SOCIAL CLASS CONFLICT IN KEVIN KWAN’S CRAZY RICH ASIAN …

SOCIAL CLASS CONFLICT IN KEVIN KWAN’S

CRAZY RICH ASIAN FILM

THESIS

Submitted to the Board of Examiners

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for Literature Degree at English Literature Department

by

NUR HASYAMI BERUTU

NIM: 403170896

ENGLISH LITERATURE DEPARTMENT

ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF

SULTHAN THAHA SAIFUDDIN JAMBI

2021

ii

NOTA DINAS

Jambi, 05 Juli 2021

Pembimbing I : H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd

Pembimbing II : Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA

Alamat : Fakultas Adab dan Humaniora

UIN Sulhan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi

Kepada Yth,

Dekan Fakultas Adab dan Humaniora

UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi

Di-

Tempat

Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb.

Setelah membaca dan mengadakan perbaikan seperlunya maka kami

berpendapat bahwa skripsi saudari: Nur Hasyami Berutu, NIM. 403170896, yang

berjudul “Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film”, telah

dapat diajukan untuk dimunaqasyahkan guna melengkapi tugas-tugas dan

memenuhi syarat untuk memperoleh gelar sarjana strata satu (S1) pada fakultas

Adab dan Humaniora, UIN STS Jambi. Maka, dengan itu kami ajukan skripsi

tersebut agar diterima dengan baik.

Demikianlah kami ucapkan terimakasih, semoga bermanfaat bagi

kepentingan kampus dan para peneliti.

Wassalamualaikum Wr. Wb.

Pembimbing I Pembimbing II

H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA

NIP. 196903161995031001

iii

APPROVAL

Jambi, July 5th 2021

Supervisor I : H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd

Supervisor II : Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA

Address : Faculty of Adab and Humanities

State Islamic University

Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi

To

The Dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty,

State Islamic University Sulthan Thaha

Saifuddin Jambi

Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

After reading and revising everything extended necessary, so we agree this

thesis entitled “Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film”

could be submitted to Munaqasyah (thesis examination) in partial fulfilment to the

requirement for the Degree of Humaniora Scholar. So we submit it in order to be

received well, thus, we hope it can be usefull for all.

Wassalamualaikum Wr. Wb.

Supervisor I Supervisor II

H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA

NIP. 196903161995031001

iv

LETTER OF RATIFICATION

This thesis has been examined by the board examiner of Adab and Humanity

Faculty of The State Islamic University Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi on 2021 and

accepted as a part of the requirement which has to be fulfilled for obtaining

Undergraduate Degree (S1) in English Literature Department.

Jambi, September, 3 2021

Dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty

Dr. Halimah Dja’far, M. Fil.I

NIP. 196012111988032001

Secretary, Chairperson,

Rahmat Fajar, MA Dr. Diana Rozelin, SS., M.Hum

NIP. 198612272020121005 NIP. 197604282005012004

Examiner I, Supervisor I,

Ulfatmi Azlan, SS., MA H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd

NIP. 198411272011012012 NIP. 196903161995031001

Examiner II, Supervisor II,

Firdiansyah, MA Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA

NIDN. 2004118102

v

ORIGINAL THESIS STATEMENT

I who signed this letter:

Name : Nur Hasyami Berutu

NIM : 403170896



Department : English Literature

Faculty : Adab and Humanities

By signing this letter, I state that the thesis entitles “Social Class Conflict

in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film” is my original work. It does not

plagiarize any material from other studies except for the quotations and

bibliographies. If this thesis is found to be not original or plagiarized from other

researcher, I am ready to be held responsible and suffer the consequences based on

the rule of Adab and Humanities Faculty of the State Islamic University Sulthan

Thaha Saifuddin Jambi. Therefore, I make this statement in good health and mind.

Jambi, September, 3 2021

The Researcher,

Nur Hasyami Berutu

NIM: 403170896

vi

MOTTO

إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنوُنَ إخِْوَةٌ فَأصَْلِحُوا۟ بَيْنَ أخََوَيْكُمْ

وَٱتَّقوُا۟ ٱللَّهَ لعَلََّكُمْ ترُْحَمُونَ

“Believers people are actually brothers/sisters. That's why make peace

(improve the relationship) between your two brothers/sisters and be afraid of

Allah, that you may receive mercy.”

Artinya: “Orang-orang beriman itu sesungguhnya bersaudara. Sebab itu

damaikanlah (perbaikilah hubungan) antara kedua saudaramu itu dan takutlah

terhadap Allah, supaya kamu mendapat rahmat.” (Qs. Al-Hujarat : 10 Madaniyah).

vii

DEDICATION

I dedicated this thesis to:

My beloved Father, Amri Berutu S.Pd

My beloved Mother, Rosinta Manik

Thank you for always give me support and endless love, pray for my success and

always do the best for me. Because your upbringing made me able to be like this. I

proudly want to say that both of you are my parents.

To my dearest Sisters and Brothers:

Fatimah Napratilova Berutu, A.Md

Lestari Syawalina Berutu, S.Pd.I

Ahmad M. P. Berutu, S.Sos

Irfansyah Berutu

Netti Rohmoida Berutu, soon to be S.Tr.Gz

Kasavana Berutu

Not a day goes by that I don't say thanks to Allah SWT. for giving me sisters and

brothers like you. I've never properly thanked you guys, so here I want to say

thank you very much for being a source of strength for me. Thank you for sticking

through all the difficult things together until we got to this point. Thank you

because we never fight no matter how difficult the circumstances. Thank you for

taking good care of each other. But above all, thank you for being my sisters and

brothers.

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH GUYS!!!

Amy

viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Bismillahirahmanirahim…

All praises to Allah SWT, God the almighty, the owner of the universe who

wills over everything, who has given the researcher power and resilience for

completing this thesis with the title, “Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s

Crazy Rich Asian Film” to fulfill the requirements for getting the degree of Sarjana

(S1) of English Literature, Adab and Humanity Faculty, in State Islamic University

Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi. May blessings and salutations be delivered to the

last and final messenger of Allah, Muhammad (peace be upon him) who had

delivered us from the age of darkness to the age of light and knowledge.

In accomplishing this thesis, the researcher had been given one great to

many people. So, the researcher’s sincere gatitude goes to:

1. Prof. Dr. H. Su’aidi, MA., Ph.D as a Rector of State Islamic University

Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, and the Vices of Rector; Dr. Rofiqoh

Ferawati, SE., M.El; Dr. As’ad Isma, M.Pd; Dr. Bahrul Ulum, S.Ag., MA.

2. Dr. Halimah Dja’far, M.Fill.I as the dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty.

3. Dr. Ali Muzakir, M.Ag. as the first Vise Dean of Acadmic, Dr. Alfian,

S.Pd., M.Ed as the second Vise Dean of Finances, and Dr. Roudhoh, S.Ag.,

M.Pd.I as the third vise Dean of University Student of Adab and Humanities

Faculty.

4. Dian Mukhlisa, S.Pd., MA and Chandri Febri Santi, M.Pd. as the

chairperson and secretary of English Literature Department.

5. H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd and Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA as the

researcher's supervisors, mentors, and life coaches. Their wise counsel led

the researcher through the technical and non-technical aspects of writing this

study. Suggestions and constructive criticism from them greatly aided in the

improvement of this thesis, making it much more interesting and engaging

than the researcher had expected.

6. All the Lecturers and staffs of Adab and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic

University, Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.

ix

7. The last but not least, the researcher would like to thanks; Muslimah Nur

Agustin, Puja Nabila Arifah, Ledy Vusvita Sari, Mudwiyah, Rahmania

Zakri, Dini Aprilia Rozana, and Muhammad Faydullah who gave fully

support and love to the researcher. They will always be the best friends in

researcher’s heart.

This study is a long way from being perfect. The researcher needs some

feedback and suggestions in order to improve in the future. Finally, the researcher

hopes that this thesis will benefit readers, especially students in English Literature

Department faculty of Adab and Humanities.

Jambi, August 10th 2021

The researcher,

Nur Hasyami Berutu

NIM. 403170896

x

ABSTRAK

Nur Hasyami Berutu, 2021 : Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich

Asian Film



Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menganalisis film yang ber-genre romantis-

komedi yang mengangkat konflik tentang perbedaan kelas sosial yang terjadi antara

Rachel yang merupakan dari kelas menengah dan menjalin hubungan dengan Nick

yang merupakan dari kelas atas, dimana hubungan mereka ditentang keras oleh ibu

Nick yang bernama Eleanor. Dari konflik yang tersebut, penelitian ini bertujuan

untuk mendiskusikan mengenai; 1) konflik kelas sosial yang terjadi di dalam film,

2) dampak dari konflik kelas sosial tersebut, serta 3) akhir atau penyelesain dari

konflik yang terjadi. Peneliti menggukan kualitatif deskriptif sebagai desain dari

penelitian ini, dimana data-data untuk penelitian ini diambil dari dialog dan adegan

di dalam film. Peneliti mengaplikasiakan teori sosial konflik tentang konflik kelas

sosial dari Karl Marx namun peneliti juga menggunakan teori lain sebagai pedoman

untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan dalam rumusan masalah. Dalam penelitian

ini juga digunakan pendekatan sosiologi. Peneliti juga menggunakan teknik

deskriptif dalam menganalisis data pada penelitian ini. Hasil dari penelitian ini

menemukan, (1) konflik kelas sosial terjadi karena: kelas atas menginginkan level

kelas yang sama, kelas menengah menurut latar belakang keluarga dan keegoisan,

(2) dampak konflik kelas sosial, menghindari orang yang memusuhinya, cara

berfikir zero-sum, dan evil enemy, (3) solusi untuk konflik kelas sosial adalah,

menghindari, konfrontasi tanpa kekerasan, dan penerimaan.

