Review of Crazy Rich Asians (2018) by Bill R — 21 Aug 2018

We have such a (small, yes, but) satisfying well of current and historical Asian American cinema and television to draw on, that this tabloid royal-wedding porn -- without shame in ripping off act-for-act and joke-for-joke the surfiet of fun, smarter, still vapid Asian Pacific television miniseries -- is the breakthrough "it" ... doesn't speak well of American popular culture in the troubled historical moment.

Perfect white (very white) teeth sing outward praises of wholesome character and fairytale true love Trumping all else, whilst having and eating members-only gold-leafed wedding skyscraper cake afloat in Esther Williams' ice castle high, high above the masses of stretchmarked inadequacy -- real people -- who are most decidedly not one of "them". Beautiful people -- anointed "role models" for our own impressionable children in crisis -- in fact celebrate physical perfection, material gain and a nubile hipness to consumer conventionally and classist moral apologetics of the hour.

That's what my wife and I felt anyway. I mean, we had fun, sure -- mild fun -- on $5 Tuesday, but exiting we discovered we shared the same discomforting feeling of having been a bit scammed, soiled. Surely we're not the only ones.

The message is essentially that you are, in fact, not one of "them".