8/10
Don't overthink it
12 December 2020
Why all the hate? This movie is purely escapism and it doesn't pretend to be anything deeper than that. It showcases exotic scenery and lots of shiny expensive things. There's also a "Cinderella-esque" love story that serves to move the story along sweetly.

The characters aren't super deep and they don't do any switching up halfway through the film so the plot is easy to follow. Charming boy is secretly rich with a heart of gold, and eyes for only our lead lady. Successful girl is comfortable and naive, and fights a battle of wits to be with her man.

I see a lot of people complaining about racism and the movie promoting bad values. Yeah, the movie primarily showcases East Asians as opposed to every single Asian people, but why the pressure??? Finally, a movie that features Asians whose entire character identities aren't math experts or Kung fu masters (which is the stereotypes mainly presented in American television), but people with varied goals and backstories that can be understood to a certain extent by their audience regardless of race. As for the bad values about gold digging and backstabbing. Literally every rom-com has a gold digger or backstabber thrown in the mix for a little razzle dazzled added drama.

All these "far stretched" complaints are clearly based in some people's discomfort with a movie presenting any race other than white but still being celebrated on a large scale level. This is a standard modern fairytale type romance. It's not meant to be complicated. It's just fun. Don't overthink it, just enjoy.
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