Script Analysis: “Crazy Rich Asians” — Part 4: Themes

Read the script for the smash hit romantic comedy and analyze it this week.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Themes

I have this theory about theme. In two parts. First, a principle: Theme = Meaning. What does the story mean? Second, while there is almost always a Central Theme, there are multiple other Sub-Themes at play in a story. Therefore the question, What does a story mean takes on several layers of meaning?

Time to ponder themes in Crazy Rich Asians. You can download a PDF of the script here.

Screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, novel by Kevin Kwan.

IMDb plot summary: This contemporary romantic comedy, based on a global bestseller, follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu to Singapore to meet her boyfriend’s family.

Writing Exercise: Explore the themes in Crazy Rich Asians. What is its Central Theme? What are some of the related Sub-Themes?

Tomorrow we shift our focus to the script’s dialogue.

Major kudos to Denise Garcia for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown for Crazy Rich Asians, go here.

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Major Plot Points discussion, go here.

For Part 3, to read Characters discussion, go here.

For more movie scene-by-scene breakdowns, go here.

For the Go Into The Story Script Read and Analysis series archives, go here.

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: Crazy Rich Asians.