Kata Kunci : Konflik Kelas Sosial, Film, Rachel.

xi

ABSTRACT

Nur Hasyami Berutu, 2021 : Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich

Asian Film



In this study, the researcher examined a romantic-comedy genre film that

raises the conflict about social class differences that occurred between Rachel who

is from the middle-class and has a relationship with Nick who is from the upper-

class, where their relationship was strongly opposed by Nick's mother named

Eleanor. From this conflict, this study aims to discuss; 1) the social class conflict

that occurs in the film, 2) the impact of the social class conflict, and 3) the resolution

of the conflict that occurs in the film. The researcher used descriptive qualitative as

the design of this research, where the data for this research was taken from

dialogues and scenes in the film. The researcher applied the theory of social class

conflict from Karl Marx but apart from that, the researcher also used other theories

as a guide to answer questions in the formulation of the problem. In this study also

used a sociological approach. Researchers also used descriptive techniques in

analyzing the data in this study. The results of this study found, (1) social class

conflict occured because, upper-class desires the same class level, middle-class;

based on family's background and egoistic issue, (2) the impacts of social class

conflict; avoiding people who are hostile to her, zero-sum way of thinking, and evil

enemy, and (3) the resolution were avoidance, nonviolent confrontation, and

acceptance.

Keywords : Social Class Conflict, Film, Rachel.

xii

TABLE OF CONTENT

APPROVAL ....................................................................................................... ii

NOTA DINAS ................................................................................................... iii

LETTER OF RATIFICATION........................................................................ iv

ORIGINAL THESIS STATEMENT ................................................................ v

MOTTO ............................................................................................................ vi

DEDICATION ................................................................................................. vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................. viii

ABSTRAK .......................................................................................................... x

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... xi

TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................... xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Problem ...................................................................... 1

B. Formulation of the Problem ...................................................................... 4

C. Limitation of the Problem ......................................................................... 5

D. Purpose of the Research............................................................................ 5

E. Significance of the Research ..................................................................... 5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Sociological Approach ............................................................................. 6

B. Marxism ................................................................................................... 7

C. Marxist Theory of Social Class ................................................................. 8

D. The Impact of Social Class ....................................................................... 9

E. Social Class Conflict .............................................................................. 11

F. Reviewed of Related Literature .............................................................. 12

CHAPTER III: METHOD OF RESEARCH

A. Design of Research ................................................................................. 15

B. Source of Research ................................................................................. 16

C. Technique of Data Collection ................................................................. 17

xiii

D. Technique of Data Analysis .................................................................... 18

CHAPTER IV: FINDING AND DISCUSSION

A. Social Class Issue in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film .................... 20

B. The Impacts of Social Class Issue in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian

Film........................................................................................................ 27

C. The Resolution of Social Class conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian

Film........................................................................................................ 33

CHAPTER V: CONCLUTION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclution .............................................................................................. 39

B. Suggestion .............................................................................................. 40

REFFERENCE ................................................................................................ 42

APPENDIX ...................................................................................................... 44

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Problem

There are many different levels of people in this world in terms of

wealth, status, and education. Many people desire a perfect existence and

live happily ever after. However, everyone has their own idea of what

happiness is. There are many who believe that having a lot of money will

make you happy, but there are also people who believe that we can be happy

even if we don't have a lot of money. There are also individuals who refuse

to let other people's lives to enter their life class. Because in social life there

will always be a social class to determine whether someone is in the same

class or not.

Each country usually has a variety of ethnicities as well as different

social classes. Each ethnic group has its own set of rules in its representative

community. Asian is one of the many ethnic groups that still adhere to the

social class system. Social class usually refers to hierarchical differences

between individuals or groups in social life. According to Giddens in his

book about Sociology tells that, “class is a group of people who stand in

common relationship to the means of production – the means by which they

gain a livelihood.”1 From this quote, it can be concluded that, in social life

there will be a group of people who formed a social class and within that

social class are people who have the same position.

There are so many definitions about social class that we can found

and all of the definitions are almost the same, but the researcher found that

Britannica said in its article that, a social class is a group of people within a

1 Anthony Giddens, Sociology, (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1991), p.210

2

society who possess the same socioeconomic status.2 It means that in this

social life, there will be no conflict in society if someone is in the same level

as other people. Peter Saunders also said in his book about social class which

is:

Translated into the very different science of sociology, the concept

of stratification has been adapted to refer to the different ‘layers’ or

strata of social groups which are thought to be arranged, one on top

of the other, in various human societies.3

From the paragraph above we can conclude that in social life there

will be social class. We live in society and will find problems that exist in

that community group. Especially if we are in a different class from other

societies. And also we can see the description of the social class gap problem

in a literary work such as a film. This is because literary works such as films

are depictions of real life or are closely related to the real world as a result

of the author's imaginative thought process whose story material is also

inseparable from the author's life experience. One of the films with the

theme of social class disparities is Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.

The issue of social class occurs in a film entitled Crazy Rich Asian.

This film is about Romantic-Comedy set in 2018, United States. As we

know, this film is based on the popular novel by Kevin Kwan, a writer from

Singapore. This book has led Kevin Kwan to become a world-class writer

with astonishing achievements. Kevin Kwan has made it into The

Hollywood Reporter's list of the most influential writers. Also Time

magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Crazy Rich Asian film tells the story of Chinese people living in

Singapore with a background as rich people, with abundant wealth makes

2 Duignan, B. (2021, January 10). Social Class: social differentiation. Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-class 3 Peter Saunders, Social Class and Stratification, (London and New York: Taylor and Francis e-

Library, 2001), p.1

3

them belong to the upper-class. But they also really like to interfere of other

people's bussines and find out about other people's lives. The Chinese who

were in the upper class never allowed people from different classes to enter

their family, especially if that person wasn't from the upper class like them.

Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film focuses on the romance

between the two main characters, Nick Young and Rachel Chu. Nick Young

is a Chinese who lives in Singapore and comes from a very rich and famous

family, and is also from the upper class. Meanwhile, Rachel Chu is only a

professor of economics at New York University with a background who

only has a mother without knowing who and where her father is. The

relationship between the two was strongly discussed by Nick's mother,

Eleanor Young, on the grounds that Rachel did not deserve Nick because

she came from an unclear background and Rachel was only a middle class

(Proletariat) woman, not comparable to Nick who came from the upper

class.

Being a middle-class woman did not make Rachel feel insecure at

first, but after meeting Nick's mother and also several other upper class

women, Rachel decicided to broke up with Nick because she thought they

were from different classes and would never be side by side together,

especially Nick's mother who doesn't like her. Karl Marx stated that such

class conflict leads to a radical change in the economic based of society from

a feudal system of power, based on inherited wealth and status to a capitalist

system, and based on the ownership of private property.4 From the statement

above, we know that in the face of society, the social classes already had a

form of readiness, one of them with the establishment power structure. We

also know that those who are part of the power structure are not ordinary

people.

4 Charles E. Bressler, Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice, (Prentice Hall,

1998), p.210

4

The researcher chose Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film because

of two reasons, the first because the researcher found that the existence of

differences in social class can hinder a goal, and the second reason is it

describes how social class is very influential in social life. Kevin Kwan as

the screenwriter in the Crazy Rich Asian film said, "Everything is inspired

by things I have seen, or experiences I've been part of in a roundabout way".

In this film we can also see how different backgrounds can causes social

conflict in community.

Therefore, the researcher is very interested in analyzing what causes

social class conflict, its impact, and solutions to the conflicts that occurs in

Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film and the end of social conflicts among

the characters in the film. The researcher believes that social class lessons

in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film are very important to learn because

it does not only happen in the world of film or in the world of acting, but

social class conflicts also occur in real life in society. So, the researcher

entitles this skripsi with “Social Class Issues in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich

Asian Film”.

B. Formulation of the Problem

Based on background above, this research aims to find the answer of

the following questions :

1) How are social class in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film?

2) What are the impacts of social class conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy

Rich Asian Film?

3) How is the Resolution of social class conflict among the characters in

Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film?

5

C. Limitation of the Problem

There are many aspects that can be analyzed in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy

Rich Asian film, which was released in 2018. But to make this research

focus, in this case, the researcher limits the analysis only on social class that

are reflected in the film, what are the impacts and how are the resolution of

the social class conflict among the characters in the film.

D. Purpose of the Research

Based on the formulation of the the problem above, the purposes of

the research are :

1) To know social class in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.

2) To know the impacts of social class conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy

Rich Asian film.

3) To know the resolution of social class conflict among the characters

in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.

E. Significance of the Research

This research is significant in terms of making a contribution to the

literature. There are two advantages to carrying out the research. This

research is being carried out for both theoretical and practical purposes.

Theoretically, the researcher hopes that it is related to one of the elements

of fiction, namely conflict, and that it will also be able to explain how the

theory was applied in literary work.

Then, practically, this research can help readers understand the

content of Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asian film. The findings of this study

can be used to assist people who are experiencing social class conflict. In

addition, the author hopes that this research will be a useful reference for

other researchers who are interested in conducting additional research.

6

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Sociological Approach

According to Laurenson and Swingewood in their book The Sociology of

Literature: “Sociology is essentially the scientific, objective study of man in

society, the study of social institutions and of social processes; it seeks to answer

the question of how society is possible, how it works, why it persists”.5 According

to the quotation above, if a person wants to analyze a literary work using

sociology of literature theory, they must relate the situation in the work with the

social condition at the time the film was produced.

A sociological approach is a broad understanding of why and how a

problem arises, how people are affected by it, and what is involved in dealing with

it. In other words, a sociological approach is a method of discovering the meaning

of the imaginary in literary works by learning about society, social classes, love

affairs, religion, nature, and so on. The sociological approach can be used to

develop what the researcher sees within society and deliver it in resarcher’s own

style.

