I am rooting for you. We’re not all the same, but we all have a story.”

97 Outlet: NBC News Talent: Henry Golding, actor Quote: “ I grew up in Asia, I was born in Asia. I think it was healthy to have that conversation, but I'm Asian through & through.”

Outlet: Time Talent: Kevin Kwan, novelist Quote: “We strived very hard to match the perfect accent to every actor, and I think we did a pretty amazing job, but sometimes we had to make concessions. Like, this actor was amazing, but he’s not going to sound like he went to Hong Kong’s top boarding school his whole life.”

98 Appendix B: Director Jon M. Chu and Novelist Kevin Kwan Select Audio Commentary from CRA DVD

Timecode: 00:04:16 Jon M. Chu: We sort of emulated old Hollywood movies classics from the 50s, 60s so that’s a throwback. Asian people could have been the leads of all these great classic movies, we just never had the opportunities to be just as talented, just as emotional, just as iconic, so it’s cool that we can do that in a big Hollywood movie.

Timecode: 00:07:32 Jon M. Chu: My wife was pregnant while we were shooting this movie and so she was, my little girl was born 2 weeks after we finished shooting. So there is a lot of influence, a lot of thought about what we wanted to pass down to our kids & the next generation, which I never thought about before. So it’s cool to have such amazing women leaders like Constance like Michelle like Gemma like Lisa who plays Amah, who has been in so many movies through out the years such a trailblazer, to be a great role model for my the next generation not just for women, little boys, too.

Timecode: 00:11:42 Jon M. Chu: This is really Rachel Chu’s journey, an Asian American going to Asia for the first time. It’s something that I really relate to.

Timecode: 00:12:12 Jon M. Chu: We made a very strategic decision to make it about Rachel. It’s really not even about her ending up with Nick, getting the guy in the end; it’s really about her own journey of identity, cultural identity and figuring out who she is.

Timecode: 00:19:48 Kevin Kwan: We shot this at Newton my favorite childhood hawker center. It was great to see it again.

Jon M. Chu: I loved that it was outdoors because not all hawker centers are outdoors. The fact it was outdoor, we could do barbeque, the smoke, smell, Nick speaking several different languages. One of the first places we went to when we visited Singapore for the first time, was a place like this and it surprised me because usually you think of giant buildings, the high tech nature, the cleanliness of the city, but actually the heart of it is family, friends, all ethnicities together sharing a meal. I loved that vibe, like, “Oh, this is Singapore!”

99 Timecode: 00:20:35 Jon M. Chu: We really wanted Rachel to experience that first. And you realize the multicultural nature of Singapore in the food, in the cuisine. The fact you’ve got Malaysian satay, an Indian roti canai, and the ice kacang. It’s such a hybrid of all these cuisines.

Kevin Kwan: Singapore was this melting pot, this port city where all these cultures came an intersected and you see that in the incredible food like the chili crab they’re about to eat. It made me hungry just watching it.

Timecode: 00:21:36 Jon M. Chu: I love this moment where it’s just 4 young, Asian contemporary people hanging out together. The amount of emotional emails I get or messages or people come up to me to talk about just the reality that they haven’t seen 4 Asian cotemporary characters just hanging out, having a good time, driving in a car together, that talk & speak like them is crazy. And to see how much it affects people, it’s been profound I think for a lot of people. I guess that’s what surprised me the most is I knew what it meant to me, but I didn’t know there were so many people who felt that, and so when we take time on here to develop the relationship but I think it’s really important we had to fight to keep these moments because just getting used to it, getting used to seeing us on the big screen like this, presented as aspirational and beautiful and having friends that look like us and speak like us it’s really cool.

Timecode: 00:24:00 Jon M. Chu: Pierre Png and his abs, which have gotten so much attention in the press ever since the movie has come out, it’s pretty amazing. It’s interesting there are articles that talk about gazing on Asian men in this movie that hasn’t been done a lot, to see especially in a Hollywood studio movie that gawking at Asian men is something we get to do in this and how groundbreaking that is which sounds crazy, too, but in a way your book described it like that I didn’t. That was one of the parts that I loved about the book made these men desirable and I had not seen that visually before so the fact that we got do that together was pretty cool. I think we even talked about it early on.

Timecode: 00:24:58 Kevin Kwan: It was so important to really showcase the Asian male as this attractive and powered guy that can be an object of beauty and that’s so important for all the other actors to come after this. To have this scene, I remember a friend of mine

100 who’s an actor said please have at least one shirtless guy just so we can actually start dreaming of the possibilities of doing movies where we are desired men and that was very profound on me and why not shirtless and wet (laughter).

