One of my favorite things that most people who saw the film seemed to ignore is that Crazy Rich Asians is one of the most pro-capitalism films of all time.
Oh hi Kenny, regarding Crazy Rich Asians, I’d love to offer a slightly different personal perspective on this:
To me, the entire movie is split into two parts. The first part is the opening scene where they call in the rain and spite-buy the hotel, leaving the snobbish manager completely stunned. The rest of the film—Rachel’s journey—forms the second part.
This story has very little to do with capitalism—well, at least not the key element. It’s really about how Asians interact with and integrate into Western society, offering two distinct revelations across two generations:
First, you must be extremely wealthy to command respect from the West, the former colonizers, and mainstream white society.
Second, when revisiting this dynamic, two contrasting viewpoints emerge:
"Since you are already wealthy enough to outmatch the West, you no longer need to live there or give a damn about them." — This is Eleanor’s view. While a bit cynical, it’s widely considered a grim reality for many immigrants and minorities globally, not just Asians.
"You’re mistaken—your wealth has turned you into the very same arrogant, foolish hotel manager, looking down on your overseas, Western-based peers. Yet these peers have already achieved the very respect—spiritually and through independent character, if not purely economically—that you so desperately craved. And you need to catch up." — This is Rachel’s stance.
Ultimately, the movie gives us a happy ending where Eleanor subtly concedes that Rachel is right.
Just my two cents, but I think this layer makes the film even more interesting!
This is such a fantastic piece. As a first-generation Asian immigrant, I have nothing to add except my deepest respect.
That said, I do have a simple metric to prove that "Asian American art" is fundamentally American art rather than Asian art: the likelihood of these works being recognized back in the creators' ancestral homelands.
Case in point, almost none of the works on Noah's list are widely recognized as "Asian" in Asia itself. For the movie Arrival, hardly anyone in Asia even knows the author of the original story (Ted Chiang) is Asian. Ang Lee is perhaps too famous to use as a blind test, but the vast majority of his filmography consists of quintessential Hollywood works, not Asian ones.
Or take what might be the most iconic example: Kung Fu Panda 1. Created by a white team, it presents a story rooted deeply in American sensibilities. Yet when it hit theaters in China, it left the local audience utterly shocked, prompting the famous national soul-searching question: "Kung Fu is Chinese, Pandas are Chinese, so why is Kung Fu Panda American?"
Perhaps true creativity is inherently about stepping away from and breaking through stereotypes—or intentionally testing cultural boundaries, triggering a mix of appreciative laughter, newfound understanding, and even fruitful cultural misunderstandings.
I'd like to add "Blue Eye Samurai," created in part by Amber Noizumi (half-Japanese Californian). It really got me hooked, and the music is amazing too. I like some of the artwork as being inspired by the ukiyo-e art of Hokusai (I'm a big fan).
I think there's a pretty big disconnect between art created by 2nd+ generation Asian Americans, and more recent immigrants who still make up a large share of the Asian American population. As a recent US immigrant (though since left), I respect 2nd+ Asian Americans for what they've made, but their art made about their experience just profoundly fails to resonate with me.
Asian Asian art, even from different cultures from mine, such as anime and kpop are just way better, and classic White-American focused Hollywood has its own exotic charm. Asian American art about the Asian American experience feels like something claiming to talk about people like me, when it just doesn't.
I think Disney's Asian American movie, Elemental, reads to me as a pathetic attempt to redeem the dehumanizing white worship I saw in many Asian-American interracial relationships. I was expecting something more relatable, as my wife is White-American, and it was just oof all around.
As somebody spending a ton of time putting together a graphic novel that will probably make very little money - but who does have an A-tier studio attached from the jump - thank you for spending so much time on this super-low-salience-relative-to-effort-involved art form!
It's never occurred to me that Asian American and Asian Canadian are meaningfully distinct experiences for first and second generation immigrants, especially with respect to art.
So I'm intrigued to know: Noah, why did you opt to distinguish and then omit Asian Canadian art?
Well, Asian Canadians may have a substantively different culture than Asian Americans, because Canadian culture is pretty different from American culture.
Such comparisons are quite relative, of course, so I can't argue with your response.
However, in my experience, I've found no more similar cultures than American and (English) Canadian. Not that they're identical. They've even diverged culturally during the last 4 or 5 decades, which is surprising during a period of increasing economic integration (at least 1965 to 2024).
I disagree that excluding South Asian was similarly arbitrary. And that also explains why he didn't list then exclude examples of Asian Canadian art.
