Sunday Read: ‘Crazy Rich Asians' presents a new dimension to Asian men

Actors Chris Pang, left, and Henry Golding go shirtless in 'Crazy Rich Asians.'

EARLY IN THE MOVIE Crazy Rich Asians, the actor Henry Golding stood shirtless -- bare chested with modest six-pack abs -- eliciting tittering from the women in the audience.

The three young women sitting in  the row in front of me repressed full-on swoon, but I still heard their half-suppressed excitement. Throughout the movie, there were several times when the Asian men appeared without their shirts, displaying well-defined abs. By the time, Harry Shum, Jr., appeared near the end, the women could no longer hold back and they let out spontaneous, uncontrolled shrieks.

Until relatively recently, the pop-culture image of Asian males perpetuated by Hollywood bounced from the goofy, buck-toothed character played by Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's; to the hyper-masculine Bruce Lee-type who although physically powerful, never could express sensitivity; to the neutered nerd Long Duk Dong of 16 Candles.

When the women in the audience in an advance screening of the highly anticipated Crazy Rich Asians reacted as they did, I mentally gave a fist-pump. Yes!

At last, Asian men were being depicted as normal people -- well, as normal as the handsome hunks in the cast can be -- without a pair of thick glasses or a flying round-house kick in sight.


 It wasn't just their abs though, that generated the unexpected emotional response from the predominantly Asian American audience.

The movie's director, Jon M. Chu, related how when Golding walked into a scene wearing a white suit and open-collared suit, striding confidently as if he owned the scene as Singapore's most eligible bachelor, Chu's older brother teared up because for the first time, an Asian male -- albeit a charming, handsome male -- was being depicted onscreen to whom he could relate.

Indeed, Crazy Rich Asians is presenting Asian males in a whole new light that could break down the negative stereotypes presented in American pop culture and history books. In the movie, Asian men are depicted in a wide spectrum of characterizations: from the oversexed, approval-seeking, overcompensating, and outlandish attention seeker to the confident, articulate, sensitive and romantic man-about-town -- all attributes, negative and positive, hardly ever attributed to the best friend, sidekick or loyal-assistant roles usually offered to Asian American actors.

The infamous study by dating site OkCupid published in 2014 concluded that
Asian men were considered by women of all races as the least attractive of men among the races. Even Asian women, the study showed, thought white men were more attractive.

Sam Louie, a Washington-based psychotherapist, wrote in Psychology Today about the hurdles Asian American men face when trying to date.

“While there are different theories for the reasoning, the clients I work with all agree with the premise of not being able to fit the hyper masculine culture perpetuated by Western society,” Louie wrote in the PT article.

The stereotype is so insidious and pervasive, that many Asians, men and women, begin to believe it as true. I must admit, it took a long while for me to overcome the self-hatred that became part of my persona in my younger days.

The men of 'Crazy Rich Asians'

Some of hot male actors featured in 'Crazy Rich Asians' include, top to clockwise: Harry Shum Jr.,  Chris Pang, Michael Teol and Remy Hill.

During CRA's production, Fresh Off the Boat's Constance Wu, who plays Rachel Chu, the Asian American girlfriend of Singaporean native and uber-rich Nick Young, convinced the director to remove some dialogue from the book in which her character boasted about never dating Asian men, which would have reinforced the unattractive Asian-male stereotype. That might seem like a small concession, but speaking on behalf of Asian American men who grew up with that albatross hung around our neck, a huge" thank you" to Ms. Wu.

The movie is redefining what it means to be an Asian man, said director Chu during a press conference held at his father's restaurant, Chef Chu's in Los Altos, California. 

When asked if presenting Nick Young and his friends in such an unaccustomed light was purposeful on his part, Chu said, "Absolutely!" He then related how his brother reacted upon watching the movie. 

The Nick Young character is not your typical macho ass-kicking martial artist male, nor is he the geeky, almost-invisible non-speaker. Chu points out that Nick is sensitive, articulate and caring. Instead of a wild bachelor party with loud music, semi-nude women romping around, the Nick Young character prefers being alone with a friend on a raft floating in a quiet bay having a sincere discussion about their lives.

In the context of the #MeToo movement, "I think we are in the middle of redefining masculinity," Chu said. "What does it mean to be a man?"

"You don’t have to be a leading man to be noticed," added Golding pointing out that each of the Asian male characters in Crazy Rich Asians, have stories to tell. ,,, To have confidence is what Asians have been missing."

As if in response to the old trope, several theater chains are offering early screenings of the movie. One theater chain is hoping that the romantic comedy with its attractive cast will appeal to a very lucrative demographic: young women. A study by Nielsen says that Asian American women are the trendsetters and influencers in the U.S. marketplace.

AMC is betting the old Asian Male Stereotype is ready to be buried and Crazy Rich Asians will redefine the hotness factor for Asian men. The theater chain  is promoting a "Girls Night Out" on Aug. 8 to see an early screening of the romantic comedy.

Years ago, in search for positive role models to counter Long Duk Dong, I discovered the old samurai movies where Asian men were the main protagonists and latched on to the iconic Bruce Lee image. But even those strong male images were only a tiny fraction of what a well-rounded contemporary man could be -- or, should be.

Psychotherapist Louie writes what we see in the American media is just "a sliver of reality.”

 “You don’t have an experience that an Asian American can be normal,” he said. “We can be funny, we can make jokes, we can be witty. We can be everything underneath the sun."

The challenge, Louie said, is exposing non-Asians to Asian males beyond what the media has historically constructed. Crazy Rich Asians with its positive male images is refreshing but it represents only the first step on a long journey We would need a whole string of movies like CRA to undo centuries of negative brainwashing about Asian men. 

There are hopeful signs the image of Asian men is expanding with several movies and TV series: Searching starring John Cho; Cho's role in Columbus probably showed the most complex Asian American man in contemporary media.

Cho isn't the only Asian American male helping to turn the tide: Newcomer Ross Butler in 13 Reasons Why is a favorite among high schoolers; Keanu Reeves continues to churn out action-oriented movies; Daniel Wu's character in Into the Badlands continues to evolve and Aziz Ansari's single, Millennial New Yorker will continue to search for love and identity in a third season of the award-winning Master of None; and let's not forget Fresh Off the Boat's Randall Park's nuanced peformance as loving father Louis Huang. Even the Emmy-nominated performance of Darren Criss in The Assassination of Gianni Versace in its own way, helps to chip away at the Asian Male Stereotype.

Whether or not all of these projects represent a trend depends a lot on how Crazy Rich Asians is received when the film hits theaters nationwide on August 15. Judging by the audience reaction in the preview audience, the journey begins with a strong, assertive first step.
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