# data[].attributes.body
To describe a scene to reflect discrimination in society

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Warner Bros. / The Atlantic

When Warner Bros. announced in 2016 that it'd be making Crazy Rich Asians for the big screen, a few things were clear from the start: The movie would be an adaptation of Kevin Kwan's bestselling novel about a Chinese American economics professor who accompanies her Singaporean boyfriend back home for a wedding, only to discover that he's from one of the island's wealthiest families. It would be a rare, major U.S. production with an all-Asian cast. It would also be a romantic comedy, a genre Hollywood has fallen out of love with. And, crucially, it was clear that the stakes for the film would be incredibly-even impossibly-high. If it failed, the thinking went, would big studios want to make more Asian-driven stories in the future?

Less than a week after arriving in theaters, Crazy Rich Asians is unquestionably a critical and box-office success. Directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Constance Wu and the newcomer Henry Golding, the film has garnered praise for its performances, its sleek aesthetic, and its fresh take on the rom-com. The film boasts dazzling sets (despite a modest $30 million budget); a gorgeous, international cast; and a marketing campaign that leans into the film's significance for Asian representation in Hollywood.

Indeed, for many Asian Americans, seeing Crazy Rich Asians has been not only a fun time at the theater, but also a deeply emotional experience. Here is a summer movie that, in defiance of Hollywood history, casts Asian actors in an array of roles: as snobby socialites, formidable matriarchs, rude frat boys, self-possessed women of ambition, single mothers, and rich eye candy. Chu even turned down a massive deal with Netflix because he felt it was important for his movie to be seen in theaters. "It reflects self-worth and it reflects Asians coming to see this movie," he told Vulture. "That we are worth your time, your $15 to drive and park and struggle with buying tickets and crowds; to sit down in a dark room and say, 'Tell me a story.' We are worth that."

The film has also faced its share of criticism, which began months before its release and centered on casting decisions, its glamorization of wealth, and its overlooking of working-class and non-Chinese Singaporeans. So to what extent is the movie a "win" for Asian and Asian American visibility in Hollywood? And, as importantly, how good of a film is it? The Atlantic's Lenika Cruz, Emily Jan, Rosa Inocencio Smith, and Ashley Fetters discuss whether Crazy Rich Asians lived up to their expectations, and which key moments stayed with them after they left the theater.

Lenika Cruz: I'll be honest; I went into Crazy Rich Asians not expecting much, or at least trying not to. I knew a movie like this was never going to be all things to all people: a solid work of art, cast with the right actors, with the right balance of cultural specificity and broader accessibility, that satisfactorily reflected viewers' individual understandings of the Asian and Asian American experience. I went in only hoping to have a fine time, and you know what? I did! I laughed, I cried, I decided Michelle Yeoh (who played Eleanor) was my favorite human. I laughed some more.

And then there was, of course, the deeper stuff. I got goosebumps when Jasmine Chen's "Waiting for Your Return" kicked in at the beginning and she began singing in Mandarin (though I don't know the language). My heart leapt when I saw all the Asian names in the opening credits. I delighted whenever a familiar face-Constance Wu, Ken Jeong, Jimmy O. Yang, the list goes on-popped onscreen for the first time. Each time Chu decided to linger on a set of abs or squeeze in a random make-out session, I felt a tiny victory had been won for depictions of Asian sexuality in American pop culture. How about you, Emily? What mindset did you have going into the film, and how did you feel walking out of the theater?

Emily Jan: I didn't make it past the opening credits without bursting into spontaneous tears. Music can be such an emotional part of a movie experience to me, so the second Chen's cover started playing in Mandarin (transporting me to karaoke-filled, special-occasion dinners visiting my extended family in Taiwan, watching my ah-ma take the mic and command the room) at the top of the film, I was gone.

Like you, Lenika, I went in with mixed feelings. Was I (or anyone) going to relate to the 1 percent lifestyle? Will this perpetuate Chinese nouveau-riche stereotypes? Were the languages going to get butchered? How were historically subjugated Asian groups going to be represented?

I knew there were going to be elements of the movie that didn't sit right with me, but when I let myself just take the whole thing in, I couldn't help but delight in the many familiar aspects-the bustling street market, Weibo and WeChat icons flitting across the screen, the various a-yi mannerisms and phrases-all presented without explanatory commas. I don't think I realized, going into this, how long I had been waiting to see parts of me reflected on the big screen. And, oh yes, there were those ab scenes.

Rosa Inocencio Smith: I'm an unabashed lover of rom-coms, and I expected to have a good time. But I was also a little nervous; I had a feeling that I wasn't going to be part of the intended audience. I'm half Filipina, but I don't speak Tagalog, and I often pass for white-all of which has left me feeling shaky about my claim to an Asian identity over the years. So, I wondered, would I miss the references, like the ones you describe, Emily, that made the movie special? If I didn't get emotional, finally seeing Asians in leading romantic roles onscreen, would I be betraying my background? And if I did, would I be guilty of lumping all Asian cultures together, of pretending to be somebody I'm not?

Fortunately, I forgot my anxiety a few minutes in, swept up in the sheer fun of it. The soundtrack, with its glorious mash-ups of Chinese and American music! All of the beautiful women with their different styles and body types! All of the beautiful men with their toned physiques! These characters were reminders that there are so many ways to be Asian and beautiful (even if the cast is hardly representative of that full spectrum). It took me a while to process what it all meant to me, but several blocks away from the theater, I realized I couldn't stop smiling.

Ashley Fetters: My experience was a lot like yours, Rosa-I'm part Filipina and my adoptive family is white, and my familiarity with the type of crazy-rich Asians in Crazy Rich Asians extends only so far as the original novel's introduction to them does (though to be fair, the book takes a good deal of care to explain many of the class- and nationality-related nuances of mainland and overseas Chinese society). So I was a little worried going in that any specific cultural references not explained in the source material would sail right over my head.

Happily, I can think of only one instance in which that happened (which I'll talk about later). For the most part, I found Crazy Rich Asians to be precisely the kind of romantic comedy I've been craving ever since the much publicized death of the rom-com. It's a relatively low-stakes modern comedy of manners, just like the book; a delightful summer moviegoing treat in the same way the novel is a delightful beach read. I even thought it improved on the book slightly in that it snipped out a few particularly convoluted subplots (e.g. Astrid's husband Michael's affair).

Cruz: Unlike you, Ashley, I didn't read the novel-with the exception of the prologue, which I sought out after seeing the movie because I was curious how the writers adapted it into the opening scene. It turns out they're mostly similar: In the film, Eleanor Young (Yeoh), her son Nick Young (Golding), Eleanor's sister-in-law Felicity, and Felicity's daughter Astrid (Gemma Chan), arrive at a fancy London hotel one stormy night in 1995 after a long journey from Singapore. Eleanor asks that her family be shown to their suite, only to be informed by the manager that her family could find a place to stay in Chinatown. Moments later, Eleanor gets her revenge: She convinces her husband that they should buy the hotel, making her the new benefactress-a power she promptly uses to order her horrified employees to clean the muddy floor.

This scene actually had me thinking about the opening of Get Out (bear with me). Both sequences place viewers-whatever their race-into the shoes of a non-white protagonist during a racist encounter, forcing them to viscerally identify with the character's humiliation (or anger, or fear). Of course, Get Out and Crazy Rich Asians are dramatically different films, but their first minutes do a lot to tell audiences whom they're supposed to care about. The hotel scene has to do the tricky work of making the "crazy rich Asians" feel relatable, and it does that by making them-if only for a few moments-vulnerable. The result is you don't feel too bad for the xenophobic manager who might now find himself out of a job; when Eleanor coolly told him to fetch a mop, my audience cheered, seemingly reveling in his degradation alongside her. But the other not-so-subtle message here is that money, if you have enough of it, can make you untouchable. That it can be a deliciously effective weapon against prejudice. Or that it can, at least, buy you a break from the indignities of racism once in a while-a luxury that not many people have.

Smith: To your point about making the Young family accessible versus untouchable, Lenika, I was noticing the movie does a lot of that work through food. When we first see Nick and Rachel together, he's stealing bites of her dessert-it's a sweet, playful moment that sets the tone of their relationship.

Later on, the mouthwatering montage of street food that welcomes Rachel to Singapore communicates friendship and celebration-it's the kind of meal that can include all kinds of dishes and all kinds of people. But a similar montage in the Youngs' kitchen, when Eleanor is directing the cooks, shows off their wealth and her exacting standards. And in both of these scenes, disorienting swoops of the camera and quick cuts from close-up to close-up help to show that Rachel-who playfully (and oddly) tells Nick that a shaved-ice dessert looks "vomit-y"-is out of her comfort zone.

On the other hand, food is sometimes used to express care and comfort. Both Nick's and Rachel's mothers show love through food, prescribing herbal soup for tiredness and ginseng tea for heartbreak. In the scene when the Youngs are making dumplings together, we get to see a softer, more down-to-earth side of the family and the teamwork that brings them together. We also, of course, see the pressures that comes with that closeness via Ah-Ma's criticism of Eleanor's dumpling technique.

My favorite food-related detail: the Tupperware meals that Rachel's mom packs for her to take on the plane to Singapore. (If you spotted it, Mrs. Chu is also holding a Tupperware when she says goodbye to Peik Lin at the end of the film!) It's such a tiny detail, but I'd bet it's one that resonates across the Asian diaspora-it certainly reminded me of my lola, who once had to be talked out of bringing a ham on the plane to my brother's graduation. When food means family, packing it up to send with your loved ones is a way of staying close to them even when they've moved overseas. And like Eleanor says in the dumpling scene, traditional dishes are one of the major ways that many immigrant families stay connected with their heritage.

Fetters: For as widely appealing as we all seem to have found the movie to be, I really respect how at certain points Crazy Rich Asians resists bending over backwards to make sure non-Asian (or non Chinese, or non-Singaporean) viewers "get" it. Sure, overall it does hew to a pretty universally relatable storyline about the tensions between family loyalty and romantic loyalty, but there's a pivotal moment in the script that I found really striking for its deliberate decision not to be universally understandable: the game of mahjong between Rachel and Eleanor, which serves as a backdrop to the final showdown between the two over whether Rachel and Nick's relationship would continue. (It's not in the book; this scene was added just for the film adaptation.)

Mahjong is most commonly played in China and in Chinese communities, and the fact that there's a dramatic close-up of the markings on one specific tile in Rachel's hand, but no explanation of what that tile means in the game or how it changes Rachel's chances, means you have to be familiar with the rules and strategy of mahjong to understand precisely what's happening in the scene. And if you know mahjong, it's likely you've been considerably well exposed to Chinese culture more broadly, too. In other words, in this moment, the movie implicitly assumes its viewer is Chinese or is somehow otherwise well versed in Chinese culture. (Though of course, there are enough context clues given that even someone like me, with no mahjong experience, could understand the outcome of the game at the scene's conclusion.)