'Asian' is usually a shorthand for East Asian (including SouthEast Asian), or sometimes the Confucian cultures, which are pretty distinct from the South Asian and Filipino cultures.
In contrast, I perceive relatively little distinction between immigrant cultures of the same origin within the US vs within Canada, because of relatively similar cultures within the US and Canada.
I think your problem with the Abraham Cahans and Alfred Kazins (Philip Roth may be a smudge late) is the New York part rather than what generation they are. I am the first generation of my family to be born outside New York so I have something of a second-generation experience only within the United States. The old New York stories are definitely the mythic stories in my family even if the authors are actually living them and would not tell them the way that any incarnation of "Ragtime" but especially the musical does. (Anything is possible as far as IP in a generation or two where an Asian person stands in for all immigrants :))
Excellent point that all of these examples of excellent SF written by Asian Americans have as much right to be considered Asian American art as anything else.
NYC and San Francisco are frankly outliers in their willingness to enthusiastically embrace Asian-American--or even Asian--art and culture. Rural America--especially the Red parts--is much less sympathetic to the genre.
As someone who lived eight years in Asia and the MEast, and who adopted a quintessentially East Asian occupation--after living in Berkeley, CA for thirty years--a trip a few years ago to Philadelphia, my home town, kinda shocked me about how much less open to Asians and Asian cultures many are in the Philadelphia area.
Also Newark which Roth is emphatically from may be part of the NYC-Newark combined statistical area but "the New York metro area part of New Jersey" is not quite the same thing as the city as understood by David Chase among others
Were you at the Japanese Breakfast show at the Masonic about a year ago? Show was incredible (including the openers, another Asian American band whose name escapes me right now). Also had a great dinner at Back to Back in Nob Hill (coincidentally an Asian-owned pizza joint) if you’re still looking for restaurants recommendations.
This is likely unfair but may illustrate something useful: I find the premises baked into this piece so annoying that I don't even want to read it. I love Kurosawa movies, love when Yo Yo Ma or Lang Lang play music "my people" composed, and I like it when Julie Otsuka writes good books about her immigrant ancestors and cites Hemingway as a role model nonetheless. I love the high quality of Japanese jazz. I could go on and on. I hate the pretentious identitarian crap that has somehow worked it's way into our thinking enough to make this article possible and of interest.
I would be someone that would be categorized as Asian American, but we had a strong Asian identity when we grew up in Taiwan, and did not arrive here until I was 13. I’ve always felt more just Asian rather than Asian American, as there are subtle differences that main stream culture might not be aware of.
I have friends who are the typical AA. They often complain how Asian they are and how they don’t fit into American society. It took them a trip to their home country for them to see how utterly American they really are….
The examples you use are largely contemporary. But similar to Hiro Murai, James Wong Howe was a pioneering cinematographer during Hollywood’s golden age. Some important films include Seconds and Sweet Smell of Success.
It is hard not to agree with Noah's proposed definition of Asian American Art. Why should Asian-American artists be limited to Asian folklore? They are also entitled to the entire world! But this means universal themes that relate to all of us: beauty, pain, love, mortality, etc. etc. And from this perspective: who cares about the ethnic origin of the author? Perhaps we have to admit that these categorizations are not very important.
On the other hand, if you want to experience Noah's definition with your stomach, go to Tucson, AZ and try the Chinese chorizo, created by savvy entrepreneurs who wanted to increase sales in the barrios. Only in America.
(If they could give the Lodestar to "Coffee Shop In An Alternate Universe" they could give the Hugo to "The Everlasting" but they vastly goofed on both counts. Possible Asian Americans who also won are H.H. Pak, Thomas Ha and Diana M. Pho)
One of my favorite things that most people who saw the film seemed to ignore is that Crazy Rich Asians is one of the most pro-capitalism films of all time.
Oh hi Kenny, regarding Crazy Rich Asians, I’d love to offer a slightly different personal perspective on this:
To me, the entire movie is split into two parts. The first part is the opening scene where they call in the rain and spite-buy the hotel, leaving the snobbish manager completely stunned. The rest of the film—Rachel’s journey—forms the second part.
This story has very little to do with capitalism—well, at least not the key element. It’s really about how Asians interact with and integrate into Western society, offering two distinct revelations across two generations:
First, you must be extremely wealthy to command respect from the West, the former colonizers, and mainstream white society.
