Crazy Rich Asians (2013)
Spectacular view into the world of excess and luxury, paired against the deeper nuanced social-family status tensions for outsiders peering in.
[spoilers warning]
Astrid/Michael and Rachel/Nick’s relationship is wonderfully juxtaposed:
I was particularly moved by Kwan’s painting of Astrid as a glorious leader for the reader to look up to, pitting her against Michael - In the end, I was reminded, it’s not always so simple, earnest communication from a neutral point of view is always easier said than done.
In both couple’s relationships, I was also struck by Astrid and Nick’s responses, in quick reaction to their partners’ wish to disassociate with their family, that they would easily disown their family for the sake of their relationship. The irony in the oxymoron was yet another example for where the two parties are talking past each other, using the same words but not realizing the fundamental meaning behind them, in the perspective of the other party:
From Rachel/Michael’s view, “the family” was the ecosystem of ostentatious luxury fueled by its self-fulfilling guarded exclusivity - an ecosystem which plays an integral role for who Astrid/Nick are as people. Indpendent of Astrid/Nick’s attempts to deny this, their personalities are fundamentally tied to an ecosystem that is impossible for them to disown.
For them, “show me the money” does not apply.
Finally, beyond the craze of luxurious hotel views and remote getaway vacation cabins, Kwan’s ended the book with what I believe is a sobering final wake-up call of the inadvertent effects of traditional societal and familial values: behind the veil of the glory and riches are the hidden realities of violent domestic abuse, maternal double standards and oppression of the poor.
Everyone is a victim of the collective’s external pressures, and those less fortunate are the least equiped and most desperate to cope.