It happened!
As I was hoping for last week, Crazy Rich Asians was part of the Warner Bros presentation yesterday at CinemaCon in Vegas. This is evidently why the trailer was delayed until this week, so they could start building momentum for the movie – and it’s working. CRA has been picking up solid traffic on social media. The preview was overwhelmingly well-received. Reaction from the first VIP screening on Monday was excellent. And now the cast is getting equal play in front of theatre owners alongside superhero movies and major releases (Oceans 8) featuring major movie stars (Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper). Again, it’s encouraging to see the studio put this kind of effort behind the project, a film with a predominantly Asian cast that will be set predominantly in Asia.
So here are Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Awkwafina, Sonoya Mizuno, and Gemma Chan, led by director Jon M Chu, on stage yesterday …and seeing these photos this morning almost made me cry because… I’m not sure I’ve seen it before. Especially not at a big Hollywood-style movie event like this. With all these Asian faces (And Will Arnett.) And what’s even better is that, as we get closer and closer to the release of the movie, we might start getting used to this. During the press tour and all of the promotional events, this cast will be everywhere, standing next to each other like this on other stages and on red carpets and maybe on magazine covers and eventually, hopefully?, it’ll start feeling… normal? Ordinary?
Well, that’s a stretch. Because Crazy Rich Asians, right now, is repping for everyone – as in it’s the only one. There’s no other all-Asian major studio film in production right now. So when Crazy Rich Asians is over, there will be a wait for the next. Remember, CRA is the first major Hollywood movie since The Joy Luck Club. JLC came out in 1993. It’s been 25 years!
Let’s talk now about Gemma Chan, who plays Astrid. The trailer is low on Astrid. Which I’m not mad at. Because the trailer has to be an introduction to those who are unfamiliar with the story and the way they’re selling it right now is rom-com with some mother-in-law Girl Sh-t, relatable in any culture, whether you’re middle class or royal, as we recently saw in Spain. Astrid isn’t part of that drama so there’s no sense in confusing people by putting her in the preview. She has her own drama though, as you know if you’ve read the books. And she is the one who will bring the style. And on the subject of style, there were a few comments about how tacky the style is from what we saw in the trailer.
Really?
Ummm…what did you expect? The movie is called Crazy Rich Asians. These people ARE tacky. Over-the-top is the only fashion gear they know. Over-the-top everything is the only gear they know. You’ve seen the recent trend at Chinese weddings, right? No? Here, let me show you.
That’s a veil, travelling along a track, before dropping delicately onto the bride’s head. She is waiting for it on a f-cking runway.
And you expected good taste?!
I know my people. Let them live! Let them have their tacky-ass sh-t!
Except for Astrid, of course. And that’s the point. The more tacky everyone else’s fashion, the more amazingly steezy Astrid’s will be.