It's not uncommon for big-budget, mainstream Hollywood movies to assume audiences are familiar with games and sports ubiquitous within particular cultures. It's just that most of the time, those games and sports are ubiquitous within one particular culture; namely, middle-class white culture. Plenty of mainstream Hollywood features assume their audiences understand baseball or American football or golf; it's not uncommon to see a dramatic poker scene feature a close-up shot of one player's hand, absent of any explanation in the script of how poker works. If you've never played poker, you might have to rely on context clues to pick up what's happening-and I think a lot of viewers who don't usually find themselves on the outside of an insider reference might have to do exactly that with Crazy Rich Asians ' mahjong scene. But it's a bold move on the film's part to deliberately tailor its assumptions about audience familiarity to a different audience.

Jan: Ah yes, that mahjong scene. Of course there's a mahjong scene. But this one is so well done, establishing Rachel's strength and pride in her identity, while giving Yeoh's Eleanor some added nuance and vulnerability. I'm totally with Ashley on how awesome it is that the audience doesn't get hand-held through this scene. Even if you're not familiar with mahjong ( here's a great explainer of that scene), you know what has happened here, and you recognize that Eleanor and Rachel have been playing a mental and strategic game-in that moment, but also figuratively throughout the film.

I will also add that it's just a gorgeously shot sequence-using the fluid movements and rhythm of the game to move along the tension in the scene. The lines are sparse, but they're delivered with such quiet intensity (after all, Rachel knows better than to make a scene, lest anyone at the table lose face). And boy, did I cry- just as Wu did, while shooting that scene -when her mom joins her at the end and they walk off together in unison, almost physically supporting each other.

Cruz: Having seen Crazy Rich Asians twice, I can say the mahjong scene (which made sense to me even though I don't know the game) holds up for me as the movie's standout. I loved that a film that was otherwise so indulgent opted for such a stripped-down climactic moment, one whose power derived from its subtlety. Wu is spectacular in the scene, and the shots are edited together perfectly. It is, I think, the real spiritual ending of the movie-one that's more satisfying than Nick's charming and flustered airplane proposal, and the final, fireworks-filled rooftop party.

It's interesting to me how, despite the fact that this movie is very much a comedy, the scenes that stuck with all of us weren't the most spectacular ones or the ones we laughed the loudest at. I can't remember the last rom-com that drove friends to text me things like, "Did you cry? I'm worried I'm going to cry" because they couldn't wait to see so many people who looked like them on the big screen. I can't remember the last rom-com that inspired Twitter threads as powerful as the one HuffPost's Kimberly Yam shared after seeing Crazy Rich Asians, in which she detailed the corrosive, cumulative effects that everyday racism had on her ability to love herself and her Chinese heritage. "You're 25 years old. You see a movie with an all-Asian cast at a screening and for some reason you're crying and you can't stop. You've never seen a cast like this in Hollywood. Everyone is beautiful," Yam concluded. "You're so happy you're Chinese."

The terms "Asian" and "Asian American" can, unfortunately, serve to flatten myriad identities and experiences into a unified abstraction that doesn't actually exist. But to me there's nothing abstract about the enthusiasm for this movie-even the deeply conflicted enthusiasm-that I've seen from viewers of Asian descent in America. In some ways, both the affection for and the sharp criticism of Crazy Rich Asians are symptoms of the same thing: the desire to see more films like this one out in the world, and the fact that there's a massive, passionate audience out there that is paying attention.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Lenika Cruz is a senior associate editor at The Atlantic, where she covers culture.

Emily Jan is the art director of TheAtlantic.com.

Ashley Fetters is a staff writer at The Atlantic.

Rosa Inocencio Smith is an assistant editor at The Atlantic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Which 'Crazy Rich Asians' Scenes Were Most Memorable?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When Warner Bros. announced in 2016 that it'd be making Crazy Rich Asians for the big screen, a few things were clear from the start: The movie would be an adaptation of Kevin Kwan's bestselling novel about a Chinese American economics professor who accompanies her Singaporean boyfriend back home for a wedding, only to discover that he's from one of the island's wealthiest families.

# data[].attributes.body
To talk and discuss about the cast of the movie.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Written By
Sarah El-Mahmoud

As 2019's summer season reaches an end, we may remember it as a moment when moviegoers couldn't get enough of live-action remakes and superhero genre epics. But when looking in restrospect to last summer's movie offerings, Crazy Rich Asians was the standout movie of the season that turned some tides for Hollywood with its massive box office and critical success. It brought about a new wave for the romantic comedy genre and proved there's an eager audience centered on Asian-American stories. Just look at how well the Crazy Rich Asians ' cast is doing, nabbing big-time roles after their breakout success!

Crazy Rich Asians had a stacked cast of Asian-American actors - the first major Hollywood film to do so since 1993's The Joy Luck Club. The comedy featured some well known talents such as Michelle Yeoh and Ken Jeong, but more notably introduced the world to quite a few newcomers who clearly have bright futures in the business looking at where they are just one year after Crazy Rich Asians, between their impressive co-stars and upcoming franchise roles. Check them out:

Constance Wu (Rachel Chu)

Fresh Off the Boat's Constance Wu lead 2018's Crazy Rich Asians as New York economics professor Rachel Chu, who journeys to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick Young for a wedding only to find out he belongs to an incredibly rich, celebrity-status family. Before starring in the summer success, Wu already had four seasons on the aforementioned ABC sitcom under her belt. The actress had been pursuing the business for over 10 years, and with Fresh Off the Boat being her only starring role at the time, Crazy Rich Asians allowed her to snag the spotlight in a movie.

One year after the August release of Crazy Rich Asians, Constance Wu is gearing up for a starring role in the upcoming crime dramedy Hustlers alongside Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Cardi B and Lizzo. The September release tells the true story of a crew of former strippers who decide to take advantage of their Wall Street clients. Wu holds the top-billing for Hustlers as a single mother named Destiny who creates the master plan with her fellow dancers.

The actress did have a very public outburst a few months ago when she took to social media to express her anguish over losing out on another opportunity following the renewal of Fresh Off the Boat. Slate has called the incident a unique win for representation Hollywood. Finally, an Asian-American "Diva" to call their own! ABC has assured fans there is no beef with the actress. She's also scored roles in Sony Animation's Wish Dragon and Low Budget Ethnic Movie.

Henry Golding (Nick Young)

When Henry Golding was cast in Crazy Rich Asians, he didn't have a single acting credit. He'd been hosting BBC World News' The Travel Show, which was just the source that got him invited to audition for the rom-com. When he debuted as Nick Young in the August flick, he became a Hollywood heartthrob overnight and has since gained massive fame ( a transition he admits he's wrestled with). In his breakout role, he plays Rachel's boyfriend with a family part of the Singapore elite.

After also starring in A Simple Favor alongside Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick for his second movie, Golding has an impressive line-up to continue his acting career. This holiday season he'll play leading man to Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke in another rom-com, titled Last Christmas. At the top of 2020, the Crazy Rich Asians actor will also be in Guy Ritchie's The Gentleman. The action film also stars Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant and will follow a British drug lord selling off his empire to Oklahoma billionaires.

Henry Golding is also making moves into blockbuster franchises with his recent casting as the lead in G.I. Joe spinoff, Snake Eyes. He'll play the fan-favorite ninja warrior in the Robert Schwentke (director of Red)-helmed flick. The actor has also recently been in public conversation about taking on the role of Namor in the MCU (maybe as the villain in Black Panther 2?) Who knows if it will happen, but the fact that Golding has made it as far as being fan-casted in a Marvel role within a year of his success is crazy!

Gemma Chan (Astrid Young Teo)

Of the Crazy Rich Asians' breakout cast, 37-year-old Gemma Chan had the most lengthy career before joining in on the summer hit. Fans of AMC's Humans series were familiar with her and she'd found supporting roles in Fantastic Beasts and Transformers. The Jon M. Chu-directed book adaptation was her largest movie role to date and has propelled her into Hollywood star status. Chan played Nick's sister Astrid, who is dealing with her husband's affair throughout the movie.

Since then, she played the blue-skinned Minn-Erva in March's Captain Marvel. She may have a larger role in the MCU too, since she's rumored to have involvement in the upcoming Phase Four film The Eternals. It's unclear whether she'll be reprising her Starforce role or playing a brand new character, but get it, girl! The actress has also just been cast in Steven Soderbergh's latest project, titled Let them All Talk. She'll be acting alongside none-other-than Meryl Streep for the under-wraps role. That cast also includes Lucas Hedges and Candice Bergen.

Chan will also be getting a promotion of sorts for the planned Crazy Rich Asian sequels. Astrid's continuing story will reportedly play a larger role in the next film in development as her relationship with Harry Shum Jr's Charlie Wu (shown in a cameo at the end) will be further explored, following the events of the books.

Awkwafina (Peik Lin Goh)

The true breakout of the Crazy Rich Asians cast is Awkwafina, of course. The 31-year-old has quickly become one of Hollywood's trendiest talents since her scene-stealing role as Rachel's hilarious best friend Peik Lin in the 2018 summer movie. Before that role lit up the big screen, she appeared earlier in 2018 in Ocean's Eight and had gained popularity for her YouTube channel. Once she uttered the iconic words " bok, bok, bitch," he life was never the same.

Awkwafina recently wowed critics for her performance in Lulu Wang's drama The Farewell, which has a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score and could receive Oscars attention. She's also done voice acting for The Angry Birds Movie 2, Netflix's upcoming The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, 2020's The SpongeBob Movie: It's a Wonderful Sponge and will reportedly play Scuttle in Disney's live-action Little Mermaid.

Awkwafina also has a role in Jumanji: The Next Level coming this December, alongside The Rock, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Danny DeVito and Danny Glover. Then she is joining the MCU in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Oh, and she'll also star with Meryl Streep in Netflix musical Prom! Plus, she's creating her own television show for Comedy Central called Awkwafina, based on her experiences living in Queens. She's literally doing it all!

The Crazy Rich Asians cast members are becoming actual realizations of the movie title that propelled them into stardom with all the projects they have on the way!! Considering each of their careers have exponentially grown since the rom-com dazzled audiences, it's clear the movie left an impression on Hollywood and made way for more Asian lead roles in the mainstream.

