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Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Abstract

We review the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians in order to highlight its relevance for debates on immigration, globalization and consumption. In doing so, we argue that a new model of immigration for East Asians, distant and distinct from the American Dream, a “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” narrative infused with an Asian ethic, is being valorized in the film. We also illuminate the complexities of East Asian representation on screen, as evidenced by varying receptions to the film in America and in various regions of Asia. And, finally, we note that while the film celebrates excess in consumption on the surface, in the film, critiques of this orientation are manifest as well. Overall, we see the film to be a harbinger of new frontiers in global blockbusters, ushering in an era where the values depicted on screen are no longer solely dominated by an American orientation.

Author Bio

Giana M. Eckhardt is Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Research in Sustainability at Royal Holloway University of London. She is also a visiting professor at RMIT in Melbourne. Giana is a leading expert in the field of consumer culture, branding and the sharing economy, having published over forty articles in journals such as Harvard Business Review, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Journal of Consumer Research. She is co-author of The Myth of the Ethical Consumer (Cambridge University Press). She is past co-chair of the Consumer Culture Theory conference and is on the editorial review boards of Journal of Marketing and Journal of Consumer Research. Her work has been featured in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Atlantic, and on National Public Radio.

Finola Kerrigan is Professor of Marketing at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK, where she teaches and researches marketing and consumption. She is a leading expert in film marketing, and her research has been funded by a range of major national and international organisations and published in leading international journals.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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