There are three perspectives that proposed by Laurenson and

Swingewood in their book The Sociology of Literature, but the researcher

will just take one of their perspectives that is, The most popular perspective

adopts the documentary aspect of literature, arguing that it provides a

mirror to the age.6 According to this viewpoint, literature is a direct

reflection of various aspects of social structure, family relationships, class

conflict, and population composition. This perspective seems to be possible to

be applied in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film. Furthermore, Crazy Rich

Asian film is an appropriate object for analysis using sociological approach as a

theoretical framework.

5 Diana T. Laurenson and Alan Swingewood, The Sociology of Literature, (USA: Schocken

Books, 1772), p.11 6 Ibid, p.13

7

B. Marxism

Marxism is a thought coined by a prominent philosopher and theorist

in the 19th century named Karl Marx. The thought of Marx was undoubtedly

a stimulus for the development of sociology, economics, philosophy, politics

and culture. The presence of Marx's theories was never felt as an intellectual

thought, but as an attempt by Marx to improve the conditions of life and its

environment in order to escape from arbitrary oppression. Karl Marx stated

in his book entitled The Communist Manifesto that:

… the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class

struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf,

guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed,

stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an

uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time

ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in

the common ruin of the contending classes.7

The quote above provides a broad definition of how social class really is in

social life. The essence is, there is always such a thing as a struggle between

two groups or classes which is referred to as evidence of the struggle for

equality in social life. According to Marx, this condition is an antagonistic

relation between human in differentiate class, a struggle between one classes

owned the means of upper-class and, while the other class owned nothing but

their labor power which they were obligate to sell in order to survive.

But not only discussing about class struggle, Marx also developed a

Marxist theory with several conceptions, namely the conceptions of social

class, social change, power and the state where these conceptions are

mutually sustainable. With the emergence of the Marxist social class theory,

sociologists began to issue their views on social class and most of them had

similar views. When sociologists talk of social class, they refer to a group of

7 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto. 1848. Trans. Samuel Moore.

(London: Penguin, 1967)

8

individuals who occupy a similar position in the economic system of

production. Within that system occupation is very important because it

provides financial rewards, stability and benefits like healthcare.8 It means

that a person's social class is determined directly based on socioeconomic

variables such as income, wealth, education, and occupation. It also said that,

position in social class is closely related to how people places themselves in

social life.

C. Marxist Theory of Social Class

Marxist social class analysis examines class structures, and changes

in those structures are critical to comprehending capitalism and other social

systems or modes of production. According to Marx, classes are defined by

the relationships between work and labor, as well as ownership or

possession of property and the means of production. The Marxist of social

class is a theory that focuses on conflicts that occur in the social

environment. Marxist theory explains human life in the world and Marxist

theory also considers how literature views conflicts that occur in society.

Class theory is the core of Marx's social class theory, because usually

a social class can be formed by a certain way of production that further

shapes the identity of a particular country, creates conflict in society, and

brings about major changes in social life. In social life, there are class

positions which will later cause conflict because of these class differences.

The class social in Marx's view has been devided into some classes based

on their society. In ancient Rome, the social status is devided into slaves and

plebeians as the lower-class whereas patricians and knights are the upper-

class. However, in the middle-class devided into serfs, vassals, apprentice.9

8 What is social class?, Retrived August 11th 2021, from

https://udel.edu/~cmarks/What%20is%20social%20class.htm 9 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, (London: Pluto Press, 2007), p.7

9

1) Upper class (rich) is frequently distinguished by the possession of

largely inherited wealth. The upper-class benefits greatly from the

ownership of large amounts of property and the income generated by it.

2) Middle-class can be said to include middle and upper level

administrative workers, those involved in technical and professional

work, supervisors and managers, and self-employed workers such as

small-scale shop owners, entrepreneurs, and farmers.

3) Lower-class (poor) is a group of people who are below the middle class

and have the lowest social rank or standing as a result of low income

and a lack of skills or education. Lower-class people are members of

the social class with the lowest social status and the least money.

D. The Impact of Social Class

Dean stated that attitude and perception have a consistent valence,

which means that if a person has negative or positive feelings for others, he

is also dominated by negative and positive perceptions of that person. They

are, however, not entirely consistent. Someone may not like another person

and may have negative thoughts about that person in general, but he believes

because he always has positive experiences when he relies on that person.

However, social conflicts will always bring up other issues that may

or may not be related to an individual or society. The impact of social

conflict cannot be separated from negative attitudes and perceptions, which

eventually lead to another act. Dean stated that negative attitudes and

perceptions encourage conflict escalation and that efforts are made to

resolve conflicts in at least seven ways.10

1. The first way is by encouraging the tendency to blame the object's

attitude towards the unpleasant experience that a person experienced.

People who get an aversive experience will usually look for someone to

blame.

10 Dean. G. Pruitt, Social Conflict, Some Basic Principles, (J. Disp. Resol, 2007)

10

2. The second way, which is related to the mechanism that leads to

escalation, is that parties who are not trusted tend to be perceived as a

threat if their actions are ambiguous. They only get little benefit from

these doubts or just a little confidence in their good intentions. This leads

to an escalation of defense and prevention measures and often results in

new conflicts.

3. The third way, how negative attitudes and perceptions can drive

escalation, is by removing obstacles to aggression among people who

have been provoked. People are reluctant to commit aggression against

those they like and respect even though they can clearly be blamed for

things that are not pleasant, but they will be happy to commit aggression

against parties that they do not like or respect.

4. The fourth way, how negative attitudes and perceptions can encourage

escalation, is to interfere with communication. People tend to avoid

people who are hostile to them. This is well explained by Coleman,

“When controversy develops, the relationship with people from the

opposite party will fade”.

5. The fifth way is how negative attitudes and perceptions tend to cause

difficulty to empathize with opponents. Opponents are considered so

different from us that it is difficult to put ourselves in their place.

6. The sixth way is that negative attitudes and perceptions can cause a

"zero-sum" way of thinking, namely the belief that what is good for you

is bad for me, and vice versa. This is partly due to mistrust. The zero-

sum way of thinking also rises from the negative feelings of others.

7. The seventh way is that negative attitudes and perceptions develop so

badly that the opponent is then considered an "evil enemy". Conflict is

considered a war between the light (our side) and dark (their side). In

this situation the opposite party is to be blamed for everything that goes

wrong, communication is often insufficient, empathy is very weak and

problem-solving is very difficult to achieve.

E. Social Class Conflict Resolution

11

According to Kenny, Social conflict is a conflict between the

characters against another character.11 The meaning of this quote is that

the character has a conflict in social life with another character. Conflict

usually occurs when an actor has a problem with another actor that causes

such contractions fight. According to Jones (in Nurgiyantoro, 2012) The

social conflict is defined as "a conflict that arises as a result of the interaction

or contact between the story's characters. It's known as a character conflict

with a social relationship, and the issue is extremely intricate, requiring a

solution from one of the characters or the other.” It means that if the

characters in the film are unable to find a satisfactory solution to the problem

fast, it may become serious and complex. People deal with conflict in a

variety of ways, therefore you need different conflict resolution strategies.

When we identify a structural basis for social conflict, we can take a

variety of approaches to it. Distinguished scholars, as well as ordinary

mortals, have taken widely differing positions on how to resolve such

conflict. Scellenberg in his book developed five conflict resolution

strategies that people use to handle conflict, including:

1) Avoidance; Someone who employs a "avoiding" strategy tries to ignore

or sidestep the conflict in the hope that it will resolve or dissipate on its

own.

2) Acceptance; this approach recognizes that conflict may be based on

social structural foundations, but it sees the conflict as so basic a part of

life that we can do little about it except study it.

3) Gradual Reform; the structure of society is too well established to try

to do much about it, but it can be changed little by little by continuing

to deal with the sources of social tension. Thus through an evolutionary

kind of change, policies of social reform can achieve a restructuring of

society.

11 W. Kenny, How to Analyze Fiction, (New York: Harper Colling Publisher Inc, 1996), p.32

12

4) Nonviolent Confrontation; One may enlist directly in movements for

fundamental social change, and seek to accomplish that change in the

near future, but without violence.

5) Violent Confrontation; Keeping always present the possibility of

violent tactics is seen by some as the most effective way to seek basic

social change.12

F. Reviewed of Related Literature

In this part, there are several journals, research, or articles that are

relevant to the issue, the first research is by Muhammad Akbar Fiyadi. This

research entitled Social Conflict in the Novel The Great Gatsby By F. Scott

Fitzgerald (2021). The purpose of this study is to look into the social

conflicts in the novel The Great Gastby. This study was carried out to assist

readers in identifying and comprehending the novel's social conflicts. This

research also uses Marxist theory to analyze the problems. After analyzing

the findings, it was determined that due to the personalities of each character

in the novel, it was not possible to find other solutions to end the novel

peacefully.

And then there is Muhammad Tomy Mahfudz. This paper, Class

Struggle as Seen in the Upside Down Movie (2017), examines a social class

issue through the lens of different objects. It tells the story of film as a

literary text in audio-visual form. The film depicts two worlds with

significant differences: that is, the rich live in the Up Top World, while the

poor live in the Down Below World. Both worlds are only linked by a single

large corporation known as Transworld. The disparities between the two

worlds result in a social status or social class gap. The goals of this research

are to discover how the bourgeoisie and proletariat are depicted in film, as

well as how the class struggle was carried out. The main theory in this study

12 James A. Scellenberg, Conflict Resolution: Theory, Research, and Practice, (State University of

New York Press, 1996), p.99-100

13

was Marxist theory, with Film theory serving as a supporting theory. After

analyzing all of the data, the researcher concluded that because of the

restriction and differentiation between the two worlds, the proletariat parties

would engage in a class struggle for equality.