Which Crazy Rich Asians Breakout Star Are You Most Excited To See In More Roles?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Cast Of Crazy Rich Asians One Year After Its Huge Success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Written By Sarah El-Mahmoud As 2019's summer season reaches an end, we may remember it as a moment when moviegoers couldn't get enough of live-action remakes and superhero genre epics. But when looking in restrospect to last summer's movie offerings, Crazy Rich Asians was the standout movie of the season that turned some tides for Hollywood with its massive box office and critical success.

# data[].attributes.body
To show the differences between Asian and American culture.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
European Americans prefer positive feelings over negative ones while Chinese tend to experience a balance between the two, new Stanford research shows.

"Culture teaches us which emotional states to value, which can in turn shape the emotions we experience," said Stanford psychology Professor Jeanne Tsai, director of the Culture and Emotion Lab on campus. Stanford psychology postdoctoral fellow Tamara Sims was the lead author on the research paper, which was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Sims noted that a number of studies by other researchers have shown that people from Chinese and other East Asian cultures are more likely to feel both negative and positive - or "mixed emotions" - during good events, such as doing well on an exam.

On the other hand, Americans of European descent are more likely to just feel positive during good events. Tsai said this is explained by cultural differences in models of the "self." Americans tend to be more individualistic and focus on standing out, whereas Chinese tend to be more collectivistic, focusing on fitting in.

"In multicultural societies like ours, this can lead to deep misunderstandings," Tsai said.

For instance, Americans might view Chinese who feel bad during good events as being depressed, when in fact they are feeling how their culture expects them to feel.

In an interview, Sims said, "Although Americans know what it's like to look for the good in the bad - the silver lining - they are less likely to see the bad in the good, compared to Chinese."

Previous research has not examined the role that emotional values play in this difference. Tsai said this new research focuses on how much people in two different cultures want to maximize positive emotions and minimize negative ones.

The researchers conducted four different studies: with European Americans, Chinese Americans in the United States, and Chinese in Hong Kong and Beijing.

'Focusing on the positive'

The participants, totaling 690, were given questionnaires that assessed their emotions, values and how much they ideally wanted to feel positive relative to negative emotions.

In two of the studies, for example, participants carried handheld devices that beeped randomly during the day. When they beeped, participants rated how they ideally wanted to feel and how they actually felt at that moment.

Those studies showed that European Americans and Chinese Americans experienced fewer mixed emotions than Hong Kong and Beijing Chinese, and that those differences were related to how much those people wanted to maximize their positive emotions and minimize their negative ones.

In another study, European American and Hong Kong Chinese participants watched TV clips - from the X Factor, a musical competition series - and were asked to rate "How positive are you feeling right now?" and "How negative are you feeling right now?" on a 5-point scale.

The clips they watched differed in how well the contestants performed. The viewers were asked to put themselves into the shoes of the contestants.

Before watching the clips, half of the participants were instructed to focus on the positive but not the negative, whereas the other half were instructed to focus on both.

The people who were instructed to focus on the positive - but not the negative - were less likely to experience mixed emotions during the clips.

Overall, Tsai and Sims said, the findings provide evidence that the more people want to maximize positive feelings and minimize negative ones, the less likely they are to experience the bad with the good.

Multicultural implications

Tsai said that because people are often unaware of how cultural ideas and practices shape emotions, many assume that everyone wants to feel the same way.

Previous research by Tsai and Sims focused on doctor-patient connections, and the role that wanting to feel different types of positive emotions - excitement vs. calm - has on these relationships. This latest research concerns the degree to which people want to feel positive relative to negative emotions.

This subject, they suggested, has implications for other research on mixed emotions. For example, Stanford psychology Professor Laura Carstensen has found that as people in the United States grow older, they experience more mixed emotions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Americans embrace positive feelings, while Chinese prefer a balance, Stanford research shows

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
European Americans prefer positive feelings over negative ones while Chinese tend to experience a balance between the two, new Stanford research shows. "Culture teaches us which emotional states to value, which can in turn shape the emotions we experience," said Stanford psychology Professor Jeanne Tsai, director of the Culture and Emotion Lab on campus.

# data[].attributes.body
Using this part to analyze the music in this film.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Warner Bros. via YouTube

Every romantic comedy needs a perfect musical moment - and thankfully for rom-com fans everywhere, Crazy Rich Asians is packed full of them. All the songs in Crazy Rich Asians blends American and Asian culture thanks to a combination of classic Chinese love songs and popular English songs reworked with Chinese lyrics and sung by Asian performers. And according to the film's director, Jon M. Chu, and the music supervisor, Gabe Hilfer, all of those choices were a conscious decision to underline Rachel (Constance Wu)'s entrance into high society in Singapore.

"I wanted to take hit American songs and make them Chinese, to give audiences a sense of how we feel as Asian Americans," Chu said in a recent interview with Quartz. "That crazy blend of identities and cultures that makes up who we are. It felt to me like a critical part of what we were trying to do."

And like the film itself, the Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack has become a hit, introducing fans everywhere to new artists and interpretations of classic songs, all of which helped soundtrack some of the film's most emotional and extravagant moments. Keep on reading to find out your new favorite artist ... and to relive the opulence once more.

1. "Waiting for Your Return" - Jasmine Chen

Jasmine Chen is a well-known Chinese jazz singer who Chu picked to sing multiple songs on the soundtrack - she even appears in the film twice. In an interview with Mother Jones, Hilfer said that the intention was "to keep it appealing to all generations - so songs that were appealing to an older generation like Jon's parents, but then to also have younger singers like Jasmine Chen cover them, as a way to modernize classic ideas."

2. "Money (That's What I Want)" - Cheryl K

The iconic doo-wop tune - which has famously been covered by The Beatles - is performed in the film by Cheryl K, who was discovered by the creative team after she sent in a YouTube audition video. Her cover is done half in english and half in Chinese, which Hilfer told Mother Jones was a way to "bridge the cultural associations within the film," which is especially resonant as it plays when Rachel first arrives in Singapore.

4. "My New Swag" - VAVA feat. Ty, Nina Wang

Crazy Rich Asians doesn't only rely on Chinese covers of modern pop songs - it also features some famous Asian artists who have yet to become major names in America. That includes rappers VAVA and Ty, who previously had competed against one another on the Chinese rap competition reality show The Rap of China, according to The Irish Times.

7. "Ni Dong Bu Dong (Do You Understand)" - Lilan Chen

Another vintage-inspired song, Lilan Chen's version of "Ni Dong Bu Dong" is an upbeat party song with a tropical, 60s feel.

8. "Wo Yao Fei Shang Qing Tian" - Grace Chang

Another song by Chang, who was an inspiration for a lot of the older Chinese-language songs chosen for the soundtrack. Hilfer told Mother Jones that as part of the research process for the film, he watched "old Chinese videos on YouTube and [went] down all these paths and finding out how these songs came to be."

9. "Material Girl (200 Du)" - Sally Yeh

According to Hilfer, Yeh's cover of the classic Madonna single was actually one of the easier songs to get for the soundtrack, because they had already found Yeh's cover floating around the Internet. "This version came out of a whole deep dive into fun Chinese covers," he told Entertainment Weekly about the song, which plays when Rachel makes her grand entrance at the wedding.

11. "Wo Yao Ni De Ai (I Want Your Love - I Want You to Be My Baby)" - Jasmine Chen

12. "Yellow" - Katherine Ho

Ho's cover of Coldplay's "Yellow" has become the breakout song of the Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack, but it almost didn't happen. According to Chu, the director had to first convince Warner Bros. that it was worth including the song despite the fact that "yellow" is often used as a slur against Asians. Then, when Coldplay refused to sign off on using the track - presumably because they received criticism for cultural appropriation for their "Princess of China" and "Hymn for the Weekend" music videos - Chu decided to write them a personal letter asking for permission.

In an excerpt of the letter published in The Hollywood Reporter, Chu told the band "[The word 'yellow'] has always had a negative connotation in my life - until I heard your song ... It immediately became an anthem for me and my friends and gave us a new sense of pride we never felt before."

He got permission within hours, and Ho's cover (which plays when Nick (Henry Golding) proposes to Rachel), has become one of the most played and most emotional songs form the soundtrack.

14. "Money (That's What I Want)" - Cheryl K feat. Awkwafina

Before she was known as a scene-stealing actor, Awkwafina was famous for her rapping skills, so, naturally, Chu and Hilfer had to find some way to allow her to show off her flow. "We had always been thinking about how to involve Awkwafina more because she's so incredible," Hilfer told Entertainment Weeklyabout the rapper/actress who plays Peik Lin. "I remember I sent her an email [about contributing to the track], and her answer was just, 'HELL YES,' in all caps." Turns out it is possible for someone to steal the show even after the film has ended ... just listen to Awkwafina's verses on this credits song.

With a playlist so perfectly curated to capture every romantic, hysterical and over-the-top moment of the film, it's only a matter of time before the Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack becomes just as big of a hit as the movie itself.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
You'll Want To Listen To All Of These Amazing Songs From 'Crazy Rich Asians' On Repeat

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Every romantic comedy needs a perfect musical moment - and thankfully for rom-com fans everywhere, Crazy Rich Asians is packed full of them. All the songs in Crazy Rich Asians blends American and Asian culture thanks to a combination of classic...

# data[].attributes.body
I will use this to describe what asian Americans do in the United States.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"There is but one race-humanity." So says Millicent, paramour of the Irish protagonist in George Moore's 1900 play, " The Bending of the Bough.

But Millicent does not run the U.S. Census Bureau. Data on a myriad of economic and social factors can be analyzed by self-defined racial or ethnic category. The huge inequalities between people in different racial categories are one of the most pressing challenges for public policy in the 21 st century.

Simple racial categories bring both benefits and risks

The distinctions drawn by statistical categories inevitably simplify a complex kaleidoscope of history, culture, and lived experience. For one thing, there is a growing mixed-race population, as our colleague Bill Frey shows in his book, Diversity Explosion. In 2010, for example, 15 percent of black children under five were actually defined as both black and white. Analysts can also be insensitive to the great diversity that exists within a particular racial category, as well as between them.

Simplistic racial categories can also provide fuel for racial stereotypes. One of the strongest is the idealization of Asian-Americans as a "model minority"-hard working, studious, committed to family, and so on. There are a number of problems with this characterization. First, it misses the huge heterogeneity between different Asian-American groups. People of Bangladeshi and Korean origin, for instance, cannot be easily lumped together. Second, even the "positive stereotype" applied to Asians can carry a cost for young people by artificially inflating expectations or narrowing life choices, as Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou show in their excellent book, The Asian American Paradox.

Third, holding up one racial or ethnic minority as a "model" can too easily become an implicit criticism of other minorities. "If Asians can do it, why can't you?" is the thought process lying not far below the surface of some commentaries on race and racism in the U.S. This is perhaps the most dangerous byproduct of the model minority stereotype, and a form of racism in and of itself.

