at the risk of inviting the reflexive "what if Hollywood made a movie called Crazy Rich Whites?" posts . . .
this rom-com was a lot of fun. not a breakthrough in the genre for the nuts and bolts of the plot -- the conflict comes more from Chinese-American Rachel going up against boyfriend Nick's very rich and very old school Chinese family, especially his mother Eleanor (it probably could have played up the class and nationality differences a bit more between the couple themselves). what is groundbreaking (at least for Hollywood) is that, save a few British hoteliers in the prologue, i don't recall any white actors showing up for the rest of the film. even Black Panther had The Hobbit! but more than just representation, the story layers in both community traditions and the modern conspicuous consumption referenced in the title. it doesn't seem to have a stance on whether the latter aspect is actually good or bad but the excess and over-the-top of it all does serve the story well. and when Rachel finally does stand up to Eleanor in the end, it's a rom-com HOF worthy telling off. Constance Wu definitely deserves the breakout that the film should deliver to her (though Awkwafina almost steals it from her as the wiseass best friend).
this rom-com was a lot of fun. not a breakthrough in the genre for the nuts and bolts of the plot -- the conflict comes more from Chinese-American Rachel going up against boyfriend Nick's very rich and very old school Chinese family, especially his mother Eleanor (it probably could have played up the class and nationality differences a bit more between the couple themselves). what is groundbreaking (at least for Hollywood) is that, save a few British hoteliers in the prologue, i don't recall any white actors showing up for the rest of the film. even Black Panther had The Hobbit! but more than just representation, the story layers in both community traditions and the modern conspicuous consumption referenced in the title. it doesn't seem to have a stance on whether the latter aspect is actually good or bad but the excess and over-the-top of it all does serve the story well. and when Rachel finally does stand up to Eleanor in the end, it's a rom-com HOF worthy telling off. Constance Wu definitely deserves the breakout that the film should deliver to her (though Awkwafina almost steals it from her as the wiseass best friend).
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