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- Don't you wanna see where I grew up?

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Meet my family, my Ama?

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And meet up with that strange
college roommate of yours.

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- Peik Lin?

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- [Nick] Mm-hmm.

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- She has been begging me
to come visit her, you know.

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- The universe has spoken!

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- This is Peter Rosenthal,
head film critic for The Onion.

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Today I'll be reviewing Crazy Rich Asians,

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a pioneering romantic drama adapted

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from Kevin Kwan's best-selling novel,

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and a film that bravely explores
the theme of mental health

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in affluent Asian communities,
sending the powerful message

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that these people may
be fabulously wealthy,

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they may be of Asian decent,

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and yes, they may be stigmatized as crazy

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due to their psychological disorders,

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but at the end of the
day, they're just like us.

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The film follows Chinese-American
economics professor

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Rachel Chu as she travels to Singapore

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to meet the family of her
boyfriend, Nick Young,

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on a trip in which she will discover

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that not only does the
Young family operate

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an extremely successful
real estate empire,

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but they also suffer from a
long history of mental illness.

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Initially, when Rachel
asks Nick about this,

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he is of course, evasive.

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For too many years, one could
be rich, crazy, or Asian,

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but never all three at once.

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Yet, over the course of the film,

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Rachel, alongside the viewer,
learns to open her mind,

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all the while teaching Nick to realize

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that having various neuroses

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and coming from a
well-to-do Asian background

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shouldn't be a source of
shame, but rather of pride.

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This theme of embracing one's identity

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as wealthy, Asian, and
psychologically troubled,

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is evidenced in the film's title,

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which re-appropriates
the once derogatory label

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Crazy Rich Asians, spinning it as a term

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for strength and solidarity.

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To his credit, director
Jon M. Chu never sugarcoats

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the harrowing realities
of Crazy Rich Asians,

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showing in uncompromising terms

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the lavish parties they throw,

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their wealth tragically enabling them

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to enact the grandiose visions
that continually haunt them.

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Indeed, thanks to the sensitive
approach of the filmmakers,

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anyone acquainted with a
DSM-5 Diagnostic Manual

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can see that Nick's mother, Eleanor,

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clearly has a textbook case of
paranoid personality disorder

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as seen in her pathological
mistrust of Rachel,

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and repeated attempts to
sabotage any endeavors

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to marry into the Young family.

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And yet, despite this,
the viewer never overlooks

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the deep, underlying humanity.

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Ultimately, Crazy Rich Asians serves

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as a stirring call to arms for
viewers to open their hearts

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to the humanity of
extravagantly moneyed Asians

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with mental illness.

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Indeed, the film bravely
continues the tradition

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of past trailblazing works,

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from Crazy Stupid Love's depiction

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of the intimate relationships
of low IQ simpletons

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who also struggle with mental problems,

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to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,

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which shines a light on the global failure

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to treat mental illness.

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For The Onion's Film
Standard, I'm Peter Rosenthal.