Asian-American successes in perspective

It is certainly true that treated as a whole group, Asian-Americans appear to be doing well. Relative to other racial and ethnic minorities, they live in wealthier neighborhoods, have high marriage rates, high levels of educational achievement, and are successful in the labor market.

The most striking success of Asian-Americans, and the one most commonly highlighted in the media, is in educational attainment. While 36 percent of whites, 23 percent of blacks, and 16 percent of Hispanics have a bachelor's degree or more, 54 percent of Asians do. Furthermore, while 14 percent of whites have advanced degrees, 21 percent of Asian-Americans do.

Why? For many, the answer is simple: culture. The New York Times columnist David Brooks points to a "Chinese attitude toward education"that aims to "perfect the learning virtues in order to become, ultimately, a sage, which is equally a moral and intellectual state. These virtues include: sincerity (an authentic commitment to the task) as well as diligence, perseverance, concentration and respect for teachers." Kay Hymowitz points to "a cultural trait that has become a cliché in the model-minority discussion: a zealous focus on education. For Chinese immigrants, education for the next generation is close to a religion." Amy Chua, of "Tiger Mom" fame, suggests that "strikingly successful groups...share three traits that, together, propel success. The first is a superiority complex-a deep-seated belief in their exceptionality. The second appears to be the opposite-insecurity, a feeling that you or what you've done is not good enough. The third is impulse control." Psychologists have tested Chua's "triple package" empirically, however, and found little support for her thesis.

In these discussions, there is a danger that scholars and commentators miss the diversity that exists within the Asian-American population, and over-emphasize the importance of a quasi-mystical "Asian-American cultural attitude," as opposed to more prosaic explanations for success-like school quality.

Belief in hard work, rather than just in education

A common refrain is that Asian-Americans value education more, on average, than other groups. But the evidence for this is not wholly convincing. In a College Board/National Journal survey of 1,272 adults ages 18 and older, the majority of members of all ethnic and racial minorities agreed with the statement, " young people today need a four-year college degree in order to be successful." (It was white students that were more skeptical.) However, Asian-Americans are more likely to believe that academic achievement results from greater effort, rather than greater skill. This belief can in fact explain a large part of the superior academic outcomes for Asian-Americans, according to some studies. Believing that hard work pays off, Asian-American students work harder-and, for them, it pays off.

Why do young Asian-Americans have a stronger belief in the connection between effort and education? One obvious point-though often overlooked-is that Asian-Americans are largely first- or second-generation immigrants, and immigrants are by definition a self-selected group. They are the ones who have been willing and able-or whose parents have been willing and able-to take the often risky journey to start a new life in a foreign land. Immigrants are often well-educated. Asian-Americans have in fact been a uniquely hyper-selective migrant group. The share of well-educated Asian immigrants is in fact higher than the American population average. This alone is likely to influence outcomes, since there is a clear connection between parental education and the education achievement of their children.

Asian-Americans attend better schools

There may be an even more straightforward explanation for why Asians do better in terms of education: they are more likely to go to better schools.

Drawing on microdata from the 2014 American Community Survey, we calculate school-level math proficiency rates to probe this question. First, we take school averages for pass-rates on state-administered math tests from 3 rd through 6 th grade (weighting by grade size). To avoid any endogeneity problem, the possibility that the passing rates of Asian students themselves might push the schools' numbers upward, we strip out Asian-American test-takers from our tabulation of school-level passing rates. Next we calculate the average passing rate for all the schools within each Public-Use Microdata Area (PUMA)-geographical areas containing roughly 100,000 people each-weighting our data by school size. PUMAs are rough proxies for public school attendance zones. Last, we rank all the PUMAs within each state, according to their average math passing rate. (So a PUMA between the 80 th and 100 th percentile contains schools with an average math-passing rate in the top fifth for that state.)

These rankings can be used to estimate whether Asian-Americans enjoy differential rates of access to good schools.

Note that here we are measuring the quality of schools to which different racial groups have likely access to, rather than those which they actually attend, which allows us to dig deeper into differences by racial category. But our results for Asian-Americans are broadly consistent with a recent paperby Jonathan Rothwell that did track attendance.[1]

We find that Asian-Americans do in fact live in areas with state-level school performance rates far more similar to whites than Hispanics or blacks:

Of course Asians and whites have higher average household incomes than blacks and Hispanics, which, other things equal, would suggest that they will be able to afford to live in areas with better schools. Work by Douglas S. Massey and Jonathan Tannen shows that Asians tend to live in neighborhoods that have higher median property values (a factor that strongly influences school funding levels through local property taxes) than their black or Hispanic counterparts.

But in fact the gap in access to good schools is almost as pronounced for those living in low-income households (i.e. those below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Line) as for the general population:

It is also possible that there are some peer effects at work here. Maybe those Asian-American kids are boosting their classmates' performance. But it seems highly unlikely that any such effect would be substantial, or sufficient to explain the gaps above. Asian-Americans make up roughly 5 percent of public school enrollment nationally. In our sample, Asian-American 5 th graders make up less than 10 percent of their grade populations in 95 percent of the schools, and less than 55 percent of the students in 99 percent of schools.

So, the conclusion seems clear: Asian-Americans live near better schools. This explanation for higher achievement is of course a rather boring one, compared to appeals to culture. But it suggests that policymakers would do better to promote higher-performing schools than worry too much about promoting "Asian values."

Asian-Americans are far from the same

So far we have followed research convention in treating Asian-Americans as a single group. But there are wide differences between different Asian-American groups. Many are struggling economically; the "Asian" advantages popularized in the media are far from universal.

Many groups from East Asia and India are doing very well economically. But Cambodians and Hmong are on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder, with very high poverty rates, of 38 percent and 29 percent respectively. Why is this? And is there an explanation of why some Asian groups do so well, while others struggle? According to the "model minority" theory of the case, economic hardship ought not to matter so much. Culture and values are supposed to overwhelm economic conditions.

In our data, we find some suggestive evidence to the contrary. The Asian groups faring poorly are those living in areas with poorer quality schools-similar, in fact, to those in which African Americans live. At the other end of the scale, the Asian groups doing well look to have access to higher performing schools. This finding seems to hold even when we take Asian scores out of our rankings, and for those below the 150 percent of the poverty level:

But, do schools really impact achievement?

On the face of it, asking whether school quality influences student outcomes is naïve. There is a vast evidence base suggesting that it does. But given the strength of the "model minority" thesis, it is worth looking to see if the educational attainment of different Asian-American groups lines up with our assessment of their access to good schools.

Here we have to turn to state-level data. California is home to just over 30 percent of the national Asian population (according to the 2010 Census). In terms of access to good schools among different Asian ethnic groups, the state is broadly similar to the national picture. Many East Asian groups and Indian Americans have above-par access, while those from Southeast Asia tend to have below-par access (defining "par" as the white rate):

The academic performance of children from these different groups on the California Standards Tests (CST) suggests that inequalities in educational access among Asian-Americans tend to be mirrored in educational achievement. The data from the CST End of Course Algebra 1 exam taken by eighth graders in the state shows a striking picture:

Groups like Cambodians and Laotians are faring much worse than their Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian counterparts in the state-in line with their access to better schools. (Note that the Chinese population here includes Taiwanese, who enjoy noticeably above-par access to good schools in the state of California.) These academic performance gaps within the Asian-American population are in fact just as wide as the gaps between white and black Americans.

To be clear: we do observe a broad shift upward in academic performance for Asian-Americans as compared to their initial rates of access to good schools. There may be a host of further reasons for this relatively uniform shift upward. Asian-Americans tend to have higher rates of family stability, for instance, which is likely to help their children do better at school. There is also some variation within the broader picture: note for instance the strong outcomes for Vietnamese Americans, even though their access to good schools is less than for whites.

But overall, given the similar-and striking-differences in access to quality schools, and apparent relationship to outcomes, it seems reasonable to conclude that material factors like access to good schools plays a critical role for all Americans, whatever their race.

Unfortunately Texas and New York-with the next largest Asian populations-do not release proficiency rates for Asians. (Shocking, really, but that's for another day.) However, some additional data from Minnesota seems to further reinforce a similar pattern of broad heterogeneity in Asian subgroup exam scores, largely mirroring our pattern in national access to good schools by ethnicity.

Time to ditch the "model minority" mindset

We have presented evidence that access to good schools may explain some of the good educational outcomes for Asian-Americans, and for different groups within the Asian-American population. There are exceptions, however. Those of Vietnamese origin do well; better than might be expected given their material circumstances and parental educational backgrounds. As highlighted in The Asian American Paradox, these exceptions may stem from access to shared resources and institutional structures built by other Asian minority groups. As relatively recent immigrants, or children of immigrants, Asian-Americans are also a self-selected group, hard to compare to people in other racial categories.

Having well-educated parents and a belief in hard work and will serve any child well, regardless of their race or ethnicity. To the extent that some Asian-Americans benefit disproportionately from both, they are likely to do better than others. But the danger is that too much emphasis is placed on these factors, rather than on more straightforward ones more amenable to public policy intervention, like access to good schools. As our former colleague Jonathan Rothwell and others have shown, black children in particular are likely to attend worse K-12 schools.

We have also shown that there are minorities within the Asian minority, and stark differences between them. This should act to further caution us against the adoption of "model minority" simplicities, and in particular, using them to implicitly cast blame on other racial or ethnic minorities for their own economic and social disadvantages.
[1] The one exception was that whites are more likely to attend a good school even in a PUMA with weaker schools. This may be a result of segregation within PUMAs, or a greater likelihood of attending a school outside the PUMA.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Nathan Joo, Richard V. Reeves, and Edward Rodrigue

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Asian-American success and the pitfalls of generalization

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"There is but one race-humanity." So says Millicent, paramour of the Irish protagonist in George Moore's 1900 play, " The Bending of the Bough. But Millicent does not run the U.S. Census Bureau. Data on a myriad of economic and social factors can be analyzed by self-defined racial or ethnic category.

# data[].attributes.body
I will use this show many other groups of asians.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Crazy Rich Asians was just the beginning. The first major Hollywood film in 25 years to star a majority-Asian cast, last year's adaptation of Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel soon also claimed the title of the most successful rom-com in nearly a decade. The movie wasn't perfect-what rom-com truly is?-but for viewers whose stories have been excluded from Hollywood's mainstream narrative, it suggested a shift. To Hollywood, meanwhile, its success proved the power of the Asian American market, catalyzed by initiatives like #GoldOpen to get people to theaters. Echoing the sentiment around Black Panther, director Jon M. Chu stated, "It's not a movie, it's a movement."