In a similar vein to Muhammad Tomy's article on the issue of social

class, Chaesary Rekinagara's study is titled Class Struggle and Conflict as

Seen Through Characters in Veronica Roth's Divergent (2015). It is a

dystopian novel that uses an ardent Marxist belief to depict the novel's

central conflict. This novel is about classes in dystopian Chicago, where

people are classified into different groups based on their personality traits.

This novel is worth studying because it elevates the struggle of ordinary

people to stand up to the superstructure as a result of capitalist society.

Reading this novel can make you feel the class struggle and conflict between

classes. Each character in this novel represents the social class in which they

reside. Class struggle and conflict are powerful to analyze because they

occur invariably in a capitalist society because the base and superstructure

have opposing interests.

The last article is by Hsin-Yun Ou, entitled The Chinese Stereotyical

Signification in “Ah Sin” (2013). This paper also discusses a similar issue

to the researcher's, which was social class in the Chinese class system. This

paper investigates a racial ideology exemplified in Ah Sin as it manifested

itself in a variety of settings, particularly the Gilded Age economy and the

conventions of yellowface performance. The play, by emphasizing the

ambivalence of the Chinese title character, takes a decisive step toward

disrupting what Homi Bhabha refers to as the "fixity" of racialized

stereotypes.

From several of the studies above, it can be seen that the relevance of

the studies above with this research is the similarity in studying the problems

of social class. However, most of the studies above discuss class struggle,

while this research focuses on the depiction of social class in Kevin Kwan’s

14

Crazy Rich Asian, and also the end of social conflict among among the

characters in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.

15

CHAPTER III

METHOD OF RESEARCH

A. Design of Research

In writing this thesis, the researcher employs descriptive qualitative

research that is appropriate for the purpose of this study. Descriptive

qualitative research is possible. The information is gathered in the form of

words as a descriptive explanation rather than numbers. The research

findings include data quotations to illustrate and substantively support the

presentation. Descriptive research is research that aims to accurately

describe a phenomenon based on research characteristics, with data

analyzed through interpretation rather than statistical analysis. According to

Denzin and Lincoln define:

Qualitative research is multi method in focus, involving an

interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means

that qualitative researchers study thing in their natural settings,

attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the

meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the

studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials-case

study, personal experience, introspective, life story, interview,

observational, historical, interactional, and visual textsthat describe

routine and problematic moments and meaning in individuals‟ lives.13

According to the quotation above, qualitative research is a method

that focuses on a naturalistic approach to the subject matter. It means that

qualitative researchers investigate phenomena in their natural contexts,

attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the

meanings that people assign to them. Descriptive Analysis is the

transformation of raw data into a form that will make them easy to

13 Denzin and Lincoln in John W. Creswell, Qualitative Inquiry And Research Design, (United

States of America: California, 1997), p.15

16

understand and interpret; rearranging, ordering, and manipulating data to

generate descriptive information.14

It means that qualitative research is analyzing about descriptive data

such as writer or spoken, at the person who is observed in this research,

where qualitative research also analyzing about the data from outside which

the data still not right.15 The researcher finds it simple to analyze the film

using this qualitative research. Based on those statements, it is possible to

conclude that qualitative research examines descriptive data collected in the

form of a natural object's situation. Where descriptive data, such as written

or spoken data, is used, qualitative research is used, the researcher will have

answers about the question in analyzing the problem about social class in

Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.

B. Source of Data

Siswantoro noticed that : “Primary data is the main data, that is the

data selected or obtained directly from the source without”.16

Data Source in this study is a famous Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich

Asian film. Crazy Rich Asian film consist of 2 hours and 1 minute, and also

was released on August 15, 2018 in United States. This film actually is about

Romantic-Comedy and as we know, this film is based on the popular novel

by Kevin Kwan, a writer from Singapore. The researcher will use the script

and the scenes from the film to identify the social class issue and its impact

toward the characters in the film. Therefore the forms of the data are

dialogues and picture from Crazy Rich Asian film.

14 William G Zikmund, Research Methods, 2003, p.2 15 Martinis Yamin,Metodologi Penelitian Pendidikan dan Sosial Kualitatif dan Kuantitatif,

(Jakarta: Gaung Persada Press, 2009), p.186 16 Siswantoro, Metode Penelitian Sastra Analisis Struktur Puisi. Cet-IV. (Yogyakarta : Pustaka

Pelajar, 2016), p.73

17

C. Technique of Data Collection

According to Creswell, “The data collection procedures in

qualitative research involve four basic types: observation, interview,

documentation and visual image”.17

The goal of data collection is to gather information about the topics.

There are numerous methods for gathering data, like Chaterine Marshall

And Gretchen B Rossman stated that: “the fundamental methods relied on

by qualitative researcher for gathering information, participation in the

setting, direct observation, in-depth interviewing, document review.”18 It

means that in qualitative research, there are some data collection methods,

such as participant observation, direct observation, interviews, and

document review. The researcher uses documentation to gather information

and analyze the research problem.

Sugiyono stated that, Dokumen merupakan catatan peristiwa yang

sudah berlalu. Dokumen bisa berbentuk tulisan,gambar, atau karya-karya

monumetal dari seseorang.19 Furthermore Atkinson and Coffey stated that:

Documents contain text (words) and images that have been recorded

without a researcher’s intervention. For the purposes of this

discussion, other mute or trace evidence, such as cultural artifacts, is

not included. Documents as ‘social facts’, which are produced,

shared, and used in socially organized ways.20

Based on the quotations above, documentation refers to how events

are recorded in the form of a document, a note, or a saved file. It is about

events or things that happened in the past. There are some types of

documentation, such as photographs and literary works created by someone.

Therefore, documentation is one of the usable methods to literature

17 John W Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches,

(United Stated of America, 1994), p.148 18 Sugiyono, Metode Penelitian Pendidikan, (Bandung: Alfabeta, 2012), p.309 19 Sugiyono, Op. Cit., p.240 20 Glem A Bowen, Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method, (California: Western

Carolina University, 2009), p.1

18

research. The researcher will perform some data collection steps in this

study as seen below.:

1) Downloading the film

The researcher downloaded Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film

from Netflix and took the script from www.scriptslug.com.

2) Watching the film repeatedly

The researcher watches the film repeatedly and takes the scenes and

dialogues that related to formulation of problem in this research

3) Reading the script and making notations on the sentences

The researcher reads the the script and highlights the words or

sentences that are related to formulation of problem in this research.

D. Technique of Data Analysis

After the researcher done to collecting all data that relevant to the

research, the next step is the writer tried to analyze all the data to find the

result for this research. Bogdan noticed that :

Data analysis is the process of systematically searching and compiling

data obtained from interviews, field notes and other materials, so that

they can be easily understood, and their findings can be shared with

others.21

Based on statement above data analysis is the process of searching

for and organizing data obtained from interviews, field notes, and other

materials in a systematic manner so that it can be easily understood and

findings can be communicated to others. It means that analyzing data entails

searching for information related to the formulation of a problem through

interviews, field notes, and other materials and then organizing it in a

21 Andi Prastowo, Metode Penelitian Kualitatif Dalam Perspektif Rancangan Penelitian,

(Yogyakarta: Ar-Ruzz Media, 2011), p.208

19

systematic manner so that it can be easily understood and communicated to

others. Nawawi noticed:

Descriptive method can be interpreted as a problem solving

procedure that is investigated by describing state of the subject or

object of research (novels, dramas, short stories, poems) at the

present time based on the facts that appear or as they are .22

Based on statement above, descriptive method is the way to find out

the answer of problems. Descprtive method can be used to data in the form

descriptive also, so this method can help writer to find out the answer. In

order to make this research more specific, the researcher must go through

some steps in data analysis.

The first step is identifying. The researcher will identify the data and

make assumptions or finds the social class issue in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy

Rich Asian film. Second, classifying the data. The researcher will classify

the data in forms of action, conversation and expression in the film witch

are related to Social class issue. Third step is analysing, describing and

explaining. The researcher will analyze, describe and explain the data about

kinds of social class issue as seen in the film, how is the end of social

conflict in the film. The last step is making the conclution. The researcher

will reach a conclusion after all of the data in the study has been analyzed,

described, and explained.

22 Siswantoro, Metode Penelitian Sastra Analisis Struktur Puisi 4th edition, (Yogyakarta : Pustaka

Pelajar, 2016), p.73

20

CHAPTER IV

FINDING AND DISCUSSION

This chapter contains of finding and analysis of data which is taken from Kevin

Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.

A. Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film

As discussed in chapter 2, to analyze the formulation of the first problem

that discusses the social class issue, the researcher uses the Marxist theory by

Karl Marx. Marxist is a socioeconomic analysis method that employs a

materialist interpretation of historical development to comprehend class

relations and social conflict, as well as a dialectical viewpoint to comprehend

social transformation. It means that a person's social class is determined directly

based on socioeconomic variables such as income, wealth, education, and

occupation. It also said that, position (upper-class, middle-class, lower-class) in

social class is closely related to how people places themselves in social life. The

position of a person in this social class is what makes the researcher interested

in examining the Crazy Rich Asian film which also discusses social class.

Because it turns out that a person's position in social class greatly affects how a

person will be treated in social life.

Crazy Rich Asian is a film written by Singaporean-American novelist

Kevin Kwan. Crazy Rich Asian film tells about the life of the rich Chinese in

Singapore, who have abundant wealth so they belong to the upper class. But they

also like to interfere other people's business and find out about other people's

lives. Abundant Chinese wealth can’t just accept other people who want to enter

into his family. Especially if other people not from the rich group like them. This

film tells the story of Nick Young and Rachel Chu's relationship which is

opposed due to different backgrounds. The researcher found several scenes that

show the depiction of social class issue in this film, as shown below.

