Asian Culture Column: August-September

By Amanda See

This past month has been a very significant month for the Asian community nationally and globally. As an Asian person myself, I am well informed of the fact that my culture is not embraced as much as other cultures in the media and in reality. I hope, with this column, I can help bring monthly awareness and recognition of the Asian community and culture.

Recently, Asian representation in the media has reached its peak because of films that included Asian leads and casts. Social media users all around the world has expressed how August has been a very valuable month for the Asian community. There has been numerous people celebrating this fact including myself. While growing up in America, I remember watching movies that included only white casts or sometimes people of color, but they were rarely of my ethnicity. As a 17-year-old finally watching movies with Asian actors, it felt like a personal accomplishment for myself.

The films that garnered a lot of appreciation for the culture were Crazy Rich Asians that was released on August 15th in cinemas and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, a netflix-original movie released on August 17th.

Both are romance movies, but they received a great amount of recognition for having an all Asian cast in the cinema film and an Asian-American lead in the latter film. This was a very significant achievement for my community because films, shows, or entertainment broadcasts and productions in general are rarely inclusive of Asian people. In many works, in which they are actually casted, their portrayal is not with any importance or focus. This is why these two films impacted the community so severely.

The movies were very enjoyable to watch since I am a fan of romance and romantic comedies, but even if a viewer was not, they would most likely watching the movie with a positive impression. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is more of a teenage romantic comedy that put emphasis on youth, and Crazy Rich Asians is also a romance movie, but is for a more mature audience because it includes a love story between adults and the hardships they face. If you are interested in watching, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is available to stream on Netflix, and Crazy Rich Asians is still playing in movie theatres.