Chu's film marked an undeniable turning point for modern Asian American film representation. Netflix dropped the wholesome romance To All the Boys I've Loved Before starring Lana Condor just days later. In theaters soon after came Searching, an internet-driven tale of a father looking for his missing daughter, which made John Cho the first Asian American actor to lead a major thriller. In May, Netflix released Always Be My Maybe, a food-focused rom-com featuring Ali Wong, Randall Park, and Keanu Reeves.

With the release of Lulu Wang's The Farewell, the current push of Asian American representation has its newest figurehead. The Farewell stars Awkwafina as a Chinese-born American immigrant who returns to China to visit her family's dying matriarch, who hasn't been told she's dying. Hailed for its nuance and humanity, the movie has already brought in the year's largest per-theater average, unseating Avengers: Endgame. As Wang recently told the Atlantic, The Farewell has been met with emotional responses from viewers who see their own family dynamics reflected.

Hollywood's shift towards Asian American stories doesn't show signs of stopping. Less recognized but also in theaters right now is Stuber, a buddy-cop movie starring half-Filipino Dave Bautista and Pakistani American Kumail Nanjiani. Alan Yang's upcoming Tigertail will star John Cho as a Taiwanese immigrant in the United States in the 1950s, and Lee Isaac Chung's Minari will tell the story of a Korean family in rural Arkansas in the 1980s. Buzziest of all, at San Diego's Comic-Con this weekend, Marvel announced Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which will also star Awkwafina and make Kim's Convenience actor Simu Liu Marvel's first Asian superhero.

The current movement is undoubtedly worth the praise it's earned. It's been just two years, after all, since Scarlett Johanssen was controversially cast as the Japanese character Motoko Kusanagi in the live-action Ghost in the Shell. Calls of whitewashing have dogged Netflix's adaptation of Death Note, Marvel's Doctor Strange, and Aloha, in which Emma Stone plays a quarter-Chinese and quarter-Hawaiian character. That disappointing standard makes it all the more groundbreaking for Asian roles to actually go to Asian actors.

But while the current wave of movies makes the necessary first steps of representation, we must interrogate whose stories are being told. Judging by the roster of what's hitting theaters, Hollywood-and the people talking about its successes-seem stuck in the problematic loop of conflating "Asian" with "East Asian," boiling down the "Asian American experience" to one phrase that doesn't actually suit all. At best, it's proof that progress is slow; maybe, in a few years, Southeast Asians might have a Farewell moment, too. At worst, however, it reinforces boundaries around whose representation matters, and alienates people who are already cast aside within the "Asian" category.

An Asian, defined by the Census Bureau, is anyone who has origins in "the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent" including "Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam." According to a 2018 fact sheet, the United States' Asian population is led by 4.9 million Chinese (excluding Taiwanese), 4.1 million Indians, 3.9 million Filipinos, 2.1 million Vietnamese, 1.8 million Koreans, and 1.5 million Japanese.

By the year 2000, South and Southeast Asians made up about 12 percent more of the country's Asian population than East Asians, according to the website AAPI Data, which analyzes demographic data and research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. That divide has only grown: in 2016, South and Southeast Asians made up over 20 percent more of the entire Asian population than East Asians.

At its core, the current breakdown of Asian American film representation falls short because it doesn't quite line up with what Asian America actually looks like. The stories and the people in them skew mostly East Asian-but what about everyone else? In the big picture, prioritizing the East Asian narrative in terms of Asian American representation pushes South and Southeast Asians out of the conversation, groups whose ownership of the term "Asian" is already unfairly contested.

As part of a post-election phone study, the 2016 National Asian American Survey asked people across the United States to identify who they considered Asian or Asian American. The majority of the Black, white, and Latino participants considered people with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean descent to be Asian or Asian American, but when asked about South and Southeast Asians, people were more resistant to inclusion. Forty-one percent of white participants and 15 percent of Asian American participants considered people of Indian descent as "not likely to be Asian," and the rate of doubt was even higher when it came to people of Pakistani descent.

As Jennifer Lee and Karthick Ramakrishnan, two authors of the study, wrote in an analysis, creating boundaries of a specific and selective Asian American narrative "affects our understanding of anti-Asian prejudice and discrimination." While media representation is just a small step in larger political struggling, perpetuating divides in the demographic conversation "risks promoting an incomplete portrait of Asian Americans that ignores more threatening, dangerous, and even deadly forms of anti-Asian discrimination."

In Hollywood, Asian actors with backgrounds outside East Asia have faced a troubling bind when it comes to casting: appearing "ethnic," but not in a way that falls in line with the roles available. Disney's early 2000s classic Lizzie McGuire starred Lalaine Vergara-Paras as Lizzie's Mexican American best friend, Miranda Sanchez. Her identity on the show was bolstered by things like a family trip to Mexico and a Dia de los Muertos scene with her parents, but the mononymous Lalaine was actually Filipino and encouraged throughout childhood to "look as 'white' as possible."

In recent years, to be fair, TV has given more spotlight to South and Southeast Asians. While the criticisms of her approach to diversity have been valid and vocal, The Mindy Show and The Office made the Indian American Mindy Kaling a household name. The creators of the CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend put an active focus on Filipino American culture to mirror Vincent Rodriguez III's background, and NBC's Superstore stars Manila-born Nico Santos as a Filipino worker at a Walmartesque store in Missouri. ABC is developing the Hawaii-based Ohana, in which "each of the four protagonists is of a different mixed ethnicity-half-white, half-Japanese, half-Filipino and half-black," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Even in Hollywood's current climate of creating space for the Asian American story, the ideas of South and Southeast Asians being somehow not the "right kind of Asian," or not being "Asian enough" remain. "A talented Filipinx actor friend of mine is meeting with new agents and one just told him that Filipinos are a 'hard sell' and that she 'couldn't do anything with that,'" Crazy Ex-Girlfriend actress Tess Paras tweeted on Friday. "Pursuing dreams is so hard and I read shit like this and want to give up," Filipina American actress Charlene deGuzman wrote in response. "But then I remember when I was little I never saw anyone like me on TV or in film and it made me feel like we didn't exist and I really really want to be that person for someone and I'm going to die trying."

These problems are compounded when it comes to mixed-race Asians, but especially to Black Asians, who feel the brunt of both erasure and anti-Blackness. With a Black father and a Filipina mother, actress Asia Jackson is an advocate for Black Asian representation and a critic of the colorism that can pervade Asian communities.

After Teen Vogue published a round-up of "29 Asian Actors You May Not Know But Should" last year, Jackson highlighted the difference in perceptions of who counts as Asian by pointing out that "10 were mixed with white, and 0 were mixed with black." Her viral Twitter thread that followed identified notable Black Asians and Pacific Islanders, including On My Block's Jahking Guillory, who is Guamanian and Black; the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's Tati Gabrielle, who is Korean and Black; and Insecure's Tiana Le, who is Vietnamese and Black.

"Being half Black instead of the default half white, I find that Black Asians are nearly entirely erased from the conversation of being Asian," Jackson recently told Inkstone News. "Like, I'm not even allowed to audition for Asian roles because Hollywood's vision of Asian is just East Asian, even though there are Southeast Asians who look exactly like I do: same brown skin color, same hair texture, all of it."

Hollywood's continued focus on a "certain type" of Asian might also be working to its detriment in a logistic sense. Deadline's recent announcement of Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok sequel was coupled with a note about the now-postponed Akira reboot. "The project had been on the rocks for weeks," it read, "with word in town that it is a difficult film to cast ethnically at its high budget, in this moment of political correctness."

If Hollywood realizes there's value in telling Asian American stories authentically, then perhaps it will start to look further than the faces who've spearheaded the movement thus far, creating opportunities for a broader range of actors to live their own stories and identities and for a broader range of viewers to find something to relate to. For now, some viewers remain eager to see closer approximations of their experiences, even if Hollywood remains imperfect.

"I know CRA won't represent every Asian American," Constance Wu wrote on Twitter last year in a statement to the movie's critics. "So for those who don't feel seen, I hope there is a story you find soon that does represent you. I am rooting for you. We're not all the same, but we all have a story."

Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily.

Follow Bettina Makalintal on

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hollywood Doesn't Fully Represent Asian Americans Yet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Crazy Rich Asians was just the beginning. The first major Hollywood film in 25 years to star a majority-Asian cast, last year's adaptation of Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel soon also claimed the title of the most successful rom-com in nearly a decade.

# data[].attributes.body
Taking about the effects of international students and education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On the West Coast, the image of the Chanel-clad, Lamborghini-driving Chinese scion has fueled stereotypes and reality shows such as "Ultra Rich Asian Girls."

But the three international students sitting in the conference room at Arroyo Pacific Academy don't wear designer labels or drive supercars. In fact, only one comes from mainland China.

And they are part of a wave of immigration that often gets overlooked in the hyperbolic political debate that has marked the 2016 election: middle-class immigrants in search of an education.

Although ultra-rich families - mostly from mainland China - continue to send their children to college in the US, data suggest that the latest waves of international students arriving for a Western education look more like Estefany Wu, Lavinia Siqin, and Vincent Liu: well-to-do, but not excessively so; of diverse, though still mainly Asian, origins; and below college age.

"I'm middle [class], upper-middle, maybe," says Estefany, a high school senior who moved to the United States in 2013 from Mexico City, where her parents own a string of Chinese restaurants. "Yeah, same," Lavinia, a soft-spoken junior from China's Sichuan province, chimes in.

The reason: Expanding economies in China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Taiwan, among others, have increasingly enabled middle class families to afford to send a child to study overseas. Indeed, the number of international students enrolled in US high schools tripled between 2004 and 2013, the Institute of International Education (IIE) reports.

"Years ago, when international mobility was an elite phenomenon, [studying abroad] was seen as something that only the well-off could afford," says Rajika Bhandari, the organization's deputy vice president of research and evaluation.

"But an increasing number of international students avail of student loans in their home countries. And many Chinese families ... they've been saving for many, many years," she adds. "Although a family may be paying for an education [overseas], that's not necessarily an indication of affluence."

Fierce competition for college placement in their home countries, and the relative ease with which international students can enter the US at the middle and high school levels, also have parents sending children at younger ages halfway across the globe for a shot at what they consider a world-class education.

In China in particular, "the education system is such that it is very competitive," notes Min Zhou, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in international migration. The pressure of the dreaded "gaokao" - a grueling two-day exam that determines a Chinese high school senior's college placement - has motivated more families to send their children abroad before senior year.

"That educational fever becomes a culture for parenting," Professor Zhou says. "So the age of coming to the US for schooling is younger and younger."

"A lot of these students are very interested in ultimately enrolling in a US college or university, and they see being able to obtain a credential at the high school level as a way to ease their path into a US higher education program," Bhandari adds.

