After Reading One Too Many Smug Sneering Movie Reviews

I read this column by Johanna Schneller awhile ago and it really stuck with me. It also reminded me of why I get pissed when I hear people denigrating movies like Crazy Rich Asians as nothing special, or calling movies like The Fault in Our Stars "sick lit" and automatically assuming that they are worthless. Sure, Crazy Rich Asians was a little formulaic and the male lead was a little too good to be true. Sure, there are stories about young people dying of cancer that are exploitative and melodramatic. But here's the thing - for every groundbreaking movie starring mostly white people, there are probably a hundred crappy ones. Don't Asian people or black people or Hispanic people deserve to see themselves represented in movies with clunky dialogue and ridiculous car chases and cringy sex scenes just as much as white people?

And people with cancer or other debilitating diseases? So they get representation in a cheesy romantic movie - big fucking deal. Ever seen literally anything by Nicholas Sparks? The Twilight movies, hello? It's really not fair that people disparage these movies or demand that movies with diverse casts have to be beyond reproach.

I'm tired and I feel crappy and this deserves a better post, but I keep forgetting to write it, so I'm just saying it - we are at basic step-one representation for minorities. Let them have their crappy, eye-rolling, trashy romances, brainless action movies and ridiculous thrillers. Then we can move on to demanding better quality representation for everyone.

Besides, Crazy Rich Asians became the most successful romantic comedy of the last ten years, which means it could pave the way for "more stories about less crazy rich Asians" as this Vox article states.

But take a hint from Schneller and do check out Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. It's amazing.