By Charles Ellenburg
It’s hard to avoid all the the success Crazy Rich Asians has had at this point. As director Jon M. Chu put it: “It’s not a movie. It’s a movement.”
The movie has accumulated quite the list of achievements. The film’s release marks the first Hollywood production to feature an Asian leading cast since The Joy Luck Club 25 years ago. Crazy Rich Asians has also become the highest-grossing romantic comedy at the U.S. box office since 2009.
Perhaps the most surprising achievement for the film, however, came outside of the box office. The movie has been a hit among fanfiction communities, especially teens. According to statistics provided by Commaful, a teen fiction site with a large fanfiction community, fanfiction about Crazy Rich Asians attracted more readers on their site within the 2 weeks following the movie release than Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Avengers: Infinity War did within the same time frame.
The top two CRA fanfiction pieces have already accumulated over 10 thousand reads.
Many of the pieces focus on potential sequel storylines between Charlie Wu (played by Harry Shum Jr.) and Astrid Leong-Teo (Gemma Chan). Director Chu teased this sequel during a mid-credits scene, with the lead cast slated to return. The sequel is said to already be in development.
Learning More About Popular Crazy Rich Asians Fanfic
The most popular story, accumulating hundreds of likes and thousands of reads, was A Crazy Rich Parody by pluzoo. The story was written as an illustrated comedy filled with little jokes and cute character interactions.
The story parodies interactions between Eleanor, Rachel, Nick, and Astrid, focusing on the Eleanor/Rachel and Eleanor/Astrid relationships.
“I found myself thinking about a lot of phrases my mom used to say to my siblings and found the characters in the movie to be a perfect way to express some of the funny moments in my own life,” pluzoo explained. “While I’m no Crazy Rich Asian, I could see my own relationships in the characters.”
The parody does a great job of creating a story that will be relatable to many who grew up in Asian families. Pluzoo said the piece took her a few hours to put together and plans to make more during the holidays or after school given the positive response.
The second most popular fanfiction, After Crazy Rich Asians by asians, is also a parody. The story is an illustrated fanfiction piece featuring the two couples that will likely lead the movie sequel: Astrid/Charlie and Rachel/Nick.
In contrast to A Crazy Rich Parody, this was drawn in a cartoon style and is fully colored.
The story, which is told through comedic slang (consider this your warning that there is some vulgar language), takes place immediately after the end of the mid-credit scene where Charlie meets Astrid.
The story pokes fun at the fanaticism around Harry Shum Jr., the actor from Glee who plays Charlie in the movie. The creator has a point. The Harry Shum Tumblr tag is filled with thousands of photos, collages, shirtless photos, and updates about the star’s role in Crazy Rich Asians.
Who do the fans write about the most?
With a wealth of great cast members and interesting characters to choose from, it’s incredibly hard to choose a favorite crazy rich Asian.
While it’s hard to pick, the data from the Commaful fanfiction community is convincing about who is written about the most. Astrid Leong-Teo shows up in over half of the CRA fanfiction pieces and is the most popularly used character. Rachel Chu is a close second, featured in just under half of the stories.
The most popular pairing used in the fanfiction pieces, as mentioned earlier, is Astrid and Charlie. “They’re just too perfect. Astrid is this strong female character that everybody is rooting for. And Charlie has this dreamy look. They’re Chastrid,” pluzoo explained. “Yes, Chastrid will be what people call Charlie and Astrid by the time the next movie comes out.”
Supporting the Crazy Rich Asians Fandom
The Crazy Rich Asians fan community, though taking off, is only just beginning. The easiest way to support the fan artists and writers is to read, share, and let the writers know you enjoyed their works. You can find CRA fanfiction on a number of sites. Below are links and a current count of stories about the movie on the sites for your enjoyment.
These fan communities and fanfiction groups help keep the momentum and excitement about Crazy Rich Asians up before the next movie comes out and can play an influential role in driving support for future sequels. The best way to support is to read, write, and enjoy!
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff or submitting a story.