Immigration concerns in the Golden State and nationwide have long focused on lower-income immigrants, who supposedly are taking jobs from Americans ( a matter of debate among economists), and the ultra rich, who are allegedly pricing Americans out of urban housing markets. But the tide of out-of-state and international students has also raised questions about whether or not they are crowding out in-state applicants from California's state university system, particularly its prestigious UC-Berkeley campus.

In March, an audit requested by a California congressman accused the University of California of hurting local students by admitting too many out-of-state applicants and recommended a cap on enrollment and stricter entrance requirements for nonresidents, among other steps. UC President Janet Napolitano called the findings "unfair and unwarranted," the Los Angeles Times reported. She said that the $728 million brought in by higher-paying out of state and international students allowed the 10 campuses to accept more Californians in the face of state budget cuts since the recession.

Between fall 2008 and fall 2015, enrollment of out-of-state students grew from 9,000 to 30,907, according to UC figures. At the same time, California undergraduate enrollment increased from 163,773 from 167,959.

An alternate experience

Arcadia, a suburb in the San Gabriel Valley just east of Los Angeles, has long been a hub for immigrants out of China and Taiwan; nearly 60 percent of the population is Asian, according to the latest US Census data.

In the past decade, the city's existing Chinese community drew in new arrivals, many of whom used their nation's growing wealth to take part in the United States' EB-5 program, which fast-tracks the permanent residency or green card process for foreigners who invest between $500,000 to $1 million in job-creating businesses here.

The wave of wealthy newcomers led to a crop of McMansions sprouting across Arcadia - rows of eight- or nine-bedroom homes built behind wrought-iron gates and emerald-green lawns. The trend solidified the city's reputation as an enclave for the ultra-rich.

Yet the international students who have lately found their way to the San Gabriel Valley and Arcadia's school system bring a somewhat different perspective.

"I really only come here to get better education," says Lavinia. "After I graduated from middle school, I got the opportunity. And because my grandpa works here, my parents think that they can send me here and somebody will take care of me."

She's not yet sure what she wants to pursue after high school, but Lavinia says she might major in business and follow in her father's footsteps - he works in the propane gas industry in China. She might also major in the arts, as her mother expects of a young woman.

Estefany, the senior, was at first doubtful about studying in the US.

"I was questioning whether I made the right choice," she says. But "throughout this year, my senior year, a lot of support has come into my life." She now plans to major in economics and international studies at UC Irvine when she graduates.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to stay here. Have my own business, maybe," she says.

Mixed impact

Economics is the main selling point of those who support opening doors to international students in US high schools and universities. In the 2014 to 2015 academic year, spending among international students in higher education alone contributed $30.5 billion to the US economy and supported more than 373,000 jobs, according to the Association of International Educators, or NAFSA.

There's much to gain culturally, as well.

"International students help bring global perspectives to their classrooms and educate their US peers, especially since not all of those American students are going to have an opportunity to study abroad," says Bhandari at IIE.

At the same time, the international students get a taste of Western education and culture. Vincent, the Arroyo Pacific freshman, says he enjoys going to school in the US far more than he did in Taipei.

Such positive experiences could have a long-term impact on the relationship between their home and host countries, says UCLA's Zhou, who is currently a visiting teacher at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

"If [these students] return to China, a lot of them are able to take up leadership positions. With a US degree, you can move up pretty quickly," she says. "With their exposure to the US, they could contribute to more positive US-China relations. They understand both [cultures], they had exposure to both."

Yet leaving so many teenagers in the care of guardians or distant relatives can have negative consequences. Among the worst cases took place in March 2015 at an ice cream parlor in Rowland Heights, also in the San Gabriel Valley. What started as a disagreement over an unpaid restaurant bill ended with three teenage girls forcing one of their classmates "to kneel and use her hands to wipe cigarette butts and ice cream smears off the floor," the Los Angeles Times reported.

The three girls involved have since been sentenced to prison on charges of torture, kidnapping, and assault.

Most cases are far less alarming. But living as a stranger in a strange land before one turns 18 is a still a huge challenge.

"Their peer groups are likely to be among themselves. They feel that because of the language and culture barrier, it's hard to break into a native clique of circle of friends," Zhou says.

Estefany can relate. Her Mexican accent - heavier when she first moved to the States two years ago did little to help her transition, she says. "I'm a very talkative person, and when I can't communicate I get really stressed out."

For Vincent, high school in America offers a lot more scope for conversation.

"In Taiwan, there's nothing that we can do except studying," he says. "You can't really talk about your thoughts or share your experience.

"No one's really curious about your thoughts," he adds. "And whenever you have questions, my classmates would just tell me, 'If it's not going to come in the test, why would you ask this?' That's why I want to be here."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How international students are changing the 'rich Asian' narrative

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On the West Coast, the image of the Chanel-clad, Lamborghini-driving Chinese scion has fueled stereotypes and reality shows such as "Ultra Rich Asian Girls." But the three international students sitting in the conference room at Arroyo Pacific Academy don't wear designer labels or drive supercars. In fact, only one comes from mainland China.

# data[].attributes.body
I will use this information to talk about the culture relating to the film.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Many challenges await the Western businessperson in China, but one factor that may escape immediate notice is the significance of the Chinese family. While family in China is primarily a social issue, its centrality within Chinese everyday life, as well as the changes and pressures forced upon it by the rapid rise of the Chinese economy, often create an inescapable impact on businesses in China.

Why are Chinese employees more likely to resign after the New Year holiday than at other times of the year? Why are Chinese employees passive and not prone to take the initiative? Why do Chinese employees seem to feel an inordinate amount of pressure? Understanding these issues and the role of the family in China can help Western businesses to better manage their operations in China as well as maintain better relationships with their employees.

The History of Family in China

Family has long been a key component within Chinese society, and many aspects of Chinese life can be tied to honoring one's parents or ancestors. In fact, the majority of the "five relationships" espoused by Confucius were directly centered on the family. Due to this focus on the family, it was common for the Chinese, even when fully grown with children of their own, to not only remain in or close to their hometown, but also have many, if not all, living generations of a family living under the same roof (四世同堂). Chinese who may have done business far from home, or may have been appointed to government posts far away, would normally have found time to return home on a regular basis, giving rise to the popular Chinese saying: "falling leaves returning to the root of the tree that sired them."

The concept of family in China was so important that it was one of the few moral and ideological concepts to survive the decade-long turmoil and chaos of the Cultural Revolution relatively unscathed. While many Chinese elders lament the fact that young adults born in the 1980's or later possess no clear moral compass or strong standards of behavior, no one in China has forgotten the importance of family.

The Chinese Family Structure

The Chinese family structure has traditionally been rigid and hierarchical, with elders still receiving the largest degree of reverence, respect and obedience, a practice that has continued into the modern age. And while Confucius may have preached that showing respect and filial piety to one's elders did in no way require blind obedience, in actual practice throughout Chinese history and today, many parents and grandparents expect their children/grandchildren to do as they are told. Within the traditional Chinese family structure, each family member has a specific form of address in Chinese, with different forms of address for older and younger brother, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandfathers and grandmothers, on both the maternal and paternal sides of a family.

And while this naturally can appear complicated to the uninitiated Westerner, in fact, it was and is incredibly important to the Chinese family structure. A significant aspect of life in the Chinese family is showing the proper amount of respect to the appropriate members of the family. For example, a father's elder brother will accordingly rank higher than his younger brother, and there exist separate terms to differentiate the two, to both members of the family as well as to outsiders. And these terms also offer insight into the position of a girl within the traditional Chinese family unit. Many of the terms for family members on the maternal side of the family begin with the character "Wài (外)," literally meaning "outside, " indicative of the fact that Chinese women, even after marrying into a new home were still considered to be outsiders.

China's Rapid Economic Growth and Working Away from Home

In the new China, the Chinese family faces many challenges and contradictions to the old way of life that threaten its traditional stability. As China's economy continues to grow and expand, many young and seasonal workers have been drawn to the bigger cities in the more prosperous regions in China. They come to find better jobs and more money, in many cases sending much of what they earn to their families, who may reside in small towns where income is very low. But as Chinese young adults enter their late twenties, they come under increasing pressure from family to marry, have children and settle down, which much of the time requires moving back home.

Also, unlike Westerners, many young Chinese have a hard time away from home and do not do well alone and on their own. Every year as the Spring Festival rolls around, almost all Chinese living away from home begin the long and sometimes arduous journey back to their hometowns. Free from the stress, loneliness and toil of the big cities, it is not uncommon for young workers to decide abruptly to "take a break," quickly giving notice (if at all) to their current employers, and it is common for workers to take off weeks or months at a time. And while some Western employers may be prone to assume that their young employees lack loyalty, morals or good character, it is important to remember that family is the highest priority in China and trumps loyalty to all else.

The One Child Policy

The situation with family in China is in some ways made worse by the Chinese One Child Policy, which was first implemented in the late 1970's. The policy had previously allowed parents only one offspring, leading to an upset in the traditional structure of the family. Instead of the usual bottom-heavy structure, one child is now supported and brought up by two parents and four grandparents, resulting in an inordinate amount of attention and pressure placed upon the child.

With regard to the workplace, this can potentially have two negative side-effects. First, with only one child available to succeed and support them in their old age (expected by parents in China) parents and grandparents will aim to be even more in control on their child. In modern China every aspect of a child's life, including courses of study, careers, friends and free time is decided and managed by the parents and other relatives. When those children later enter the workplace, they generally not only have little to no experience thinking and making decisions on their own, but also as a result of a school system focused on memorization and diminished free thinking, they have been specifically taught to avoid such things. Second, under the sole focus and care of so many family members, Chinese children of the post 1980's generation have acquired a reputation for being spoiled and self-centered, also known as the "Little Emperor Syndrome." One result is that young talent in China is more likely to become dissatisfied with their current employment. They are much more likely than their Western counterparts to switch jobs after short periods, chasing happiness or a larger paycheck.

Throughout the entire scope of a Chinese person's life (including study, work, and life in general), family signifies a type of responsibility, though there exist both positive and negative aspects to this. The traditional interpretation of familial responsibility is that Chinese children are expected to study, work, and live life in a "proper" manner. Therefore Chinese people's personalities tend to be both cautious and introverted. Many times when a Chinese child or young adult is preparing to make an important decision about their future, they will often take into consideration the feelings of their parents and their responsibility to their family. So in many respects the "family" plays a large role in influencing a person's decisions, even going so far as to cause an individual to sacrifice their own aspirations and goals to satisfy the needs of the family. In China, it is commonly said that parents live for their children, and children also live for their parents. However when parents and children are all sacrificing their own interests, neither is able to live for themselves.

