VP 2018-09 DIGITAL VIVOREE

VP entertainment
Crazy Rich Asians
Dazzling with attitude and heart, Hollywood's first Asian-centric
rom-com in years clinches a win for #representASIAN
By Emilson Gole Cruz
I cannot think of any Hollywood rom-com movie that
carries this much pressure. It’s the first Hollywood
movie with an almost all-Asian cast in 25 years (the
last movie was The Joy Luck Club in 1993). Although
there are a lot of side-eyes, the expectations are high
that the movie will suit the general public and not only
for Asians and Asian-American movie goers.
Well, all that pressure has turned this film into a gem.
Directed by Jon M. Chu, Crazy Rich Asians is fun,
funny, jaw-dropping and swoon-worthy. The movie is
not just eye-popping but also a feast for the ears with
tracks that showcases the diversity of cultures that the
film celebrates. (That Chinese version of Coldplay’s
Yellow is thrilling!)
Crazy Rich Asians tells a story of a Chinese-American
woman seeking everlasting love and discovering
cultural identity. Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), a
Chinese-American professor, decides to spend spring
break with her boyfriend Nick Young (Henry Golding),
who’s going home to Singapore and she finds out that
he is crazy rich. Beneath its glitz and glamour, the
movie is saturated with a modern sense of money, the
craziness and fun of family, and personal reinvention.
The two leads, Wu and Golding, are charming and
explicitly talented, and the supporting performers
around them keep the story crazier. Michelle Yeoh,
as Eleanor, is suitably regal, and indeed, a force to
be reckoned with. It wouldn’t be a proper rom-com
without the magic of #bestfriendgoals brought
by co-stars Nico Santos (another Filipino pride),
and Awkwafina (who is making a grandiose year
after her recent casting on Ocean’s 8). There are
lot of wonderful scenes in this movie: the wedding,
dumpling-making, and a key scene that unfolds over a
game of Mahjong to name few.
Scene stealing is no easy feat in a movie like this
and Kris Aquino does just that. Literally, I held my
breath for a minute when Kris came into the scene
in her yellow Michael Cinco gown. That few-minute
cameo is indeed worth the wait and seems to be the
highlight of the movie for us, Filipinos. It is short but
a showstopper. Well, it is not every day you will see
a Filipino cast in a Hollywood movie, more over it is
THE Queen of All Media who is playing the role of the
untouchable Malay Princess Intan.
Seeing this kind of on-screen representation,
loaded with Asian diversity, is incredibly satisfying.
In a deeper way, Crazy Rich Asians is truly
groundbreaking. As a number of critics have written,
just seeing an all-Asian cast in multifaceted roles is a
game changer: brings unheard voices before a huge
audience and breaking walls of racial expectations.
No surprise if this is out for a sequel. SHIOK!
VP sports
Fil-Am fencer
Brennan Louie
on losses and success By Badet Macaraig
In an exclusive interview, Filipino-American fencer Brennan
Louie candidly talks about what he’s been up to, three
years after moving to the Philippines to pursue a career as
a Filipino athlete.
Leap of faith
In 2015, Louie took a huge leap and moved to the
Philippines to be a national athlete, despite the fact
that he has never lived so far from his family at such a
long period of time. When asked what inspired him to
do so, Louie shared that his journey “has always been a
homage to [his] family who made sacrifices in order to
provide for the younger generations,” referring to his
grandfather who did not pursue a basketball career and
his mother who stopped law school to focus on the needs
of their respective families. “Living out my dreams as a
professional athlete in the Philippines has always been
heavily motivated by them,” Louie added.
Inspired by his father who was a collegiate-level fencer,
Louie first started playing when he was around eight
years old and he has not stopped playing since. His love
for the sport heightened after moving to the Philippines
and joining the national team, stating that “wearing [his]
country’s flag has instilled an immense amount of pride
and cultivated a new love for the Philippines.”
Coping with challenges
Growing up in a tight-knit family, one of Louie’s biggest
challenges was living alone in Manila. “I came to the
Philippines with a dollar and a dream. It was the first time
I was on my own,” the athlete shared. However, Louie’s
teammates and Filipino friends helped him feel more at
home. “The relationships I’ve built with my teammates and
[Filipino] friends made feeling homesick very negligible,”
Louie recalled.
Louie also expressed his struggles as a person diagnosed
with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
sharing that he is “often labeled as crazy by Filipino
standards.” He shared that his disorder eventually helped
him. “It is something that over time, I’ve learned to deal
with and actually find empowering,” he stated. Louie
also wanted to use his influence as a national athlete in
inspiring people with mental health issues “to pursue
unorthodox and bigger life goals,” adding that “[he wants]
people to say, ‘if Brennan can become a professional
athlete with ADHD, I can achieve my dream!’”
Winning the gold
Louie made the headlines last August 2017 after bagging
the gold medal at the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA)
Games. “Winning gold at SEA Games has led to many
opportunities that would’ve otherwise been impossible,”
he gratefully recalled. The Fil-Am fencer was the first SEA
Games gold medalist in ten years, and was one of the
athletes given a presidential citation. During a ceremony
at the Malacañang Palace last September 2017, President
Rodrigo Duterte conferred said presidential citation on
Louie for his achievements during the SEA Gaames. .
More than his big win, Louie expressed that the more
important thing is his contribution in “elevating fencing
to the forefront of athletics.” Since the Philippine Fencing
Team’s success at SEA Games, the sport became more
prominent in quad-media, with them being invited to
various appearances left and right. “Just being able to
have contributed to that movement speaks volumes of
the impact of this generation of fencing. I’m heading
the movement of fencing excellence and creating a new
culture for fencing,” Louie proudly shared.
His big win at SEA Games was only the beginning; Louie
ended up partnering with a fencing organization called
Republic Fencing where he designs a high performance
program “so that younger fencers are equipped with the
knowledge and experience it takes to be a world class
fencer.”
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