21

1) Upper-Class Desires the Same Class Level

When Rachel arrived in Singapore, Rachel took the time to visit her best

friend from college in America named Peik Lin. The Peik Lin family is

one of the richest people in Singapore. At first, Rachel and Peik Lin's

family only engaged in casual conversation, such as the Peik Lin family

thanking Rachel for wanting to be friends with Peik Lin when they were

still studying in America while eating lunch at the dinner table. Until Peik

Lin said that Rachel came to Singapore with her boyfriend and Neenah

(Peik Lin's mother) asked Rachel's boyfriend's name because they might

know him from the small country of Singapore. And Rachel's answer when

she mentioned her boyfriend's name really made Peik Lin's family shocked

and couldn't believe it. Like the snippets of pictures and short

conversations below:

(Picture 1)23

Peik Lin : The Nick you’re dating is Nick Young?! (Shocked)

Rachel : Yeah. You guys know them or something?

Wye Mun : Hell yeah. The Young… I mean, who doesn’t know who

they are? They’re just the biggest developers in all of

Singapore. And Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, New Mexico.

Peik Lin : Did you not know?

Rachel : I don’t really know what they are, I mean, I haven’t met

them yet …24

23 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:30:37 – 00:31:44 24 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:30:37 – 00:31:44

22

Seeing from the picture and conversation above, Peik Lin and even her

family were very surprised that what Rachel meant as her boyfriend was

Nick who came from the Young family. Where no one does not know that

the Young family is the most influential person in Singapore and several

other countries as said by Wye Mun (Peik Lin's father). Peik Lin was even

more shocked because Rachel did not know the background of her

boyfriend, which made Rachel speechless when Peik Lin's family

explained and told how the very famous Nick Young family was rich in

Singapore. Rachel said she only knew that Nick was just an ordinary man

who made the Peik Lin family laugh at her.

After hearing all the information about Nick's family, Rachel said that

Nick invited her to a party at Nick's grandmother's house tonight, but again

Peik Lin was surprised by Rachel as seen in the conversation below:

Peik Lin : You’re going to Nick’s grandma’s house wearing

this? Wearing that? No way. No way.

Rachel : Yeah, I thought red was a lucky color, right?

Peik Lin : Rachel, these people aren’t just rich, okay. They’re

crazy rich.

Rachel : Yeah, but Nick is not like that.

Peik Lin : Even if he isn’t, I guarantee you the family is.

Which is why tonight, you need to not look like

Sebastian of The Little Mermaid. You know, little

crab guy.25

From the conversation above, it can be seen that Peik Lin did not expect

that Rachel said she was going to a party at Nick's grandmother's house

with the red dress she was wearing, where the dress Rachel was wearing

was very old-fashioned, unbranded and looked very cheap which of course

25 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:31:50 – 00:32:54

23

would not be suitable to wear to rich people's party and it will certainly be

luxurious. Peik Lin strongly opposed Rachel's plan to only wear her red

dress to the party, so Peik Lin took Rachel to her walk-in closet to choose

clothes that would suit Rachel to the party. Because Peik Lin does not want

Rachel to be humiliated by Nick's family in the middle of the party because

of her tacky dress. As Peik Lin said, maybe Nick did accept Rachel as she

was, but not necessarily with the man's family.

2) Middle-Class

a. Family’s Background Issue

Some people from the upper classes have behavior that seems

antagonistic, for example, do not hesitate to ask other people

something related to work. The question is said regardless of whether

it offends the other person or not. Upper class people always want to

know a person's family background whether that person is from the

same social class or not, because most of them want to have a good

relationship only with people from the same class because it is

considered profitable. As an example of what Eleanor is doing to

Rachel, which can be seen in the scene and conversation below:

(Picture 2)26

Eleanor : Nick tells me you’re a professor, what do you

teach?

Rachel : Um, I teach Economics.

26 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:39:33 – 00:39:49

24

Eleanor : So, Economics. Sounds challenging.

(Subtly fishing) … are your parents academics, as

well?

Rachel : No.27

The scene above takes place at Nick's Grandmother’s party which held

at his grandmother's house. Nick also invites Rachel to come to the

party so that Nick can introduce Rachel to his family, especially Nick's

mother. So Nick takes Rachel to see his mother first. From the picture

and dialogue above, we can see clearly that Eleanor try to investigate

Rachel’s background even in their first meet. In Eleanor and Rachel's

first meeting, Nick's mother had even made a bad impression by

asking about Rachel’s profession and about her father and mother.

Rachel : Well, my dad actually died before I was born and, um,

my mom didn’t even go to college. She actually hardly

spoke any English when she immigrated to the United

States.

Eleanor : … well, your mother is very open-minded, not like

here, where parents are obsessed with shaping the life

of their children.

(It sounds like a compliment, but Rachel isn’t entirely sure. Eleanor

turns away again to talk to a passing COOK before returning to

Rachel. Eleanor shoots Nick a look. He shifts, uncomfortable, and

is relieved to hear a MUSICAL GONG from upstairs.)28

Based on the dialogue excerpt data above, it is very clear that Eleanor

does not like Rachel, especially when Eleanor heard herself that

Rachel was not from the same class as Nick and Rachel's background

wasn't even clear at all. While they were talking, Eleanor gave Rachel

a cold attitude for her distaste for her son's choice and Nick even

Rachel realized it. Actually, it was not only Eleanor who asked about


25

Rachel's background, but all of Nick's family who attended the party

asked the same thing that made Rachel uncomfortable.

(Picture 3)29

All the Young family attended this event including Astrid (Nick's

cousin) and her husband Michael. Astrid is described as a glamorous,

alluring, and considerate woman who lives a glamorous lifestyle. She

is from an upper-class family and is a successful businesswoman. She

is a woman of enormous wealth. She is not only wealthy, but she is

also charitable in her charitable giving. Michael is Astrid's husband.

Unlike Astrid, Michael comes from a middle-class background. In

comparison to Astrid, he leads a normal existence. The couple started

out their marriage pleasantly, everything went smoothly, and they

even had a baby boy. Until finally Astrid accidentally saw an

incoming message on Michael's cellphone, when the man left for a

while. The person who sent the message is a woman, in the text it

reads "The bed feels empty without you" Astrid could not believe what

she was seeing. Her husband is cheating on her and she does not know

what to do. After that Astrid, who was always confident in herself,

became insecure again, she always thought about what made Michael

29 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:44:36

26

cheat on her, and thought what she lacked to make her husband cheat

on her and that made her even more insecure.

b. Egoistic Issue

Rachel visits Ah Ma's house (Nick's grandmother) for the second time

because Ah Ma invites Rachel to come to her house so that Ah Ma can

teach Rachel how to make dumplings. At that time some of the

Young's family were also gathering to make dumplings together. The

activities that the Young family usually do are just to take a break from

their work and get together and share stories. Everything seemed

normal, they chatted casually, even Rachel also said that she had never

felt how a big family gathered and chatted casually like them. Until a

few moments later, Rachel wanted to go to the toilet, so when Rachel

left the dining room to go to the toilet, and when she wanted to go

back to the dining room she went the wrong way because the house

was too big until finally on the stairs Rachel accidentally met Eleanor.

Eleanor comes to Rachel and they walk and talk through the halls of

Tyersall. Since they were alone, so Eleanor took the opportunity to

have a one-on-one conversation with Rachel. Eleanor tells how she

also was not approved by Nick's grandmother to be his son's wife. It

took many years for Eleanor for the Young family to accept her

because Eleanor was also not from the same class as the Young

family, As explained by the following dialogue:

27

(Picture 4)30

Eleanor : I didn’t come from the right family, have the right

connections. And Ah Ma thought I would not

make an adequate wife to her son.

Rachel : But, she came around, obviously.

Eleanor : … Because I had no idea the work and the

sacrifice it would take. There were many days

when I wondered if I would ever measure up—

But having been through it all, I know this much...

You will never be enough.31

As explained in the dialogue above that Eleanor was originally also

the same as Rachel, she was not from the upper class and Ah Ma also

did not approve of Eleanor with her son because she thought Eleanor

would not be able to meet her son. That is, what Ah Ma did to Eleanor

made Eleanor behave the same way with Rachel. If in their first

meeting Eleanor didn't show too much dislike for Rachel because

Nick was with them, it was different with their second meeting where

they were currently alone, Eleanor clearly said that Rachel would

never be able to stand by Nick even though Eleanor had been through

what Rachel is currently experiencing.

B. The Impacts of Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian

Film

However, social conflicts will always raise other issues which may refer to

an individual or society. The impact of the social class conflict itself is

certainly not separated from negative attitude and perception which finally

cause another act. This kind of thing is also illustrated in the Kevin Kwan’s

Crazy Rich Asian film, where the social class conflict occurred in the story


28

also raises other issues. Problems that occur due to social class conflict also

ultimately have an impact, especially to Rachel who is the main character

in the film.

As the main character in the film, Rachel is the one who has problems with

the class differences that she has with her lover, Nick. The problem begins

when Rachel is invited to meet Nick's family who are from the upper-class.

Then Nick's mother, Eleanor, who is openly against their relationship. In

addition to Rachel who comes from the middle-class, there is also Michael

who has a middle-class status. But the difference is, Michael is already

married to Astrid who is from the upper-class. However, the conflicts create

a lot of negative attitudes and perceptions that encourage the escalation of

the conflict.

