From Mahjong Tables to Multiverses

How filmmakers have turned the Asian American experience into silver screen blockbusters

written by Ally Maldonado

Whenasked how he felt about his Asian American identity and how it affects his views on the film industry, Filipino American filmmaker Cole Bacani had nothing but positive sentiments, saying, “I feel like now is a great time to be Asian and making films.”

Asian American filmmakers have made a noticeable and vital impact in recent decades; movies like “Joy Luck Club” paved the way for Asian American stories to take more space on the screen. “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which was released in late 2022, became a cultural phenomenon, sweeping the awards circuit and being loved by millions. Seeing oneself on screen has been a sentiment shared by people of color all over America, represented in movies that tell stories that they can see themselves in.

Movies like “Joy Luck Club” started the conversation on the complex identities of Asian Americans and, as years pass, more movies celebrating and exploring the diaspora of Asian Americans are being released.

Mahjong Tables and Mothers

1993 saw the release of “Joy Luck Club,” a movie based on the novel of the same title written by Amy Tan. The story follows four Chinese women navigating their relationships with their adult Chinese American daughters. Directed by Wayne Wang, it became the first film of its kind. Opening doors to tell the nuanced, emotional stories of those who find themselves in the middle of a clash of cultures trying to keep both Chinese and American aspects of their lives in harmony. Prior to this movie, there was a lack of complexity to Asian characters, being stuck in roles like the martial arts genius or the quiet, soft-spoken model minority. This movie made room for stories that focused on the complexity of the identity of Asian Americans. It wasn’t until 2018 that another film with an all-Asian cast was again on the screen: “Crazy Rich Asians.”

East Versus West

“Crazy Rich Asians” focuses on Singapore’s top 1% and their insistence on the idea that foreigners do not belong with them because they are not — and will never be — the same. Director Jon M. Chu later explained in an interview with Digital Spy that the movie is about “Rachel’s journey of finding her own self-worth.” This was the first movie to host an all-Asian cast since “Joy Luck Club” 25 years earlier.

At the climax of the movie, there is a pivotal scene over a mahjong table, known as the “mahjong monologue.” This scene unfolds between Rachel and Eleanor and focuses on this clash between the cultures of Asian American and Asian. Eleanor opens to Rachel saying, “There’s a Hokkien phrase. Ka gi lan. It means ‘our own kind of people.’ And you’re not our own kind.” This scene has become one of the outstanding parts of the movie as Asian Americans applauded its cinematography and how it portrays the difficulties of “living the American way” instead of the traditional way as Eleanor alludes to.

This “East versus West” mentality is heavily focused on in the movie “The Farewell.” Directed by Lulu Wang and based on “an actual lie,” this movie takes its roots from Lulu Wang’s personal life where she tells the story of a matriarch who is diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and whose family decides not to tell her about her terminal diagnosis. The film focuses on the differences between those who grew up with an “American” way of living versus those living in Asian countries. Awkwafina, a half-Chinese and half-Korean American actress, stars in the prominent role embodying the “American way” as she pleads with her family to decide to tell her “Nai Nai,” which is Mandarin for “grandma” specifically the father’s mother, of her diagnosis. Her family members stop her at every moment and during the movie her uncle tells her, “In America, you think one’s life belongs to oneself. But that’s the difference between the East and West.”

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The director Lulu Wang once mentioned in an interview with The Guardian that she “would love it if white men were asked the same questions” as her, highlighting the well-known sentiment of the Asian American diaspora regarding the representation of their varied experiences.

Asian American Filmmaker Spotlight: Cole Bacani on his film “Everything Stays”

Family versus the future is a sentiment that a lot of Asian American individuals can relate to. In Filipino American filmmaker Cole Bacani’s short film “Everything Stays,” he tackles the story of a college-bound boy making the decision to either stay near his cousins in Illinois or pack up and move everything to California to pursue his dream of directing. The story comes straight from Bacani’s life with his actual cousins playing the large ensemble of the film. Bacani stated that his short film “‘Everything Stays” is very specific and with that, a very specific story, and yet there are people all around who are able to see themselves in it.” Bacani went on to say, “That’s why representation matters the most; it’s important to know that your experiences are shared and you are seen.”

Jessie Li White, a recent University of Florida alumni, mentioned that “The Farewell” does more than bring the conversation of East versus West to the table; she mentioned that “it was the first movie where I saw pieces of Chinese culture, in the decor, where it wasn’t labeled as ‘this is Chinese’ very loudly. Pieces of my life were in this movie.” Jessie also shared “I want to see more movies where the actors are just Asian; it isn’t some plot point or something that ‘makes their character’ - it just is.”

This idea was also shared with Tatum Homer-Dibble, fourth-year telecommunications major at UF, as she recalled her thoughts on “Crazy Rich Asians.” “I want to see a movie about normal middle-class Asians too,” she said. “I want to see more complex characters, not just rich characters and that being their only personality besides being Asian.”

This sentiment is shared by Katrina Lee, fourth-year telecommunications major at UF, as she said, “It’s good to share your stories on screen. It builds community, and you feel less isolated in your own culture.” Lee is currently in New York City and when asked how she felt about the coming years in terms of Asian American filmmakers she shared, “When I was growing up, I thought that there could only be one Asian American filmmaker but now I see all these amazing creators who look like me, and I’m just excited for the next coming years to see what’s next.”

Filmmakers like Bacani have continued to tell their stories on the screen. They are taking up space as directors, writers and artists of all forms to give glimpses of the Asian American experience and what it means to exist within the Asian American diaspora. Seeing rooms that look like ours, food that looks like ours and family conversations that sound like ours are vital to continue to give space for Asian American stories on the screen and to allow for our lives to be represented to even larger audiences. Bacani’s sentiment rings loud and clear: it truly is a great time to be Asian and making films. Telling stories that represent our experiences, our feelings and our identities. The future of Asian American stories is in the hands of people like Bacani, but also in those of any aspiring artist ready to tell their story and to take up their space as a creator.