Jon M. Chu: And not cutaway. It was very on purpose that we stayed there with him and walked him through. Cause traditionally Hollywood has always turned the camera on the women, it’s always about the trope is all about the seductive Asian temptress…

Kevin Kwan: Yup

Jon M. Chu: And we had a lot of discussions about that even Astrid in that scene is technically in the script I think she’s written in a much more sort of, she’s trying to seduce him, but we toned her down a lot in that with discussions with Gemma and stuff and just keep it all even which is nice.

Timecode: 00:31:41 Jon M. Chu: And her Singlish is absolutely perfection. Will you explain what Singlish is to those that don’t know.

Kevin Kwan: Singlish is, I don’t know if I’m the right person to say it, it’s the local patois, it’s really kind of Singlish is like the evolving combination of English and Hokkien, Mandarin, Cantonese all mixed up into a very local Singaporean…

Jon M. Chu: It’s like a slang.

Kevin Kwan: Yeah, it’s like slang.

Timecode: 00:35:22 Jon M. Chu: And of course this shot I thought was really important to show nick, new light, the prince light in that all white outfit as Awkwafina says the Asian bachelor. When we arrived on set all those lanterns were white and Michelle Yeoh said you cannot have white lanterns that’s for a funeral…

Kevin Kwan: That’s exactly right.

Jon M. Chu: And so we had to rush to make them red instead. This is actually by the way the importance of representation in front of the camera and behind the camera and having an open dialogue because there are things that I did not know, things I’m

101 still learning actually, that we had to correct along the way. And you can’t have those conversations if you don’t have content about those things. So we’re really excited that this is the beginning of a bigger conversation, that we discover, figure out our own rules as we tell our own stories.

Timecode: 00:36:20 Kevin Kwan: Because there’s so much cultural specificity to this you know because some of these traditions are very much regional. What you know growing up as decedents of Taiwanese Americans is very different from Taiwanese Chinese is very different from Singaporean Chinese and their rules and their traditions and so it’s fun to see that mix.

Jon M. Chu: Even translations of things like when we would do when translations of how to say something in Chinese the debate would be fierce because there would be five different ways to say it. Like mahjong, the rules of mahjong are like so many different regions have so many different ways of playing it. It’s a conversation that is ongoing all the time.

Timecode: 00:37:37 Jon M. Chu: This is a controversial little moment when she almost drinks that because half of the people were like, “Well does it make her too stupid? She’s not that stupid, she’s a professor.” But then the other half is like, “No, it’s fun. That’s what this should be. She’s a fish out of water.” So I loved it.

Timecode: 00:39:04 Jon M. Chu: And of course meeting Eleanor. I always wanted to find a place to introduce her that wasn’t just the party and so growing up in a restaurant family I knew the power center was always the kitchen so to see her not necessarily getting her hands dirty but commanding the ship, the pirate ship to me was so powerful and she has this cape on almost that’s so elegant. To meet our big obstacle for Rachel in this venue with fire in the background, commanding people around, everyone sort of listening to her and following her lead, it was really important to set up her character and I love that she doesn’t really pay attention to Rachel (laughter) she just ignores her.

Kevin Kwan: She’s more concerned about the food and the presentation. She plays the role of admiral of the kitchen.

102 Jon M. Chu: And I think something that my mom and a lot of moms say to their kids are you need a haircut. Or why are you so fat.

Timecode: 00:46:09 Jon M. Chu: What I love about our cast is a lot of people are discovering them now and yet they’re not amateur actors. They have been around, they have done the work, they have played many different roles in many different capacities.

Kevin Kwan: Absolutely.

Jon M. Chu: When you see them doing interviews, they’re super pro because they have been here. They just didn’t have the opportunities to show off on the big screen the way others have and so that’s what’s really satisfying for me to be like yeah these guys are ready for this opportunity. And so I’m really excited to see what they all do. I’m sure we’re going to look back at this movie and say wow I can’t believe they were all in one movie at one time.

Timecode: 00:59:15 Jon M. Chu: Chris Pang and Henry Golding, they do have a camaraderie this really true friendship and it’s not like bro-y in a way it’s like it’s deeper.

Kevin Kwan: Yeah, exactly.

Jon M. Chu: It’s emotional, and it’s trying to be more it’s not just Asian men that we’re trying to redefine. It’s masculinity in general. Masculinity has been sort of laid out to us about how it should be by movies and media. And by other people having perspectives and telling their stories, you get to shift that and I think masculinity in itself is being changed now. Even with all the “Me Too” stuff, to me this is a very important time in our history to show two grown men talk about emotions and love in a movie like this great and hopefully we see a lot more.

Timecode: 01:25:22 Kevin Kwan: For Filipinos around the world, for them it’s a triumph to see Chris in this role and just representing.