1) Avoiding People Who Are Hostile to Her

The impact that Rachel experienced as a result of the social conflict that

occurred was emergence of other negative attitudes and perceptions that

can also lead to conflict escalation, namely the emergence of suspicion in

people who cannot more trusted and will tend to avoid it. Dean said in the

impact of social class conflict number two, which is related to the

mechanism that leads to escalation, is that parties who are not trusted tend

to be perceived as a threat if their actions are ambiguous. They only get

little benefit from these doubts or just a little confidence in their good

intentions. This leads to an escalation of defense and prevention measures

and often results in new conflicts. In addition, Dean also explains that

people tend to avoid people who are hostile to them. It can be seen in the

scene when Rachel attended bachelor party of Araminta and Collin.

During the party, not a few of those from the upper-class sneered at Rachel

because Rachel was not from the same circle as them. Their hatred

becomes even clearer when Rachel returns to the inn and encounters a

threat like the one shown below:

29

(Picture 5)32

(“CATCH THIS, YOU GOLD-DIGGING BITCH!”)

Astrid : I’ll call security— (Shocked)

Rachel : No.

I’m not gonna make a scene.

I’m not gonna give them the satisfaction.33

As can be seen from the picture above, they pose threats to rachel like, on

the bed is a LARGE, GUTTED FISH. Its blood and guts all over the white

sheets. On one of the windows are words scrawled in red “CATCH THIS,

YOU GOLD-DIGGING BITCH!”. It's obvious that they don't like Rachel

and Nick's relationship, Rachel is considered a woman who wants to take

advantage of Nick's wealth to elevate her. So they made threats to Rachel

hoping that Rachel would freak out and leave Nick. But as Rachel told

Astrid as in the dialogue above, Rachel chose to ignore them even though

Rachel was aware of how much they disliked Rachel. Rachel didn't want

to create a new conflict with people from the upper-class.

2) “Zero-Sum” Way of Thinking

According to Dean about impact of social class conflict in number sixth,

is that negative attitudes and perceptions can cause a "zero-sum" way of

thinking, namely the belief that what is good for you is bad for me, and


30

vice versa. This is partly due to mistrust. The zero-sum way of thinking

also rises from the negative feelings of others. As depicted in the film

Crazy Rich Asian, how Eleanor who really dislikes Rachel tries to find a

gap to separate Rachel and Nick by investigating Rachel's family

background because Eleanor beliefs that Rachel is not good for Nick as

seen below:

(Picture 6)34

Eleanor : I’m sorry to tell you, but Rachel has been lying to

us about her family and her mother...

Rachel : What, uh... What are you talking about?

Eleanor : I hired a private investigator to look into her past –

Nick : Mum, you didn’t –

Eleanor : She said her father passed away in China, but

that’s not true. Your mother’s husband is very

much alive. During her marriage she cheated on

him and became pregnant with another man’s

child, and before he found out she ran away to

America.35

From the conversation above, it can be seen from how Eleanor hired a

detective to find out about Rachel's background. This is what Eleanor does

to open Nick's eyes that Rachel has been lying to him about Rachel's father


31

all this time. Eleanor wanted to point out that Rachel was not good enough

for Nick with such a background, as well as the lies Rachel was trying to

hide from Nick. But actually Rachel didn't know about it either because

her mother only said that Rachel's father had died. So when Rachel hears

that her father is still alive and her parents' past shocks Rachel because she

doesn't know anything about it.

(Picture 7)36

Eleanor : We cannot be linked to this sort of family.

Rachel : I don’t want any part of your family.37

Rachel must have felt insulted by what Eleanor had done to get her and

Nick to separate. Moreover, from Eleanor who hired a detective to find out

about her parents' background, Eleanor also said that the Young family

couldn't be related to Rachel's family which made Rachel angry and

emphasized the word that she also didn't want to be in the Young family,

after that Rachel left that place.

3) “Evil Enemy”

In the Dean’s theory about impact of social class conflict in number seven,

is that negative attitudes and perceptions develop so badly that the

36 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 1:33:09 − 1:33:18 37 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 1:33:09 − 1:33:18

32

opponent is then considered an "evil enemy". Conflict is considered a war

between the light (our side) and dark (their side). In this situation the

opposite party is to be blamed for everything that goes wrong,

communication is often insufficient, empathy is very weak and problem-

solving is very difficult to achieve. This is can be seen in Michael and

Astrid conflict. Even though he is married and has children, it does not

make Michael acceptable in Astrid's family. Astrid's family who always

despise and don't respect Michael makes Michael think of Astrid's family

as "evil enemies". Michael loses empathy for Astrid's family and decides

to have an affair until the divorce occurs.

(Picture 8) 38

Michael : Hey! Look, you know, it's not just my fault that

things didn't work out.

Astrid : You’re right. I shouldn’t have kept things from

you. Hidden my shoes, turned down jobs, charity

work, worrying that it might make you feel lesser

than. But let’s be clear -- the problem with our

marriage isn’t my family’s money. It’s that you’re

a coward. You gave up on us.39


33

As seen in the conversation above, Michael is still trying to say that it's not

just his fault. Because basically Michael really loves Astrid but the attitude

of Astrid's family makes Michael unable to stand it. But as Astrid said,

“the problem with our marriage isn’t my family’s money. It’s that you’re

a coward. You gave up on us.” Michael forgot that he should have put in

more effort and could show that Michael was capable of being side by side

with Astrid. However, Michael, who already considers Astrid's family as

his enemy, prefers to sacrifice their marriage.

C. The Resolution of Social Class Conflict Among Characters in Kevin

Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film

After discussing the social class issue and its impacts that occurred in the

Crazy Rich Asian film which was previously discussed in the formulation of

the first problem, in the formulation of the second problem, the researcher will

discuss the end of the social class conflict that occurs in the film which of

course also discusses the solution to the problem.

As noted from the second chapter, a social conflict occurs when the

characters in a story interact or come into contact with one another. It is referred

to as a conflict of the character that has a relationship with society, and the

conflict is very complex and requires a solution from one of the characters or

the other. It means that if the characters in the film are unable to quickly find

the best solution to the conflict, it may become serious and complex.

Every problem always has a solution. There are many ways that we can

use to solve a problem, but it depends on what kind of problem we are facing.

Like in the Crazy Rich Asian film, the problem in it is about social class conflict

and as explained in previous chapter that there are 5 steps to solves the conflict.

1) Avoidance

Ever since Rachel left Nick at the party in a state of extreme anger, Rachel

never wanted to meet or even talk to Nick. Rachel locked herself in the

room she occupied at her best friend Peik Lin's house. Until his mother

(Kerry) came from New York to Singapore at Nick's request. It turns out

34

that Nick called Kerry and told him everything that had happened and

asked Rachel's mother to come. When Rachel was with her mother, Rachel

immediately asked about her father, who Rachel did not know anything

like the picture and dialogue below:

(Picture 9 )40

Rachel : Why didn’t you tell me about my father?

Kerry : My husband wasn’t a good man. He hurt me. But

an old schoolmate of mine helped me through

things and we fell in love and I got pregnant with

his baby, that’s you. I was so afraid my husband

would find out and kill us both, so I just took you

and I ran to America.41

From the picture and dialogue above show the conversation scene between

Rachel and her mother, Kerry in Peik Lin’s house. Kerry understood that

sooner or later Rachel would ask that question. After all, it was time for

Rachel to find out what had happened to her parents in the past. After

knowing what happened in the past, did not make Rachel hate Kerry,

Rachel chose to ignore it. Eleanor was deliberately trying to find out about

Rachel's family background to separate Nick from Rachel. Rachel would


35

rather ignore the problem than have a problem with her mother. If Rachel

had a match with Nick, they would get back together.

2) Nonviolent Confrontation

Before Rachel returns to New York, Rachel decides to invite Eleanor to

play Mahjong. Mahjong is a game for four people from China. This is a

game that demands skill, strategy, intelligence, calculation and luck.

Rachel invites Eleanor to play Mahjong because Rachel is very good at

this game. But that doesn't mean Rachel wants to beat Eleanor, she just

wants to talk to the mother of the man she loves before completely

disappearing from the Young family's life.

(Picture 10)42

Rachel : I know Nick told you the truth about my mom. But

you didn’t like me the second I got here. Why?

Eleanor : There’s a Hokkien phrase. Ka gi lan. It means ‘our

own kind of people.’ And you’re not our own kind.

Rachel : ‘Cause I’m not rich? ‘Cause I didn’t go to a British

boarding school or I wasn't born into a wealthy

family?43


36

When Rachel asked why Eleanor didn't like her, actually the reason

Eleanor gave was a classic answer. "You're not our own kind", which

means Eleanor is saying that Rachel is not in the same class as her. A

mother usually wants the best for her child, and Eleanor is doing the same

thing. Eleanor thinks that Rachel can never be enough for Nick.

(Picture 11)44

Rachel : Well, he proposed to me yesterday. He said he’d

walk away from his family and from you, for

good. Don’t worry, I turned him down.

Eleanor : Only a fool folds a winning hand.

Rachel : There’s no winning. You made sure of that.

Because if Nick chose me, he would lose his

family. And if he chose his family, he might spend

the rest of his life resenting you.

Eleanor : So you chose for him.

Rachel : I’m not leaving ‘cause I’m scared or because I

think I’m not enough. Because... maybe for the

first time in my life, I know I am. I just love Nick

so much. I don't want him to lose his mom again.

So I just wanted you to know that one day, when

he marries another lucky girl, who is enough for

you, and you're playing with your grandkids while

the tan huas are blooming, and the birds are

chirping, that it was because of me... a poor, raised

by a single mother, low class, immigrant nobody.45


37

After Kerry said that it was Nick who asked her to come to Singapore, it

was only after that Rachel wanted to see Nick again. Right at their first

meeting after the incident at the wedding, Nick apologized for what his

mother, Eleanor, had done to Rachel. Nick also proposed to Rachel at that

moment and said he would leave his family for Rachel. Because in fact he

was also fed up with all the rules that his family gave him. Hearing that

Nick had proposed to Rachel made Eleanor panic, but when Rachel said

that she had rejected Nick's proposal made Eleanor a little calmer.