Second, when revisiting this dynamic, two contrasting viewpoints emerge:
"Since you are already wealthy enough to outmatch the West, you no longer need to live there or give a damn about them." — This is Eleanor’s view. While a bit cynical, it’s widely considered a grim reality for many immigrants and minorities globally, not just Asians.
"You’re mistaken—your wealth has turned you into the very same arrogant, foolish hotel manager, looking down on your overseas, Western-based peers. Yet these peers have already achieved the very respect—spiritually and through independent character, if not purely economically—that you so desperately craved. And you need to catch up." — This is Rachel’s stance.
Ultimately, the movie gives us a happy ending where Eleanor subtly concedes that Rachel is right.
Just my two cents, but I think this layer makes the film even more interesting!
My father used to say, "Better nouveau than no riche at all."
Meaning that both Eleanor and Rachel have a point.
I have started more than one fight by pointing this out.
This is such a fantastic piece. As a first-generation Asian immigrant, I have nothing to add except my deepest respect.
That said, I do have a simple metric to prove that "Asian American art" is fundamentally American art rather than Asian art: the likelihood of these works being recognized back in the creators' ancestral homelands.
Case in point, almost none of the works on Noah's list are widely recognized as "Asian" in Asia itself. For the movie Arrival, hardly anyone in Asia even knows the author of the original story (Ted Chiang) is Asian. Ang Lee is perhaps too famous to use as a blind test, but the vast majority of his filmography consists of quintessential Hollywood works, not Asian ones.
Or take what might be the most iconic example: Kung Fu Panda 1. Created by a white team, it presents a story rooted deeply in American sensibilities. Yet when it hit theaters in China, it left the local audience utterly shocked, prompting the famous national soul-searching question: "Kung Fu is Chinese, Pandas are Chinese, so why is Kung Fu Panda American?"
Perhaps true creativity is inherently about stepping away from and breaking through stereotypes—or intentionally testing cultural boundaries, triggering a mix of appreciative laughter, newfound understanding, and even fruitful cultural misunderstandings.
I'd like to add "Blue Eye Samurai," created in part by Amber Noizumi (half-Japanese Californian). It really got me hooked, and the music is amazing too. I like some of the artwork as being inspired by the ukiyo-e art of Hokusai (I'm a big fan).
As an Asian American who gets frustrated by the self-flagellation and criticism of Asian American art - thanks for this.
I think there's a pretty big disconnect between art created by 2nd+ generation Asian Americans, and more recent immigrants who still make up a large share of the Asian American population. As a recent US immigrant (though since left), I respect 2nd+ Asian Americans for what they've made, but their art made about their experience just profoundly fails to resonate with me.
Asian Asian art, even from different cultures from mine, such as anime and kpop are just way better, and classic White-American focused Hollywood has its own exotic charm. Asian American art about the Asian American experience feels like something claiming to talk about people like me, when it just doesn't.
I think Disney's Asian American movie, Elemental, reads to me as a pathetic attempt to redeem the dehumanizing white worship I saw in many Asian-American interracial relationships. I was expecting something more relatable, as my wife is White-American, and it was just oof all around.
As somebody spending a ton of time putting together a graphic novel that will probably make very little money - but who does have an A-tier studio attached from the jump - thank you for spending so much time on this super-low-salience-relative-to-effort-involved art form!
Good luck!!
🤞🤞🤞
If you haven't seen Interior Chinatown, on Hulu, check it out. It's brilliant.
Will do, thanks!
It's never occurred to me that Asian American and Asian Canadian are meaningfully distinct experiences for first and second generation immigrants, especially with respect to art.
So I'm intrigued to know: Noah, why did you opt to distinguish and then omit Asian Canadian art?
Well, Asian Canadians may have a substantively different culture than Asian Americans, because Canadian culture is pretty different from American culture.
Such comparisons are quite relative, of course, so I can't argue with your response.
However, in my experience, I've found no more similar cultures than American and (English) Canadian. Not that they're identical. They've even diverged culturally during the last 4 or 5 decades, which is surprising during a period of increasing economic integration (at least 1965 to 2024).
He drew other arbitrary boundaries, like excluding South Asians. Of the groups of Americans with Asian roots, the percentages are:
Asian origin group | population | Share of U.S. Asians | Approx. share of total U.S.