Timecode: 01:26:13 Jon M. Chu: The amazingly talented Kina Grannis who I had been a fan of for years and wanted to work with for years. This song, she had a version of this song before that is not actually this version but similar and it inspired this feel. Can’t help falling

103 in love was actually my parents’ song, and so I love the idea of it. And then when I asked her to do a version and she just made it so elegant and so beautiful I just thought we had to not just have it in our movie, we had to have her there. She really represents to me this next generation of young creator and artist that started on YouTube and didn’t need permission from anyone to create and make and she continues to do that.

Timecode: 01:42:28 Jon M. Chu: We knew that we wanted to have Mahjong tiles play a role, a character in this scene. It was almost a fight scene between these two even though they weren’t moving anywhere; they were just looking at each other.

Kevin Kwan: Every moment is so symbolic. Eleanor is sitting in the East, Rachel is sitting in the West and how they really have this intense strategic game is a giant metaphor for their relationship for the whole crux of the issue.

Jon M. Chu: And even the sounds. The sliding, the shuffling, the grabbing, the piling, we wanted it to feel like almost a knife fight from Crouching Tiger, that it has an aggressiveness to it in what looks like a gentle game.

Timecode: 01:43:36 Jon M. Chu: there are some great articles about details of this which I won’t get all into, but of this scene in particular that as we designed the game how to reflect what’s going on and also the scene itself, 43:48 Eleanor or Michelle at one point was, we had many different versions of this scene the dialogue between the two, and Michelle was like, “I would never let this little American girl say these things to me.” And so I was like, “Well, what would you say to her?” “I would say this.” And so she communicated that to our writers, and they wrote it, and they did a version like that and then Constance read it and was like, “I would never let her say that to me.” “So, what would you say?” “I would say this.” And then our writers wrote that and so we have these two versions…

Kevin Kwan: It was a constant face-off. It worked so beautifully.

Jon M. Chu: Yeah. And I think they remind each other of people in their lives and so I think this generational, this clash, this cultural clash between these two is very real.

Kevin Kwan: It’s very palpable.

104

Jon M. Chu: And my first conversation with Eleanor, with Michelle when I was asking her to be a part of this movie, she said, “I won’t play a villain. If that’s what you want. I need to, I’m going to defend our culture, our beliefs in the best way and you defend the American side in the best way. We’ll let the audience decide what they want.” And I think that was really strong because again it’s understanding that both sides are right and the way forward is maybe unknown.

Timecode: 01:45:20 Jon M. Chu: But, for Rachel to show that she can sacrifice something that Eleanor never thought she could, you’re just thinking about yourself says it all. A lot of people who understand the game or people who can assume what’s going on, but people miss it that Rachel could have won if she took that tile, but she knows that Eleanor needs that tile and so she gives it up so Eleanor can win. And when she reveals her side later, it dawns on Eleanor that Rachel could have won & didn’t and instead sacrificed the chip, which is the one thing she thought she couldn’t do. That’s one of my favorite moments, especially this part where Rachel says this: Poor, raised by a single mother, low class immigrant…

Timecode: 01:47:23 Jon M. Chu: Gemma’s performance is just so solid, especially her last line that audiences clapped and cheered when she says it.

Kevin Kwan: They do! And I think we had to make that choice, which relationship to really focus on more and as much as I hated losing many Astrid scenes…

Timecode: 01:49:32 Jon M. Chu: This song, this is a Mandarin version of Coldplay’s “Yellow” which they originally said no to but I had to write a letter to convince them and Catherine Ho who sings this version goes to USC, my alma mater, she’s a sophomore there crazy a lot of articles you can look up about her in this movie.

Cheryl K who does money in the beginning and we found her on YouTube contest.

Timecode: 01:55:46 Jon M. Chu: The movie’s been out it’s made a lot of money, made a big statement all across the world, but beyond that, the stories that I hear from our audiences who cry or bring their mother, or grandmother, or grandfather who haven’t been to movies in years. To experience it with an audience to cheer, to cry, to laugh…

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Kevin Kwan: It’s united so many people. It’s so beyond my wildest dream to what it’s accomplished. I’m so touched and so thankful that you took this project on & took to this level.

Jon M. Chu: I was supposed to thank you I started this conversation to thank you dude your book allowed this to happen. We’ve been waiting for something like this to share with the world so the fact that you started & wrote on a little what you told me you wrote on a little post it note you wrote words joy when you first started writing this on your iMac and every day you wrote the book you looked at that word and it has brought so much of that into our lives & the worlds lives so I’m very excited one, I to got to know you as a friend, as family and we get to do a lot more together in the future.

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