As the researcher quotes from Rachel's dialogue who says, “I’m not

leaving ‘cause I’m scared or because I think I’m not enough. Because...

maybe for the first time in my life, I know I am. I just love Nick so much. I

don't want him to lose his mom again.” That is, Rachel feels quite worthy

to accompany Nick regardless of their different classes, She loves Nick

very much but Rachel does not want to be a selfish woman who let Nick

lose his mother and family for life if she accepts Nick's proposal at that

time because Nick said he was very ready to left everything he had for

Rachel. The good point is Rachel never cried at the mistreatment of her

competitors and future mother-in-law, she faced it with strength and

maturity.

3) Acceptance

After the meeting between Eleanor and Rachel, the researcher assumed

that Eleanor had realized that she was being too harsh on Rachel. Eleanor

could see Rachel's maturity in dealing with him. Rachel even turned down

Nick's proposal because she didn't want Eleanor to lose her son. Eleanor

was wrong for trying to separate Nick and Rachel for very classic reasons.

Not wanting to regret in the future, Eleanor went straight to Nick. There

was no conversation between Nick and Eleanor, but what was clear after

the meeting between mother and daughter, Nick became aware that Rachel

would return to New York with Kerry and immediately met Rachel on the

plane that would take Rachel and Kerry back to New York.

38

(Picture 12)46

Nick : I know this is a far throw from a hidden paradise...

But wherever you are in the world, that’s where I

belong.

Rachel : But, I – (suddenly surprised because Nick opens

the box, revealing Eleanor’s emerald ring).

Nick : Rachel Chu. Will you marry me and make me the

happiest man in this world?

Rachel : Yes!!47

At first Rachel was surprised because suddenly Nick got into the plane she

was traveling on while calling her name. Nick was having a hard time

getting into the plane because Rachel took economy class which was

certainly crowded with passengers blocking Nick's way, but Nick still tried

to reach Rachel. When Nick arrived in front of Rachel, Nick immediately

prostrated himself while showing Eleanor's ring. Rachel was going to

reject Nick again, but when Rachel saw Eleanor's ring that Nick showed

her, Rachel couldn't refuse anymore. Because if Eleanor had given her the

ring, it meant that the mother of the man she loved had blessed them. Then

there is no longer any reason that Rachel has to reject Nick's proposal again

when the one who is the most vehemently opposed to their relationship has

given her blessing.


39

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

After analyzing the Crazy Rich Asian film with the topic entitled

"Social Class Issue in Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asian Film", the researcher

concludes that:

The depiction of social class issue is very clear in this film, where

the upper-class who really likes to make parties which are certainly very

luxurious and expensive are seen throughout this film. However, it can also

be seen how people from the upper-class groups are very concerned with

the background of someone who wants to enter their class, they don't even

hesitate to hire detectives to find out the background of someone they think

is not from their class.

In the first problem formulation that discusses the social class

conflict in the Crazy Rich Asian film, the researcher found that, there are

class positions in social life that can cause social conflict. In this case, the

upper-class refused to have a family relationship with the middle-class

because upper-class desired the same class level. The researcher also found

that there were two issues that caused social class conflict in this film where

the middle-class based on family’s background and the egoistic of Eleanor.

Because Rachel's family background makes her unacceptable in the upper

class and even despised, while the middle-class according to selfishness

happened because Eleanor who was formerly from the middle-class still did

not accept Rachel because she thought Rachel would never be worthy of

Nick.

Next the second formulation of problem, the researcher found three

impacts because of this conflict that (1) avoiding people who are hostile to

her; not only did Eleanor dislike Rachel because of her status, but women

who had other upper-class positions also openly showed their dislike of

Rachel because they thought Rachel was a woman who took advantage of

Nick's wealth, they even threatened Rachel very clearly but Rachel chosed

40

to ignore them, (2) zero-sum way of thinking; Eleanor hired detectives to

find out Rachel's family background because she thinks Rachel doesn't

deserve Nick, (3) evil enemy; And also with the differences in social class,

Michael and Astrid divorced because Michael gave up and did not fight for

their marriage, Astrid's family who always looked down on Michael made

Michael give up and regard them as enemies

The last problem formulation about the social class conflict

resolution in the film, the researcher found that there are three resolution to

the conflict, (a) Avoidance that Rachel got new facts about her father, who

had been known to have died, was still alive and another fact that Rachel's

biological father was not the man her mother married, but her mother's

affair. So, Rachel chose to ignore her relationship with Niick, which Eleanor

vehemently opposed, rather than blame her own mother. (b) Nonviolent

confrontation the researcher found that with Rachel's brave attitude, she

invited Eleanor to talk to resolve the problem between them and it paid off,

as seen from Eleanor who began to realize that Rachel was enough for Nick

and gave her ring to Nick which was a sign that Eleanor began to accept

Rachel. (c) Acceptance Nick proposes to Rachel and says he is willing to

leave his family and luxury life for Rachel, but Rachel refuses because she

doesn't want to destroy Nick's family. But in the second proposal Rachel

accepts Nick because Nick proposes to her with Eleanor's ring which proves

that Eleanor has accepted her.

B. Suggestion

There are several suggestions according to the conclusions presented

above, the researcher would like to make the following suggestions about

the topic and future researchers about the topic:

The first is for the researcher herself, Crazy Rich Asian film is quite

an interesting film that presents a very clear depiction of modern society

which is illustrated through the characters and their conflicts in the film. For

the audience, the story in this film can make the audience more curious

41

about the story, where the audience will not only get stories about family

conflicts and love problems, but will also learn about Chinese culture which

is seasoned with conflicts in the film. The conflict that occurs in the film is

also supported by the theory that the researcher uses for this research so that

those who read this research can be a reference for further research.

The theory used in this study will be of interest to future researchers.

This theory is a straightforward explanation of how people interact in

society. The researcher applies theory to the topics raised in order to assist

other researchers in studying and reading this final project. And the

researcher anticipates that this research will be a valuable resource for any

future researcher interested in the same topic, theory, or approach.

Finally, the researcher anticipates that this research will contribute

to and serve as a useful reference source for other students who wish to

apply the same theory. This research will also help to expand the research

collections at the English Literature Library at the State Islamic University

of Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.

REFERENCES

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Cuddon, John. (1976). Dictionary of literary Terms and Literary Theory. London:

Penguin Books.

Ficher, Joseph H. (1957). Sociology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Franz Magniz Suseno. (2001). Pemikiran Karl Marx: Dari Sosialisme Utopis Ke

Perselisihan Revisisonisme. Jakarta: Gramedia.

Glem A Bowen. (2009). Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method.

California: Western Carolina University.

Hamidi, L. (2017). European Scientific Journal. The Concept of Ideology in

Marxist Literary Criticism, 13(20), 155.

Harorld J. Laski. (1959). Communist Manifesto Socialist Landmark. Great Britain:

Harold and Sons Ltd.

Hernadi, Paul. (1978). What is Literature?. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

John W Creswell. (1994). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed

Methods Approaches. USA: SAGE Publication.

Klarer, M. (1999). Introduction to Literary Studies. English: Routledge.

Laurenson, T. Diana and Swingewood, Alan. (1972). The Sociology of Literature.

USA: Schocken Books.

Lewis A. Coser. (1956). The Functions of Social Conflict III. London: Routledge

and Kegan.

Mahmoodi, M. (2017). Advances in Language and Literary Studies. Social

Criticism on Works of Contemporary Women Story Writers, 8(4), 50.

Mulhern, F. (1992). Contemporary Marxist Literary Criticsm. London and New

York: Longman.

Nurgiyantoro, B. (2002). Teori Pengkajian Fiksi. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada

University Press.

Prastowo, Andi. (2011). Metode Penelitian Kualitatif dalam Perspektif Rancangan

Penelitian. Yogyakarta: Ar-ruzz Media.

Rush, Michael. (2013). Politics and Society. London New York: Routledge

Puplication.

Scellenberg, James A. (1996). Conflict Resolution: Theory, Research, and Practice.

State University of New York Press.

Tom Bottomore. (1993). Elites and Society 2nd edition. Routledge.

Thomas, K. W. (1992). Conflict and conflict management: Reflections and update.

California: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Wellek, R. & Werren, A. (1995). Teori kesusastraan di Indonesia oleh Melani

Budiananta. Jakarta: Gramedia.

APPENDIX I: Biography of Kevin Kwan

Kevin Kwan was born in Singapore as the youngest of three boys, into an

established Chinese Singaporean family. His great-grandfather, Oh Sian

Guan, was a founding director of Singapore's oldest bank, the Oversea-

Chinese Banking Corporation. His paternal grandfather, Sir Arthur Kwan

Pah Chien M.D., was an ophthalmologist who became Singapore's first

Western-trained specialist and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his

philanthropic efforts. His maternal grandfather, the Rev. Paul Hang Sing

Hon, founded the Hinghwa Methodist Church. Kwan is also related to Hong

Kong-born American actress Nancy Kwan and former Singaporean finance

minister Richard Hu, who was a cousin of his father.

While in Singapore, Kwan studied at the Anglo-Chinese School and lived

with his paternal grandparents. Kwan's father and mother, an engineer and

pianist respectively, moved the family to the United States when Kwan was

11. The family moved to Clear Lake, Texas, and Kwan attended Clear Lake

High School, graduating when he was 16 years old.

