My Rating: 4 stars
I’m not usually much of a fan of celebrity
memoirs, but Jon M. Chu’s memoir Viewfinder is one that I’ve been
looking forward to since it was announced.
Seeing that “Crazy Rich Asians” was (and still is) one of my favorite movies,
plus we share a similar background in that we both came from Chinese immigrant
families and grew up/lived/went to school/worked in Southern California, I was
really interested in learning more about Chu’s journey (outside of what I was
able to glean through interviews during the CRA promos) and his experiences
breaking into an industry that has traditionally been less than welcoming to
Asians. Much of what Chu talks about in the
book resonated with me deeply, especially his struggle reconciling the two
sides of his identity – Asian and American – and the various successes as well
as failures that contributed to the person he chose to become: one who learns to embrace both sides of his
identity, in both life and work.
Of course, being a fan of CRA, my favorite part
of the memoir was the chapter where Chu goes into detail about his experiences
making the movie. Even though I already
knew a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff related to the movie (of course I don’t
call myself a “fan” for nothing, lol), what I didn’t know was how much the
movie reflected Chu’s personal journey as a Chinese American trying to come to
terms with his cultural identity. As
such, there were many details that he added from his own life as well as from
the lives of his family members that weren’t in the book – as a purist, I’m
usually wary about adaptations that stray too far from the book, but in this
case, the many personal touches that Chu added to the movie version worked
wonderfully (to the point that – and you
won’t hear me say this often – this was one of those extremely rare cases where
the movie was actually better than the book).
What I found most interesting in reading this memoir is that many of my
favorite scenes from the movie (“favorite” because those scenes resonated with
me the most) were actually the ones that Chu added from his personal
background: for example, the scene where
the family gathers together to make dumplings (which he based on his own family’s
gatherings and dumpling-making lessons led by his late maternal grandmother);
the climactic mahjong showdown scene between Rachel and Eleanor (which was
especially fun to read about knowing how the game is played and seeing how my
understanding of the symbolism behind that scene aligned with Chu’s intention
for it); and the kitchen scene where Nick first introduces Rachel to his mother
(the significance of that scene is that Chu indirectly pays homage to his family’s
restaurant, Chef Chu’s, which has been a Silicon Valley mainstay for more than
50 years – though the bit about the MSG appearance in that scene and both
Michelle Yeoh’s as well as Chu’s father’s reaction to it was hilarious). There were also some CRA “fun facts” that Chu
revealed in his memoir that I had no idea about (for example, Chu’s daughter
Willow – who was a newborn at the time -- has a “blink-and-you’ll miss it” cameo
in the movie, as does CRA author Kevin Kwan’s family). Reading all this behind-the-scenes stuff made
me want to go re-watch the movie again, this time as someone with more “inside
knowledge” that will undoubtedly enhance the experience even further for me.
I wanted to close this review with two quotes
from Chu’s memoir that resonated most with me, precisely because they reflect
my own struggles as an Asian American constantly trying to reconcile the two
sides of my cultural identity.
The first quote is from the chapter about CRA,
where Chu talks about the significance of Rachel’s journey in the movie – he refers
specifically to the scene on the staircase where Eleanor (played to wonderful effect
by one of my longtime idols Michelle Yeoh) tells Rachel (a role which Constance
Wu also embodied perfectly): “You will never be enough.” Chu explains how this one line of dialogue (and
the brilliant way Michelle Yeoh delivered it) had the powerful effect of
causing all the Asian Americans on set (including himself) to go silent because
of how deeply it cuts to the core of the Asian American experience, in a way
that those who’ve never had to navigate those two worlds will never understand. He writes: “Eleanor’s line and Rachel’s
reaction expressed what I hadn’t been willing to express before and had rarely
seen expressed by anybody else. When you
grow up the way I did – torn between Asia and America, trying to shed what you are,
trying to be what you’re not – the world can make you feel worthless. You’re not Asian enough. You’re not American enough. You’re not smart enough. You’re not talented enough. If you’re an Asian man, you’re not attractive
enough. And then, louder than all the
rest: You don’t belong here. You
hear that one all the time. Everywhere.” I cried when I read this part because of how succinctly
it expresses my own lifelong identity struggle.
The second quote comes later in that same
chapter, when Chu talks candidly about some of the criticisms that CRA received
– specifically the one where people complained that CRA simplified the
complexities of the Asian culture and in presenting the insular world of wealthy
Asians, it reflected an “outsider’s version of Asian life” and therefore was
inauthentic (notably, the movie was slammed in many of the overseas Asian territories
that screened it). Chu explains that the
CRA story is about an Asian American going to Asia for the first time and we
are seeing the world through her “newcomer” eyes – the movie was not meant to
provide a comprehensive view of Asian culture, but rather an “Asia 101” type of
glimpse into one aspect of the culture, with the hope that the opportunity to
explore the “deeper layers – the true change that comes from broader awareness”
can become more accessible in the future.
Hearing this particular complaint gave Chu insight into what his parents
went through with their restaurant, which endured similar criticisms throughout
its existence. This prompted Chu to have
a heartfelt conversation with his father, of which he writes: “’This is how
you grew up,’ my dad told me. ‘Respecting
two worlds because we are of two worlds.
People who aren’t of those two worlds can’t see that’s what we’re trying
to resolve.’ To make a life in this country, they had needed to find a way to
integrate Asia and America….After so many years of trying to be like Spielberg
and Lucas, I came into my own as a filmmaker only once I started trying to be
like my parents – when I started thinking of myself as an ambassador, treating
my position between two cultures as something to cherish, not something to hide
or resent. They showed me how to tell
stories that would open the door for other stories.”
This was an insightful memoir, one that I
enjoyed not just because of the resonance from a cultural perspective, but also
because of Chu’s unflinching honesty when recounting his successes and failures
(whether in life or work). Chu’s
passion, enthusiasm, and love for filmmaking truly shines through in this memoir
-- the way he recounted his movie-making experiences as well as his encounters
with various famous people (Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs, etc.) gave me serious
“kid in a candy shop” vibes; this, combined with Chu’s self-deprecating humor
(which was on full display throughout the book), made his memoir a lot of fun
to read.
Received ARC from
Random House via NetGalley
**Note: The quotes above are from the final published
copy of the book, which I ended up reading instead of the ARC version. Also, Chu and his co-writer Jeremy McCarthy
did an interview with Ariana Grande (hosted by bookstore Book Passage) where
they provide additional insights about the memoir and their experience writing
it – I would recommend watching that interview if you have access to it, as it
definitely enhances the reading experience!
