Did Crazy Rich Asians Make it WORSE For Asian Movies?

Actor and activist Daniel Dae Kim recently said that the success of Crazy Rich Asians actually had some negative side effects on Asians in the industry. Is he keeping it too real or is he being a little too critical? Yeah, he said these remarks during a panel at the Sundance Film Festival. They're going viral right now. Of course, the internet got a bunch of different takes on it. Make sure you like, subscribe, turn on your notifications. But real quick, Andrew, we got If you had a project that spoke to something other than people being super rich and super wealthy and super happy, then they weren't interested. Not only did we have difficulty trying to find other portrayals of Asian Americans, but it also had the additional burden of having to represent all Asians. Yeah, shout out to DDK, very much a statesman of the Asian American community. I will say, though, that he does sound like he's narrating a sci-fi movie sometimes. We struggled to find a water source on Mars. Therefore, we had to push further in our galaxy than any of us had ever anticipated. Yeah, he's a good dramatic actor. But yeah, we're going to get into the main reactions and our takeaways, guys. Please watch the video all the way through. Hit that like button right now. Turn on your notifications. Hot Bob Boys are releasing videos every single day. The first one was like, oh, God, quit complaining. Every day, it's something new. There's no Asian movies you complain. You finally have a successful Asian movie. You still complain. Oh, God, I'm sick of the whining. And this came mostly from non-Asians, but even some Asians. Right. Well, that's why it's important on what quotes people take as news. I think there's a lot of context for this quote. I think it's at a Sundance panel that's about film. Filmmakers and production heads are all talking together. It's not really meant for the general public. I don't think Daniel D. Kim would have said this on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, but I think it's a real quote. But anyways, I know what you mean, because it's sort of like an inside conversation that made a good byline, like headline, and it got pushed out like it was something where D.D.K. wanted everybody to think about it. But even him, he probably was like, no, I was speaking to my fellow production company owners and auteurs. These comments were never intended for the layman, Normie. Yeah, don't worry, D.D.K., we kind of got your back. However, I will say people, when they hear rich and famous people complain, they imagine it like LeBron complaining about stuff like LeBron. You're like this big, strong, almost near billionaire. Why are you complaining? You know, but it's just like, yeah, but that's like it was somewhat of an internal conversation. For sure. But I could see how a regular person who works like a blue collar job sees this pop up on Yahoo News is like, turn it off. Quick, come on. Yeah. Moving on, Andrew. Some people said, yeah, it is true what D.D.K. said. Even though the film's progress, it's absolutely true what he said. People only want wealth porn. They want House of Ho. They want bling empire. They just want to see Asians be classes to each other, but be in the upper class of that dynamic. Well, is it that the production wants to see it or do they think other Asians want to see it or the general public? Are you shifting the blame and responsibility, Andrew, and putting the onus on the the pocketbooks of the viewer and the consumer? Possibly. Let's talk about it in a little bit, David. What's the next reaction? Somebody said. But yeah, there was a ton of movies that also don't involve rich Asians, whether it was everything, everywhere, all at once. Minari, Shang-Chi, Parasite, Squid Games, Farewell, Tiger Tail, Oh Mom. Yeah. Now those are only like maybe 10 movies that we can name. Maybe I think there was more, but maybe that's not enough or or, you know, I mean, so I guess there's a perspective that people could just disagree with this quote and say, hey, guys, there was actually some pretty good movies, although there was some B.S. content that was kind of stupid, like House of Ho or like bling empire, you know, content that was trying to follow up crazy rich Asians that wasn't as good as crazy rich Asians. I want to see Asians be rich. Um, also, some white people came through and defended their choices going, hey, you're saying that I can't support a movie about rich Asians. Last time I checked the median income statistics of America, Asians were the highest group. So you cannot tell me when I have the stats and the metrics to back it up that Asians aren't rich. So if Asians have high income, I'm going to watch a movie about Asians with high income. Yeah, you hit the stereotype. And again, I think there's a lot of Asians out there who want to see Asians have high income because they think it's like an aspirational image, right? So you're saying it's not just the white viewers driving this type of content. It's the Asian viewers as well. Yeah, trust me, if Asians were really against it and made a fuss about it, I think it would start to affect it. But anyway, someone said, and in general, I don't watch Asian movies. I don't care if you guys go on your rotten tomatoes and Metacritic and rank your movies 100 out of 100. I'm not watching them. I reserve the right to watch what movies with white heroes and white neighborhoods with white storylines, man. You can't keep shoving this diversity down my throat. Well, this quote is basically like, well, yes, think of it from a human selfish perspective as a white male. Why would I want to watch any movie that tries to make me feel bad about the things that white males did in the past? You know, because a lot of these struggle movies are always about like white