Movie Conventions research: Crazy Rich Asians

Hello again! As I mentioned in my last post, my group and I are studying conventions in popular romance movies and are choosing elements of these movies to incorporate into our own film. Today we watched the 2018 film "Crazy Rich Asians", which follows the story of Rachel Chu, a Chinese-American woman who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick Young to attend a wedding and meet his family. Throughout the film, multiple conventions are highlighted. The most prominent convention is the "fish out of water" trope, which is portrayed through Rachel's unfamiliarity with the upper-class lifestyle in the film. My group and I loved this trope as it creates a relatable protagonist who reacts to the glamorous lifestyle in a way that most middle-class people would. We plan on incorporating this sense of relatability into the opening scene of our own film. Additionally, the film highlights obstacles of trust and communication, which are important aspects of a romantic relationship and make the movie more meaningful. We hope to portray a similar overarching theme of conflict in relationships in our own film's opening sequence. However, some elements of the film were less enjoyable. For example, some characters were portrayed using stereotypical tropes, such as the overbearing and materialistic mother-in-law or the over-the-top and flamboyant gay best friend. While we recognize that these tropes can add to the film in some ways, they can also be problematic. Overall, watching "Crazy Rich Asians" was a helpful exercise in identifying which conventions we want to include in our own film and which elements we would like to avoid. We're excited to continue our study of romance movies and see what other insights we can gain from them!