Chinese 5.5 million 22% about 1.6%
Indian 5.2 million 21% about 1.5%
Filipino 4.6 million 19% about 1.3%
Vietnamese 2.3 million 9% about 0.7%
Korean 2.0 million 8% about 0.6%
Japanese 1.6 million 7% about 0.5%
I disagree that excluding South Asian was similarly arbitrary. And that also explains why he didn't list then exclude examples of Asian Canadian art.
'Asian' is usually a shorthand for East Asian (including SouthEast Asian), or sometimes the Confucian cultures, which are pretty distinct from the South Asian and Filipino cultures.
In contrast, I perceive relatively little distinction between immigrant cultures of the same origin within the US vs within Canada, because of relatively similar cultures within the US and Canada.
I think your problem with the Abraham Cahans and Alfred Kazins (Philip Roth may be a smudge late) is the New York part rather than what generation they are. I am the first generation of my family to be born outside New York so I have something of a second-generation experience only within the United States. The old New York stories are definitely the mythic stories in my family even if the authors are actually living them and would not tell them the way that any incarnation of "Ragtime" but especially the musical does. (Anything is possible as far as IP in a generation or two where an Asian person stands in for all immigrants :))
Excellent point that all of these examples of excellent SF written by Asian Americans have as much right to be considered Asian American art as anything else.
NYC and San Francisco are frankly outliers in their willingness to enthusiastically embrace Asian-American--or even Asian--art and culture. Rural America--especially the Red parts--is much less sympathetic to the genre.
As someone who lived eight years in Asia and the MEast, and who adopted a quintessentially East Asian occupation--after living in Berkeley, CA for thirty years--a trip a few years ago to Philadelphia, my home town, kinda shocked me about how much less open to Asians and Asian cultures many are in the Philadelphia area.
Also Newark which Roth is emphatically from may be part of the NYC-Newark combined statistical area but "the New York metro area part of New Jersey" is not quite the same thing as the city as understood by David Chase among others
Machineries of Empire series in particular could absolutely get more readers who would appreciate it from this blog.
Kpop demon hunters is Asian Canadian but close enough
Re: Fonda Lee — who is Canadian born — see “The Last Contract of Isako” — even better than “The Green Bone Saga”
On my list!!
Were you at the Japanese Breakfast show at the Masonic about a year ago? Show was incredible (including the openers, another Asian American band whose name escapes me right now). Also had a great dinner at Back to Back in Nob Hill (coincidentally an Asian-owned pizza joint) if you’re still looking for restaurants recommendations.
Sadly I ended up missing that one. I saw them for the first time recently at Stern Grove in SF!
And as it happens, I just ate at Back to Back! Good stuff!
Great minds think alike...and so do ours. :-)
This is likely unfair but may illustrate something useful: I find the premises baked into this piece so annoying that I don't even want to read it. I love Kurosawa movies, love when Yo Yo Ma or Lang Lang play music "my people" composed, and I like it when Julie Otsuka writes good books about her immigrant ancestors and cites Hemingway as a role model nonetheless. I love the high quality of Japanese jazz. I could go on and on. I hate the pretentious identitarian crap that has somehow worked it's way into our thinking enough to make this article possible and of interest.
Thanks for this post.
I would be someone that would be categorized as Asian American, but we had a strong Asian identity when we grew up in Taiwan, and did not arrive here until I was 13. I’ve always felt more just Asian rather than Asian American, as there are subtle differences that main stream culture might not be aware of.
I have friends who are the typical AA. They often complain how Asian they are and how they don’t fit into American society. It took them a trip to their home country for them to see how utterly American they really are….
The examples you use are largely contemporary. But similar to Hiro Murai, James Wong Howe was a pioneering cinematographer during Hollywood’s golden age. Some important films include Seconds and Sweet Smell of Success.
It is hard not to agree with Noah's proposed definition of Asian American Art. Why should Asian-American artists be limited to Asian folklore? They are also entitled to the entire world! But this means universal themes that relate to all of us: beauty, pain, love, mortality, etc. etc. And from this perspective: who cares about the ethnic origin of the author? Perhaps we have to admit that these categorizations are not very important.
On the other hand, if you want to experience Noah's definition with your stomach, go to Tucson, AZ and try the Chinese chorizo, created by savvy entrepreneurs who wanted to increase sales in the barrios. Only in America.
(If they could give the Lodestar to "Coffee Shop In An Alternate Universe" they could give the Hugo to "The Everlasting" but they vastly goofed on both counts. Possible Asian Americans who also won are H.H. Pak, Thomas Ha and Diana M. Pho)
(First romantasy to win for Best Novel I guess (sigh))