-Sarah Zhao, White-collar Worker, Shanghai

What to Be Aware of as a Westerner

Westerners in China unfamiliar with the Chinese family and the local talent market can find themselves with workers that they don't understand, an unproductive office staff, high turnover rates and endless headaches. However, with patience, the right mindset and proper planning, the impact of these issues can be reduced. First of all, many young Chinese (and older ones as well) can indeed adapt to a "Western working model," but it is unfair to immediately expect them to change their ways. Remember that in a local Chinese company (or even among their own families), showing initiative, displaying individuality or offering suggestions to managers will not only likely be ignored, but can also lead to workers being criticized or ostracized by their colleagues and managers. It is important to be patient while these workers learn, and show that you are willing to listen to them on a consistent basis, and not just when it's convenient.

Also, be ready for the likely event that not all workers will want to be managed in a Western manner. In this case it's important to acquaint oneself with the basic concepts of Chinese culture, and be sure to give them the proper amount of face and respect for a job well done and not to take it away in front of others. With regard to possible the high turnover rates you might experience around the time of the Chinese New Year, make sure to plan ahead and have potential candidates identified by HR early before it's too late. And remember that a Chinese worker's loyalty is to their family first; it's not that they have no loyalty or have shoddy principles, that's just the way the culture is. For a western business or businessperson in China, in order to succeed it's important to learn and adapt.

Thanks for reading!

Do you have any more questions on the family in China, or on the effect it can have on both life and work? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Follow the China Culture Corner to receive regular updates by email!

Categories: Culture & Society

Tags: Family in China, Family Structure, Filial Piety, One Child Policy, 家庭

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many challenges await the Western businessperson in China, but one factor that may escape immediate notice is the significance of the Chinese family. While family in China is primarily a social issue, its centrality within Chinese everyday life, as well as the changes and pressures forced upon it by the rapid rise of the Chinese economy, often create an inescapable impact on businesses in China.

# data[].attributes.body
I will use this to find the rates of immigration of asians migrating to the United States to show how it relates to the film.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An overview essay on Asian Americans, including identity issues (perceptions and misperceptions, use of terminology, understanding demographics, and the extreme diversity contained within the term.

A waitress asked: "Where are you from?" I told her my great-grandfather came to work the mines in New Mexico. My grandfather was a tailor in Oakland and my mother was born in Stockton. And the waitress interrupted and without any hesitation said: "So how do you like your new country?" - a Chinese American attorney

He asked the price of beef. Then he said: "You Koreans charge too much." My brother said: "I'm not Korean, I'm Cambodian." But he's mad. He says: "You Koreans rip us off."- a Cambodian-born store owner

The growth and diversification of the Asian American population in recent years has been nothing short of phenomenal. Driven by sustained immigration and refugee resettlement during the 1970s and 1980s, Asian Americans have emerged as the nation's fastest growing racial group. Given that the school-age Asian American population doubled in the 1980s and is expected to double again between 1990 and 2020, our schools and the larger society must confront some critical questions. For example, what do we know and what can we teach and learn about Asian Americans?

Asian Americans number more than 12.5 million (in 2001) in the United States and represent more than thirty different nationalities and ethnic groups, including Samoan, Tongan, Guamanian, and native Hawai'ian from the Pacific Islands; Lao, Hmong, Mien, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Burmese, Malay, and Filipinos from Southeast Asia; Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, and Sri Lankan from South Asia; Afghani and Iranian from Central Asia; and Korean, Japanese, and Chinese from East Asia. In 2000, the three largest Asian nationalities in the United States were Chinese, Filipinos, and Asian Indians. The diversity of Asian Americans, in terms of their various languages, cultures, and histories is remarkable.

Furthermore, within a single nationality, there are significant differences in regional dialect, religion, class background, educational level, and political perspective as well as distinctions based on generation, gender, and lifestyle orientation. Two Filipinos, for example, may have to communicate with each other in English because one's native language is Tagalog while the other's is Ilocano. In a group of Chinese, one may have come from rural China, another from cosmopolitan Hong Kong, a third from war-torn Vietnam, a fourth from Jamaica, and a fifth from Ohio-each with obviously distinct stories to share. Among three South Asian Indians, one may be a granddaughter of early Sikh immigrant farmworkers in California, another may be a university-educated Hindu who came to the United States originally as a foreign student, and the third may be a Guyanese-born store owner in Mississippi who attends a Baptist church.

Other factors also contribute to the diversity and complexity of the Asian American population, including the high rates of interracial marriage among some Asian groups who now have growing numbers of biracial/multiracial Asian American and Amerasian children. Furthermore, thousands of Asian children, particularly from Korea, have been adopted by families in the United States who may not be Asian American themselves. One may see, for example, a recently arrived Vietnamese Amerasian teenager who looks just like his African American father but speaks only Vietnamese or a Korean adoptee who may look obviously Asian but might be named Susan Williams.

There are critical distinctions between refugees and immigrants. Refugees are recognized as people who have been forced to leave their homelands because of well-founded fears or threats of persecution due to their background-their religious or political affiliation, for example. Refugees have typically suffered severe trauma, lost family members, and languished in refugee camps before coming to the United States. Unlike many immigrants, refugees leave their homelands without hopes or plans to return again.

Nevertheless, once here, Southeast Asian refugees share many experiences in common with other immigrants, such as the language barrier, culture shock, racial discrimination, and the challenge of starting new lives. Themes of work, family responsibility, generational change, community development, and investment in education link Southeast Asians to other Asian American groups, in spite of important social, cultural, and historical differences.

The process of defining who are Asian Americans is, in itself, a lesson in diversity and critical thinking with social, historical, and political dimensions. The term "Asian American" is preferable to "Oriental," which connotes rugs, spices, and other objects of western colonialism in Asia rather than people. The "Orient," after all, is a concept generated by the colonial experience. In contrast, the continent of Asia is an actual geographic location from which many people in the United States trace their origins.

Confounding the situation further are the stereotypes and distorted depictions of Asian Americans in movies, television, advertising, cartoons, and other media as well as school textbooks and children's literature. In 1991, the Asian American Journalists Association released a study, titled "Project Zinger: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," which documented a wide range of stereotypic depictions of Asian Americans in print media from around the country.

Historic images such as the treacherous Fu Manchu, the exotic/erotic Suzy Wong, and the inscrutable Charlie Chan, coupled with contemporary depictions of the Japanese tourist and Samurai businessman, the dog-eating refugee on welfare, the gang member, and the violin-playing/whiz-kid/spelling bee champion, offer little of value in clarifying the identities and realities of Asian Americans. Yet, these pervasive stereotypes continue to shape how many parents, teachers, administrators, and students perceive Asian Americans, and how Asian Americans often view themselves.

You Might Also Like

From climate change to human rights to education, we offer our personal recommendations to the president-elect.

A mother and noted law professor offers her take on "cultural differences."

An overview on Asian American identity, demographics, perceptions, and misperceptions.

A look at the long history of Asian Americans and its role in shaping American identity.

How issues of race and power have shaped both popular attitudes and foreign policy for 300 years.

Related Content

The Chinese-speaking, joke-cracking former Australian prime minister spoke before an Asia Society audience about the future of U.S.-China relations.

An overview on Asian American identity, demographics, perceptions, and misperceptions.

Videos

Global Talent Initiatives (GTI) exists to leverage its public voice in the area of global talent and diversity leadership. David Reid, Executive Director of GTI, explains how.

An overview essay on Asian Americans, including identity issues (perceptions and misperceptions, use of terminology, understanding demographics, and the extreme diversity contained within the term.

A waitress asked: "Where are you from?" I told her my great-grandfather came to work the mines in New Mexico. My grandfather was a tailor in Oakland and my mother was born in Stockton. And the waitress interrupted and without any hesitation said: "So how do you like your new country?" - a Chinese American attorney

He asked the price of beef. Then he said: "You Koreans charge too much." My brother said: "I'm not Korean, I'm Cambodian." But he's mad. He says: "You Koreans rip us off."- a Cambodian-born store owner

The growth and diversification of the Asian American population in recent years has been nothing short of phenomenal. Driven by sustained immigration and refugee resettlement during the 1970s and 1980s, Asian Americans have emerged as the nation's fastest growing racial group. Given that the school-age Asian American population doubled in the 1980s and is expected to double again between 1990 and 2020, our schools and the larger society must confront some critical questions. For example, what do we know and what can we teach and learn about Asian Americans?

Asian Americans number more than 12.5 million (in 2001) in the United States and represent more than thirty different nationalities and ethnic groups, including Samoan, Tongan, Guamanian, and native Hawai'ian from the Pacific Islands; Lao, Hmong, Mien, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Burmese, Malay, and Filipinos from Southeast Asia; Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, and Sri Lankan from South Asia; Afghani and Iranian from Central Asia; and Korean, Japanese, and Chinese from East Asia. In 2000, the three largest Asian nationalities in the United States were Chinese, Filipinos, and Asian Indians. The diversity of Asian Americans, in terms of their various languages, cultures, and histories is remarkable.

Furthermore, within a single nationality, there are significant differences in regional dialect, religion, class background, educational level, and political perspective as well as distinctions based on generation, gender, and lifestyle orientation. Two Filipinos, for example, may have to communicate with each other in English because one's native language is Tagalog while the other's is Ilocano. In a group of Chinese, one may have come from rural China, another from cosmopolitan Hong Kong, a third from war-torn Vietnam, a fourth from Jamaica, and a fifth from Ohio-each with obviously distinct stories to share. Among three South Asian Indians, one may be a granddaughter of early Sikh immigrant farmworkers in California, another may be a university-educated Hindu who came to the United States originally as a foreign student, and the third may be a Guyanese-born store owner in Mississippi who attends a Baptist church.

Other factors also contribute to the diversity and complexity of the Asian American population, including the high rates of interracial marriage among some Asian groups who now have growing numbers of biracial/multiracial Asian American and Amerasian children. Furthermore, thousands of Asian children, particularly from Korea, have been adopted by families in the United States who may not be Asian American themselves. One may see, for example, a recently arrived Vietnamese Amerasian teenager who looks just like his African American father but speaks only Vietnamese or a Korean adoptee who may look obviously Asian but might be named Susan Williams.

There are critical distinctions between refugees and immigrants. Refugees are recognized as people who have been forced to leave their homelands because of well-founded fears or threats of persecution due to their background-their religious or political affiliation, for example. Refugees have typically suffered severe trauma, lost family members, and languished in refugee camps before coming to the United States. Unlike many immigrants, refugees leave their homelands without hopes or plans to return again.

