There is much to love in Crazy Rich Asians – and I liked it quite a bit – but one of the movie’s (many) highlights is the beautiful cover of Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ by Katherine Ho.
From the Mandarin lyrics to its pitch-perfect use in the background during a pivotal moment in the protagonist Rachel Chu’s character arc, the song is about as perfect as Nick Young’s chiseled jawline.
We’ll just leave this here.
However, this bit of magic almost didn’t happen because Coldplay and the movie’s studio were worried that using a song titled ‘Yellow’ in a movie about Asians would be, ahem, racist and originally said no.
For those who may be unaware, the term ‘yellow’ is an offensive and derogatory terms when directed towards Asians, which is why the studio behind Crazy Rich Asians were initially reluctant to include the song that is, y’know, called that.
The movie’s director Jon M. Chu managed to convince the studio with his idea of taking hit Western songs and making them Chinese in order to give audiences a sense of what Asian Americans go through, but getting Coldplay onboard was another challenge altogether.
The band had previously faced backlash over cultural appropriation for their ‘Princess of China’ music video which features Rihanna dressed in an oriental outfit and a bunch of other random Asian imagery, and for their ‘Hymn for the Weekend’ clip featuring Beyonce in a traditional Indian outfit.
Unsurprisingly, this is something that Coldplay weren’t particularly keen to face again for a third time.
Chu wouldn’t take no for an answer and he wrote the band a passionate letter explaining his love of ‘Yellow’ and why it is actually the perfect song for Crazy Rich Asians.
And boy was it some letter because I teared up while reading it.
Read this entire letter @jonmchu wrote to @coldplay to convince them to use Yellow in the final scene of @CrazyRichMovie.
— Monica Chon (@MonicaChon) August 20, 2018
… And i'm crying again ? pic.twitter.com/8K1JtkmcpV
Chu then explained how using ‘Yellow’ in Crazy Rich Asians would give “a whole generation of Asian-Americans, and others, the same sense of pride [Chu] got when [he] heard [the] song”.
Excuse me while I wipe away a tear….
The letter certainly got a reaction from the band as well because they emailed him back within an hour with a resounding yes, presumably after several minutes of Chris Martin crying while sitting at a grand piano.
Thank god that it all worked out in the end because a version of Crazy Rich Asians without Katherine Ho’s cover of ‘Yellow’ simply wouldn’t have been the same.
Regardless of if you’ve seen the movie or not, do your eyes and heartstrings a favour and listen to the cover right now because it will honestly change your life.