supremacy and all this other stuff. And you know, I'm just going to watch a few good white movie, right? I believe that that's also something we'll probably say about the Black Panther series. I will say, however, that rich Asian stories actually align with what these guys think, because when you watch the old money, wealthy Asians, you don't necessarily feel bad or feel like any sort of, I guess, knock on white people saying they're the oppressor. Yeah, maybe it also makes Asians feel just like anybody else when they're super rich. Like, you know, in Crazy Rich Asians, people who are influenced by some type of British royalty, you know, in that part of colonial Indochina. Exactly. Yeah. But anyways, guys, here's our major takeaways. I got three. Number one, I think context matters. I think Daniel Dae Kim, he does own his own production company. I think he was pitching projects the last five years, and maybe he felt like that the production, that the studios were looking for more rich Asian stories. They're like, is there like a rich Asian in this story? And he's probably like, listen, that's not the stories that I'm trying to pitch here. Like I'm trying to pitch other stories. And so I think it was an internal conversation amongst other filmmakers and actors and producers that leaked out to the general audience. Again, I don't think DDK would have said this, you know, on mainstream television. Right. Because then once it leaks outside of that fishbowl, it seems whiny, right? That's how it appears. Because a lot of other people reading this quote, they don't have a context for what he's referring to. Point number two, Andrew, CRA does not shatter people's perception of Asians, whether inside of the community or outside of the community. It kind of goes along with it, right? Sort of like to the comment of the white guy, even Asians themselves sometimes don't feel comfortable, or they're obviously not embracing the hood Asian movies, the few that are made. I mean, it kind of reminds me of like where black film was, African-American film in the 80s and 90s. You know, there was this string of great hood movies, and it was almost like they were so good and people latched on to those characters, paid in full and stuff like that. But at the same time, it was like only representing one side of the community. And it took a while to grow out of that. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there was black filmmakers at the time being like, oh, man, there are what do you got some of those wealthy black people? Like, can we like make a video about how they got to wealth and their whole history and stuff like that? But But let's be honest. Yeah, I think a lot of people watching, they find more interest in the 80s and 90s, like hood stuff that is related to even like rap culture and the whole like, you know, that right, right, the gang situation. I mean, a lot of Latinos are still sort of struggling to tell tales that are not about like, immigration. Right. And I think that you're starting to get like we said, some of the diversity with the shows like blackish and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, the audience does sort of dictated. And it seems like they've said, like, okay, from this community, we want this type of film from that community want that type of film, etc, etc. So I mean, how much do you blame the studios? How much do you blame the production companies versus how much do you blame the audience? Because it all works in concert together, for sure. And last but not least, Andrew, basically, what DDK said is progress is not perfect, right? And he was right. Basically, we've been saying it, but it depends on your word choice. I guess it depends on like how people end up feeling about it. But progress in media is like two steps forward, one step back type thing. Ultimately, that's still one step forward. Yeah, I mean, again, guys, there is enough Asian content being made, you don't have to support everything. Find the things that you think are actually good products that you want to support, but please show your support. Because, you know, any Asian project to get off the ground still needs some support from from everybody, you know, so you think that non rich Asian stories can be interesting? Because like, obviously, boogie, for example, was the story of like an Asian, you know, I guess, like a hood Asian trying to make it in basketball. There are some other examples. Even fresh off the boat is sort of like, I guess about navigating the middle class. Yeah, I mean, I think there are stories. Again, I think that there's going to be more stories. Obviously, we know several movies that came out that were good. I do think everything everywhere all at once. Now kind of breaks through for more the middle class, lower middle class Asian story, because that's what it was depicting in that movie. But it's funny enough, they still got to show Michelle Yao in a rich alternative universe. So there is still some rich imagery, but it's not about her being they had to show how good they looked in a one car wide type of context. I'll say this, man, I'm looking for more V and movies. Hey, that's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking V and American movies gotta be crazy. Some people just say that Asians look good in suits and dresses. I don't know. Well, it's because our hair. And if we get the black rimmed glasses, like he quite quanted, we just like look like we match with the suit. Yeah, because our hair is black, too. Anyway, guys, let us know what you think in the comment section below. Was this blown out of proportion? Is it a valid discussion? You know, or is everybody just shading CRA now that there's more like artsy hipster Asian movies out in 2023? Let us know in the comment section below. Until next time we'd hop out boys we out peace.