Nevertheless, once here, Southeast Asian refugees share many experiences in common with other immigrants, such as the language barrier, culture shock, racial discrimination, and the challenge of starting new lives. Themes of work, family responsibility, generational change, community development, and investment in education link Southeast Asians to other Asian American groups, in spite of important social, cultural, and historical differences.

The process of defining who are Asian Americans is, in itself, a lesson in diversity and critical thinking with social, historical, and political dimensions. The term "Asian American" is preferable to "Oriental," which connotes rugs, spices, and other objects of western colonialism in Asia rather than people. The "Orient," after all, is a concept generated by the colonial experience. In contrast, the continent of Asia is an actual geographic location from which many people in the United States trace their origins.

Confounding the situation further are the stereotypes and distorted depictions of Asian Americans in movies, television, advertising, cartoons, and other media as well as school textbooks and children's literature. In 1991, the Asian American Journalists Association released a study, titled "Project Zinger: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," which documented a wide range of stereotypic depictions of Asian Americans in print media from around the country.

Historic images such as the treacherous Fu Manchu, the exotic/erotic Suzy Wong, and the inscrutable Charlie Chan, coupled with contemporary depictions of the Japanese tourist and Samurai businessman, the dog-eating refugee on welfare, the gang member, and the violin-playing/whiz-kid/spelling bee champion, offer little of value in clarifying the identities and realities of Asian Americans. Yet, these pervasive stereotypes continue to shape how many parents, teachers, administrators, and students perceive Asian Americans, and how Asian Americans often view themselves.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Understanding Our Perceptions of Asian Americans

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An overview essay on Asian Americans, including identity issues (perceptions and misperceptions, use of terminology, understanding demographics, and the extreme diversity contained within the term. A waitress asked: "Where are you from?" I told her my great-grandfather came to work the mines in New Mexico.

# data[].attributes.body
I will use this source too describe and find out how rich asians are int he movie crazy rich asians

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Indicator 30: Earnings and Employment
(Last Updated: February 2019)

In 2016, among those with a bachelor's or higher degree, Asian full-time, year-round workers ages 25-34 had higher median annual earnings ($69,100) than their White peers ($54,700), and median earnings for both racial/ethnic groups were higher than those of their Black ($49,400) and Hispanic ($49,300) peers.

In 2016, economic outcomes for 25- to 34-year-olds varied by educational attainment and race/ethnicity. This indicator discusses the median annual earnings of full-time, year-round 25- to 34-year-old workers and the percentage of the to 34-year-old labor force who worked full time, year round across different racial/ethnic backgrounds and levels of educational attainment.
Figure 30.1. Median annual earnings of full-time year-round workers 25 to 34 years old, by race/ethnicity: 2016

NOTE: Full-time year-round workers are those who worked 35 or more hours per week for 50 or more weeks per year. Data are based on sample surveys of the noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons living in institutions (e.g., prisons or nursing facilities); data include military personnel who live in households with civilians, but exclude those who live in military barracks. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), "Annual Social and Economic Supplement," 2017. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 502.30.

Although the 2016 median earnings of full-time, year-round workers ages 25–34 were $40,000, median earnings varied by racial/ethnic group. Asian full-time workers ages 25–34 had the highest median earnings ($54,600) of any racial/ethnic group. In addition, the median earnings of White full-time, year-round workers ages 25–34 ($44,900) were higher than those of American Indian/Alaska Native ($35,900), Pacific Islander ($34,200), Hispanic ($33,900), and Black full-time workers ($33,700). Median earnings of full-time workers ages 25–34 of Two or more races ($41,700) were not measurably different from those of their White and American Indian/Alaska Native peers; however, the median earnings of full-time workers of Two or more races were higher than those of Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and Black full-time workers.
Figure 30.2. Median annual earnings of full-time year-round workers 25 to 34 years old, by educational attainment and race/ethnicity: 2016

‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
¹ Includes equivalency credentials, such as the General Educational Development (GED) credential.
NOTE: Full-time year-round workers are those who worked 35 or more hours per week for 50 or more weeks per year. Data are based on sample surveys of the noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons living in institutions (e.g., prisons or nursing facilities); data include military personnel who live in households with civilians, but exclude those who live in military barracks. Total includes other racial/ethnic groups not separately shown, including Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native. Median annual earnings by educational attainment for Pacific Islander young adults and American Indian/Alaska Native young adults are not available because these data did not meet reporting standards. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded estimates.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), "Annual Social and Economic Supplement," 2017. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 502.30.

Higher levels of educational attainment were generally associated with higher median earnings for full-time, year-round workers ages 25–34 in 2016. For example, the median earnings of full-time workers who had not completed high school ($25,400) were lower than the median earnings of those who had ($31,800). Both groups had lower median earnings than did full-time workers with an associate's degree ($38,000), and full-time workers with a bachelor's or higher degree had the highest median earnings ($54,800). This same pattern was observed for White and Hispanic full-time workers. A similar pattern was also observed for Black full-time workers, with the exception that the median earnings of those who had completed high school and those with an associate's degree were not measurably different. The median earnings for Asian full-time workers ages 25–34 with and without a high school credential ($29,100 and $26,400, respectively) were not measurably different; however, median earnings for both groups were lower than for those with an associate's degree ($39,600) and those with a bachelor's or higher degree ($69,100). Data on median earnings for those of Two or more races who had not completed high school did not meet reporting standards; however, the median earnings of full-time workers of Two or more races who had completed high school ($32,500) were not measurably different from the median earnings of those with an associate's degree, but were lower than the median earnings of those with a bachelor's or higher degree ($57,000).

In 2016, median annual earnings of full-time workers ages 25–34 differed by race/ethnicity at most levels of educational attainment. For example, the median earnings of White full-time workers who had not completed high school ($29,100) were higher than the median earnings of their Hispanic peers ($25,000), and both racial/ethnic groups had higher median earnings than Black full-time workers ($21,400). Among those who had completed high school, median earnings of White full-time workers ($35,000) were higher than the median earnings of their Hispanic ($30,000), Asian ($29,100), and Black ($27,800) peers. Among those with an associate's degree, median earnings of full-time workers who were of Two or more races ($45,000), White ($39,700), Asian ($39,600), and Hispanic ($34,900) were higher than the median earnings of their Black peers ($30,400), and the median earnings of White full-time workers were also higher than those of their Hispanic peers. Among those with a bachelor's or higher degree, Asian full-time workers had higher median earnings ($69,100) than did their White peers ($54,700), and median earnings for both racial/ethnic groups were higher than those of their Black ($49,400) and Hispanic ($49,300) peers. Median earnings of full-time workers of Two or more races with a bachelor's or higher degree ($57,000) were not measurably different from those of their Asian, White, Black, or Hispanic peers.
Figure 30.3. Median annual earnings of full-time year-round workers 25 to 34 years old with a bachelor's or higher degree, by educational attainment and race/ethnicity: 2016

NOTE: Full-time year-round workers are those who worked 35 or more hours per week for 50 or more weeks per year. Data are based on sample surveys of the noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons living in institutions (e.g., prisons or nursing facilities); data include military personnel who live in households with civilians, but exclude those who live in military barracks. Total includes other racial/ethnic groups not separately shown, including Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native. Median annual earnings by educational attainment for Pacific Islander young adults and American Indian/Alaska Native young adults are not available because these data did not meet reporting standards. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded estimates.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS),"Annual Social and Economic Supplement," 2017. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 502.30.

As noted above, median earnings of White full-time workers ages 25–34 who worked full time, year round in 2016 exceeded the corresponding median earnings of Black and Hispanic full-time workers at most attainment levels, including at the combined bachelor's or higher degree attainment level. However, different patterns were observed in median earnings among White, Black, and Hispanic full-time workers with a bachelor's degree only and a Master's or higher degree. Among those with a bachelor's degree only, Asian full-time workers had higher median earnings ($59,700) than White ($50,000), Black ($45,800), and Hispanic ($44,700) full-time workers, and median earnings were also higher for White than for Hispanic full-time workers. However, median earnings of Black full-time workers were not measurably different from those of White and Hispanic full-time workers. Among those with a master's or higher degree, Asian full-time workers had higher median earnings ($80,500) than White ($61,100), Black ($59,600), and Hispanic ($55,700) full-time workers. Unlike the pattern observed for lower attainment levels, the median earnings of White, Black, and Hispanic full-time workers with a Master's or higher degree were not measurably different.
Figure 30.4. Percentage of the labor force ages 25–34 who worked full time, year round, by educational attainment and race/ethnicity: 2016

‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
¹ Includes equivalency credentials, such as the GED credential.
NOTE: Full-time year-round workers are those who worked 35 or more hours per week for 50 or more weeks per year. Data are based on sample surveys of the noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons living in institutions (e.g., prisons or nursing facilities); data include military personnel who live in households with civilians, but exclude those who live in military barracks. Total includes other racial/ethnic groups not separately shown, including Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native. Full-time employment rates by educational attainment for Pacific Islander young adults and American Indian/Alaska Native young adults are not available because these data did not meet reporting standards. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded estimates.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), "Annual Social and Economic Supplement," 2017. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 502.30.

In 2016, the percentage of the 25- to 34-year-old labor force who worked full time differed by race/ethnicity for those with lower levels of educational attainment. For example, among those who had not completed high school, the percentage of the labor force who worked full time was higher for Asian (78 percent) and Hispanic 25- to 34-year-olds (65 percent) than for their White peers (58 percent), and all three groups had higher percentages of full-time workers than did Black 25- to 34-year-olds (39 percent). Among those who had completed high school, the percentage of the labor force who worked full time was higher for Asian 25- to 34-year-olds (80 percent) than for their Hispanic peers (72 percent), and both groups had higher percentages of full-time workers than did their peers who were White (68 percent), Black (66 percent), and of Two or more races (55 percent). In contrast, among those with an associate's degree or a bachelor's or higher degree, there were no measurable differences across racial/ethnic groups in the percentages of 25- to 34-year-olds who worked full time.
Endnotes
"Full time, year round" is used interchangeably with the shortened form "full time." It refers to those who worked 35 or more hours per week for 50 or more weeks per year.
The labor force consists of those who reported working or looking for work.
Differences in earnings may also reflect other factors, such as differences in occupation.
Median annual earnings and employment rates by educational attainment for Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native full-time year-round workers ages 25–34 are not available because these data did not meet reporting standards.

Related Indicators and Resources

Data Sources

Current Population Survey (CPS)

Glossary Terms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 2016, among those with a bachelor's or higher degree, Asian full-time, year-round workers ages 25-34 had higher median annual earnings ($69,100) than their White peers ($54,700), and median earnings for both racial/ethnic groups were higher than those of their Black ($49,400) and Hispanic ($49,300) peers.