There is something wholesome, fun, and just plain delightful about romantic comedies. Perhaps it is the fact that audiences can almost always guess the rather predictable endings, or maybe it is the mushy-gushy chemistry between the leads that makes people blush and fondly remember someone they love. Some rom-coms even take on a more relatable stance with how two people manage to fall in love despite the chaos that goes on around them. Whatever the reason, millions of movie lovers are ecstatic that the genre has continued to thrive for so long.
In the 2010s, romantic comedies were all the rage as big names were popping up on the screen, and a more mature outlook was spotlighting the whole genre. In 2018, Crazy Rich Asians, a film adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s book of the same name, made its way into theaters and blew everyone’s expectations out of the water. The story features a Chinese-American economics professor, Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), as she travels to Singapore with her boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding), for a wedding. Nick is excited to introduce her to his family, but he has kept a big part of his life a secret: his family is “China rich,” meaning they do, say, and get what they want whenever they want. Unfortunately, Rachel is not someone they want, and both she and Nick learn that very quickly.
The film climbed to the top of the charts all around the world when it first premiered, making $239 million off of a $30 million budget. Now, six years later, Crazy Rich Asians has dropped on Netflix, and it certainly took no time to make it onto the infamous Top 10 list. Find out why Crazy Rich Asians is considered one of the best romantic comedies of the 2010s and what may be happening in the very near future for the characters.
2010s Romantic Comedies Were the Absolute Best
Through the decades, romantic comedies have significantly shifted to match what audiences are going through and how cheeky relationships should be handled. In the 2010s, we see characters being more open to difficult conversations and having more intricate lives before they meet their significant others. The growth of the relationship is, of course, important when the whole film is about two or more people being romantic, but the relatable development of the individuals involved is what sets this decade apart from others.
Crazy Rich Asians Incorporated Intricate Characters
Within Crazy Rich Asians, there is quite a variety of characters with different backgrounds. We are first introduced to the Young family when Nick was just a little boy. He, his mother, and a couple of others show up, completely drenched in the rain, at a hotel and ask for their room key. The manager practically kicks them out, suggesting they are not the kind of people who would stay there. One phone call later, the Youngs own the hotel. This establishes how Nick grew up, how his mother conducts business, and the expectations the family has for certain situations.
Then we have Rachel, who is humble, comes from a single-parent household, and loves her job as a professor in New York. Rachel wants to get along with everyone, and she makes the effort to do so. We see how hard she works to make sure Nick’s friends and family like her, but in the end, she realizes “respect” and “like” are on two very different playing fields. By the end of the film, Rachel learns more about herself and her mother than she ever imagined, and Nick learns the importance of breaking traditions for the sake of love.
When it comes to romantic comedies, there are always a few expectations. First, there has to be trouble in paradise, meaning the romance between the two leads cannot be easy. There has to be someone or something involved that could break them apart for good. Second, the supporting characters need to add to the hilarity. There is no “comedy” without a good friend throwing out some witty one-liners and making the leads laugh through their struggles. Finally, there has to be a happy ending. Now, this does not always mean the couple gets married, but there has to be hope for their future together.
Focusing on Cultural Differences Is Refreshing
With Crazy Rich Asians, one only has to look at the title to consider the immediate differences of the film. In this instance, “crazy rich” refers to the fact that Nick’s family is ridiculously wealthy, and due to their generational wealth, they have certain needs that must be met. Throughout the film, we get to see how the richest families live in Singapore and how quick and desperate people are to want to please them. When Peik Lin (Awkwafina) finds out that Rachel, her very own best friend, does not know the history of the Young family and what they have made of their lineage for the last 200 years, she gets to work with teaching her all about tradition and expectations.
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Then, the number of cousins that come up during the festivities is astounding, as well as necessary for a film focused on Chinese culture. Nick makes sure to explain how people are really only respected based on their career and family history, but Rachel does not fully understand how much one’s upbringing could affect their role in the family until she is blindsided by her own past. This is a very real concern within the culture because of how families, along with their problems and scandals, become intertwined once a marriage happens. The directors made sure to highlight these cultural differences and, in the most respectful way possible, show how hard it is for an American to find their footing in a family that believes in tradition and “purer” connections.
Crazy Rich Asians’s Netflix Success Could Call for a Sequel
By the end of the film, Nick and Rachel are on great terms as they celebrate their engagement with friends and family. However, there are a number of storylines that were left up in the air. Will Rachel and Nick stay in Singapore as he takes over the family business? What will come of Nick’s cousin, Astrid (Gemma Chan), when she moves away with her son due to her husband’s infidelity? Will P. T. (Calvin Wong) ever find a girlfriend who puts up with his quirks? Now, this third question may just be a fun side story, but plenty of viewers genuinely want to know what comes of the happy couple as well as the independent and kind-hearted woman. Happily, there have been talks about a sequel or even a spin-off.
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What We Know About a Sequel Thus Far
After the huge success of the 2018 theatrical release, it was announced that Jon M. Chu was interested in adapting Kevin Kwan’s other two novels, Crazy Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems. Unfortunately, by the time contracts had been negotiated, and some disputes were had, several of the actors found themselves working on other projects. A sequel has not officially been confirmed yet, but a spinoff has apparently been in the works. Chan’s character, Astrid, will get her time to shine as she falls in love with a very good friend. Again, no specific details have been released yet, but maybe with the revival of Crazy Rich Asians‘s popularity on Netflix, things and dates will start to become more concrete.
