Two tales of Crazy Rich Asians: Cooperation and inequality

Crazy Rich Asians, released in 2018, offers a lesson on conflict between two female protagonists. An economics professor at NYU, Rachel Chu, agrees to accompany her boyfriend Nick Young, son of a wealthy tycoon in Singapore, to attend a wedding in the city. The conflict between Rachel and Nick Young's mother, Eleanor, mirroring the East-West philosophical divide, lies at the heart of the movie. Despite Rachel's PhD from Northwestern University and her academic reputation as an economics professor, she is snubbed by Eleanor who rejects Rachel's representation of individual freedom in the West. At the height of the interpersonal conflict, Rachel invites Eleanor to a mahjong game at a parlor in a popular gentrified area of Singapore. Eleanor leaves thinking that she has won the game. But Rachel, who teaches her students strategies of winning, actually holds the winning card. She decides to give away the winning card, but not before offering a lesson on conflict and cooperation in game theory. Moreover, Rachel is from a lower-income single-parent family, while Nick is the only grandson of the Youngs and stands to inherit much wealth. Wealth inequality also underscores the conflict.