Crazy Rich Asians

I decided Crazy Rich Asians shall be my first review since it is the latest movie that I have watched. ( less than 5 hours since I came out of the theatre). Generally, I enjoyed this movie as it was remarkable to see the tiny island I call home on the big screen and in a Hollywood movie. I enjoyed seeing the Asian culture and lifestyle be shown on the big screen (like finally). However like many book to movie makes, Crazy Rich Asians did have gaps here and there and I personally felt that the end was slightly rushed almost like when I'm writing an essay during an exam and start off with really good vocabulary and metaphors but then I realise that time is almost up so I rush to write the ending. This is how it felt watching the ending - even though like I said, overall this was a good movie. 

Another thing I would like to discuss is the representation of Singapore. Many people were disappointed that the first Hollywood film to feature Singapore predominantly, did not actually show the outside world what Singapore has to offer such as a multi racial society and people of different skin tones, races and religion living together harmoniously. Many Singaporeans were upset that the majority of the cast and all of the main cast were of east asian decent (aka Chinese). I do understand this view that people have. There is issue with foreigners especially people outside of Asia, not knowing what Singapore is like and many people assume it is a chinese country and some even think that Singapore is part of China.  Therefore I do get this sentiment. Especially since hollywood has not really represented Singapore well previously and this is important as we subconsciously form ideas of people and places through movies and media. When someone asks me where I am from and I respond with Singapore, their next question is "where are you originally from" and I presume that this is due to the way Singapore has been portrayed in the media and many westerners think that Singapore is chinese country of some sort and therefore assume that I am someone who immigrated to Singapore from somewhere else. An example of misrepresentation of Singapore would be in one of the King Kong movies where they show this tiny island with black rocks and tribe people and said it was Singapore. Hence I do get why it is important to showcase what Singapore really is like to the world. However, at the same time the theme of this movie is not to promote Singapore instead show the world how the Crazy Rich Asians live and since Singapore is the breeding grounds of the mega rich, the movie (and book) was set here. However, I do not think it would kill to put in a couple of people of other races in the movie here or there. They do not even need a speaking role - they just represent diversity of asia. Moreover the term 'asians' refers to a myriad of people who exists in Singapore(and other parts of Asia). Like I said I understand both sides to this discussion  and I'm on the fence about. 

Lastly and most importantly, its amazing to see the growth in Asian/ Asian Americans in the media industry, hence why I am not going against the movie for not featuring other ethnicities as I feel we have already taken a huge step forward and this is the start and I'm sure that with the growth of asian american cinema, different people will get the representation they need. I am honestly proud to see Singapore in the limelight for this movie. I think its a huge thing to see our little island in the big screen. If you're someone from well known cities like London, Paris or Berlin , you probably may not understand this sentiment since the place you grew up in is practically on the big screen every other week and most people all around the world have heard of it while for a tiny island/city/country like Singapore its a huge thing to be featured and showcased especially since there are still a lot of people out there that has probably never heard of out little red dot (aka Singapore).- This also makes me really proud as our country is tiny and is literally a dot on the map and yet we have made it this far and I look forward to seeing Singapore in the big screen more.

-Love Kaar