He attended the University of Houston-Clear Lake, where he earned a BA

in Media Studies, after which he moved to Manhattan to attend Parsons

School of Design in order to pursue a BFA in Photography. In New York,

Kwan worked for Andy Warhol's Interview Magazine, Martha Stewart

Living, and Tibor Kalman's design firm M&Co. In 2000, Kwan established

his own creative studio, clients of which included Ted.com, Museum of

Modern Art, and The New York Times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Singaporean

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oversea-Chinese_Banking_Corporation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oversea-Chinese_Banking_Corporation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.D.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophthalmologist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Kwan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Chinese_School_(Independent)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Lake_(region)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Lake_High_School_(Houston,_Texas)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Lake_High_School_(Houston,_Texas)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Houston%E2%80%93Clear_Lake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsons_School_of_Design

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsons_School_of_Design

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interview_(magazine)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Stewart_Living

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Stewart_Living

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibor_Kalman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Modern_Art

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Modern_Art

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times

Kwan became inspired to write Crazy Rich Asians in 2009 while caring for

his father, who was dying of cancer. Kwan and his father would reminisce

about their life in Singapore while driving to and from medical

appointments, and Kwan began writing stories to capture those

memories. Kwan stated one of his goals was to showcase the "educated

families with style and taste that have been quietly going about their lives

for generations" which went beyond the typical contemporary coverage of

Asia which focused on conspicuous consumption. Friends had been urging

him to commit his memories to paper as well. Moving to the United States

has westernized his view of Asia, and he likens himself to "an outsider

looking in" when describing his life in Singapore.48

48 Wikipedia, Kevin Kwan, Retrieved on June 14th 2021, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Kwan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Kwan

APPENDIX II: Crazy Rich Asian Film Synopsis

This film has a storyline that focuses on the luxurious lifestyle and social

class differences. Having two main characters, Rachel Chu, starring Constance

Wu and Nick Young, played by Henry Golding, makes this film interesting.

Apart from these two characters, the storyline presented by the director of this

film is indeed very good. It started with Nick who wanted to invite his girlfriend

to come visit Nick's hometown in Singapore. Nick is of Chinese descent from

Singapore and has lived in America for a long time. While in America he fell in

love with a girl who is also of Chinese descent and has lived in America since

childhood. With the aim of being introduced to his family and at the same time

attending the wedding of Nick Young's best friend, Colin Khoo, Rachel finally

agreed to follow Nick's invitation to go to Singapore.

During the several years of dating Nick, Rachel thought that Nick was an

ordinary young man because his behavior often reflected that he was not from

an upper-class descent. Rachel who thinks that Nick comes from an ordinary

family in the end finds out that Nick comes from a rich family. Upon arrival in

Singapore, Rachel was greeted by Colin Khoo and Araminta Lee, who are Nick’s

best friends. The warm welcome they gave Rachel felt safe in Singapore.

Rachel’s visit to Peik Lin's house while in Singapore opened the story that

the Young family were not only wealthy people in general, but a very respected

family because they had contributed to the development of Singapore. Even

though Peik Lin's family came from the middle and upper social class, they did

not belong to the Young family. Peik Lin, who had known Rachel for a long time

since they studied together in America, finally helped Rachel in looking good.

She lent Rachel a dress and heels so she could come to Nick's grandmother's

house properly.

Problems begin to occur when the class difference between Rachel and

Nick becomes a complicated issue. The first meeting between Eleanor Young,

who plays as Nick's mother and Rachel Chu, gave a bad impression. The two

thoughts are completely opposite. Apart from the cultural differences between

America and Asia, Eleanor Young wants her son to marry a woman from the

same social class, so Rachel's presence in Nick Young's family becomes heavy

and difficult. The severity of the situation increases when people in Nick's

environment also often question things related to social class status such as work,

family wealth and all the attributes used by Rachel.

APPENDIX III: Scenes Related to the Formulation of the Problem in the

Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film

No. Pictures Dialogues Duration Descriptions

1

Peik Lin: The Nick you’re

dating is Nick Young?!

(Shocked)

Rachel: Yeah. You guys

know them or something?

Wye Mun: Hell yeah. The

Young… I mean, who

doesn’t know who they

are? They’re just the biggest developers in all of

Singapore. And Malaysia,

Thailand, Brunei, New

Mexico.

Peik Lin: Did you not

know?

Rachel: I don’t really

know what they are, I

mean, I haven’t met them

yet …

00:30:37

– 00:31:44

Upper-Class

issue due to depiction of

rich people

2 -

Peik Lin: You’re going to

Nick’s grandma’s house

wearing this? Wearing

that? No way. No way.

Rachel: Yeah, I thought

red was a lucky color,

right?

Peik Lin: Rachel, these

people aren’t just rich,

okay. They’re crazy rich.

Rachel: Yeah, but Nick is

not like that.

Peik Lin: Even if he isn’t,

I guarantee you the family is. Which is why tonight,

you need to not look like

Sebastian of The Little

Mermaid. You know, little

crab guy.

00:31:50

– 00:32:54

Upper-Class

issue due to

depiction of

rich people

3

Eleanor: Nick tells me

you’re a professor, what

do you teach?

Rachel: Um, I teach Economics.

Eleanor: So, Economics.

Sounds challenging.

00:39:33

– 00:39:49

Middle-Class

issue due to

family

background

(Subtly fishing) … are your parents academics, as

well?

Rachel: No.

4 –

Rachel: Well, my dad

actually died before I was

born and, um, my mom

didn’t even go to college.

She actually hardly spoke

any English when she immigrated to the United

States.

Eleanor: … well, your

mother is very open-

minded, not like here,

where parents are obsessed

with shaping the life of

their children.

00:39:51

– 00:40:35

Middle-Class

issue due to

family

background

5

–

00:44:36

Middle-Class

issue due to

family

background

6

Eleanor: I didn’t come

from the right family, have

the right connections. And

Ah Ma thought I would

not make an adequate wife

to her son.

Rachel: But, she came

around, obviously.

Eleanor: … Because I had

no idea the work and the

sacrifice it would take.

There were many days

when I wondered if I

would ever measure up—

But having been through it all, I know this much...

You will never be enough.

1:12:32

– 1:13:13

Middle-Class

issue due to

Egoistic

8

(“CATCH THIS, YOU

GOLD-DIGGING

BITCH!”)

Astrid: I’ll call security—

(Shocked)

Rachel: No.

I’m not gonna make a

scene.

1:02:25

– 1:02:48

The impact of

social class

issue is

threatening from upper-

class girls for

Rachel

I’m not gonna give them the satisfaction

9

Eleanor: I’m sorry to tell

you, but Rachel has been

lying to us about her

family and her mother...

Rachel: What, uh... What

are you talking about?

Eleanor: I hired a private

investigator to look into

her past –

Nick: Mum, you didn’t –

Eleanor: She said her

father passed away in

China, but that’s not true.

Your mother’s husband is

very much alive. During

her marriage she cheated

on him and became

pregnant with another

man’s child, and before he

found out she ran away to

America

1:32:32

– 1:32:57

The impact of

social class

issue is the

suspicion of

Eleanor to

Rachel

10

Eleanor: We cannot be

linked to this sort of

family.

Rachel: I don’t want any

part of your family!!

1:33:09

− 1:33:18

The impact of

social class

issue is the

suspicion of

Eleanor to

Rachel

11

Michael: Hey! Look, you

know, it's not just my fault

that things didn't work out.

Astrid: You’re right. I

shouldn’t have kept things

from you. Hidden my

shoes, turned down jobs,

charity work, worrying

that it might make you feel

lesser than. But let’s be

clear -- the problem with

our marriage isn’t my

family’s money. It’s that

you’re a coward. You gave up on us

1:47:31

− 1:48:00

The impact of

social class

issue is the

divorce

between Astrid

and Michael

13

Rachel: Why didn’t you tell me about my father?

Kerry: My husband

wasn’t a good man. He

hurt me. But an old

schoolmate of mine helped

me through things and we

fell in love and I got

pregnant with his baby,

that’s you. I was so afraid

my husband would find out and kill us both, so I

just took you and I ran to

America

1:37:22

− 1:38:07

The new fact as

the end of

social class

issue in the

film

14

Rachel: I know Nick told

you the truth about my

mom. But you didn’t like

me the second I got here.

Why?

Eleanor: There’s a Hokkien phrase. Ka gi lan.

It means ‘our own kind of

people.’ And you’re not

our own kind.

Rachel: ‘Cause I’m not

rich? ‘Cause I didn’t go to

a British boarding school

or I wasn't born into a

wealthy family?

1:43:28

– 1:43:53

The last

confrontation

as the end of

social class

issue in the

film

15 _

Rachel: Well, he

proposed to me yesterday.

He said he’d walk away

from his family and from

you, for good. Don’t

worry, I turned him down.

Eleanor: Only a fool

folds a winning hand.

Rachel: There’s no

winning. You made sure

of that. Because if Nick chose me, he would lose

his family. And if he

chose his family, he might

spend the rest of his life

resenting you.

Eleanor: So you chose

for him.

Rachel: I’m not leaving

‘cause I’m scared or

because I think I’m not

enough. Because... maybe for the first time in my

life, I know I am. I just

00:36:41

The last

confrontation as the end of

social class

issue in the

film

love Nick so much. I don't want him to lose his mom

again. So I just wanted

you to know that one day,

when he marries another

lucky girl, who is enough

for you, and you're

playing with your

grandkids while the tan

huas are blooming, and

the birds are chirping, that

it was because of me... a

poor, raised by a single mother, low class,

immigrant nobody

16

Nick: I know this is a far

throw from a hidden

paradise... But wherever

you are in the world, that’s

where I belong.

Rachel: But, I – (suddenly

surprised because Nick

opens the box, revealing

Eleanor’s emerald ring).

Nick: Rachel Chu. Will you marry me and make

me the

happiest man in this

world?

Rachel: Yes!!

1:51:30

− 1:51:58

Rachel finally

accept Nick’s

proposal by

seeing

Eleanor’s ring

in Nick’s hand