#I think this is based on a post I saw where Wu was eating a jawbreaker
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Idk if someone said this before but like, Gene and Brad giving Lloyd a jawbreaker as a "peace offering" and Lloyd being the naive little shit accepting it and just casually chomps on it and easily bites through because of dragoni teeth and Gene and Brad just stand there, absolutely mortified
#I think this is based on a post I saw where Wu was eating a jawbreaker#soul's shitrambles#ninjago#lego ninjago#lloyd ninjago#ninjago lloyd#lloyd garmadon#brad ninjago#brad tudabone#gene ninjago#ninjago darkleys#darkleys kids
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day 23! first day in jaipurrrr!
Helloooo world! We’re in Jaipur now! Olivia Wu writing here. Starting off strong by continuing on from Ivy’s post and doing my case study in bed after midnight (so technically a new day)
Anyway, we all enjoyed our first breakfast at the Lemon Tree Premier Hotel before our case study session (last one of the trip woooooooo). We’re so excited to have Snehaa back! After breakfast, we headed up to the board room and I got an action shot of the professor getting hyped about the case study, which he calls fun, but I think we have different definitions of fun.
Right after, we hopped on the bus to head to Jantar Mantar Jaipur with our wonderful tour guide, Vijay. I love riding the bus since you can see all of the city as you traverse through the streets. Some fun things we saw today included cows, camels, horses, and we also noticed that some of the auto rickshaws are different here!
Once we arrived to Jantar Mantar, we learned about horoscopes, telling time through sun dials, and also compatibility based on birth charts! We had about 15 minutes to wander around and most of us went to go find our zodiac signs (see photo of Ben and I, both pisces). Another notable thing: Finn doing a handstand!
After, we walked to the City Palace, which was so stunning and beautiful. We toured through the grounds and also the exhibits with textiles and the armory, though no photos were allowed. We got so many great photos here and everyone loved seeing the amazing architecture.
We were all super tired from the heat and very hungry so we rode our bus to the Green Pigeon, where we all had a delicious Indian lunch. We had both new and old dishes like Paneer Butter Masala and Saag Paneer and it was overall very delicious and filling!
Right after, we walked down the busy street a couple doors down to the Shree Carpet and Textile Mahal, where we saw the hand block printing process and Kailee event tried it for the peacock print. Then, we walked over to see the carpet weavers as well as the carpet barber and the women spinning the yarn used. The guide brought us to the carpet show room where they unrolled like a million beautiful rugs and carpets as well as served us refreshments. After that, we were brought to another show room, but this time for textiles and all the girls tried on Sarees and most of us ended up buying something, whether scarves, sarees, or something related.
Later on, we came back to the hotel to quickly rest and nap before heading out to go shopping and eat dinner. Some of us went to a revolving restaurant at the Hotel Om and others went to the Tattoo Cafe Rooftop. Then we all headed back to the hotel to get a good night’s rest before another day of touristy stuff!
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HipHopPlaya Masta Wu Interview pt.2
Here’s part 2 of the Hiphoplaya interview with Masta Wu Read pt.1 here
Q. Superstar G-Dragon. . .Can you tell us about he grew up or any memories?
Wu: I was quite surprised that when I was a youngster he came to practice and watched his debut. I watched it through TV rather than watching it grow beside me. He is a friend who has a lot of talent in such a way that he is good at hip-hop.(Interviewers: He is very good in self management though.)Yes. In addition, when he debuted and became a star he was already a star. (Editor’s note: basically saying that GD was born a star not made one.)
Q. You have a lot of restaurant stories, don’t you? (Editor’s Note: speaking about YG’s famous cafeteria)Have you ever visited? Did you taste it?
Wu: I personally tasted it. Usually the producers are having dinner in the evening. It’s open at midnight. There is not many people, only producers at that time. If you are like me there is no escape, so I have to eat a lot. I once ate and ate twice, but once I was eating alone. Seriously, I ate with people but you guys go first. So from then on, I stopped eating at that restaurant. (Editor’s note: he’s saying that he just ate two meals back to back. It’s not just because it’s tasty but it’s because they have a lot of different stuff on the menu)
Q. Do you have an episode that you appreciate with your boss, Mr.Yang?
Wu: I thank him very much. He is so great. I was not scared too much when I was a kid. I did not know my seniors were scary. I think my boss has done well. I learned a lot while I was under him. (Interviewers: Wait. This can also be dangerous. You weren’t scared of your boss? And you changed your mind after you got a big compliment from him?) No. I learned a lot because my boss showed me. Until then I did not even know that, but he had a strong character. I have a strong part so that I learned a lot and now I know my business and I can do my job with other people.
Q. Can you tell us how you starting to rap?
Wu: Yes. I immigrated to the US after I graduate grade 6. So I listened to hip-hop early in elementary school. There was a riot in La in ‘92 ~ ’93. black rebellion at that time, there was an Ice Cube “Black Korea”. It was a ridiculous rap that I wrote, and I was using the rap for it. Dr.Dre, Snoop Dogg. It was too late when it came out, and it seems to me that the decisive thing was the Wu Tang Clan. I got so interested in listening to Wu Tang. So I decided my name Masta Wu. My family name is Woo. I am Woo, but it was not a cool last name in America. It sounded like provoking me when they called me Woo. However since the name of Wu tang clan comes out, Woo had a better feeling. And I had answered my name as Woo. (He was called Jinwon or Jin by friends back then. His real first name)
Q. In year 2000, Completely Hip-Hop of Lee Hyun Do. You had a lot of attention because you participated with the name of Jinwon, but the moment you changed your name to Masta Wu.
Wu: Before I saw Hyundo, I had a nickname Masta Wu. As I participated in Completely Hip-Hop after meeting Lee Hyundo, he asked me to use my name Jinwon so I followed him. Hyundo liked my real name and he asked me to use it.
Q. Can you tell me why did you move to YG Entertainment?
Wu: I already explained this several times. Originally, I was about to work with Hyundo, but I had a bit of a problem. I tried to come out as a team called “D-base(?)”. An idol group. I wanted to play hip-hop a bit more at the time for more preparation. I did not betray the others, but there is something I can not say. In the end, I decided to leave because of difference of music and after seeing my boss through Teddy in a situation where there was no place to go, I moved to YG after a year and started as a trainee.
Q. Then Teddy knew you wanted to?
Wu: Teddy is an elementary school friend.
Okay that’s the end of part 2! I’ll be posting part 3 soon!
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Reflection On #AnnihilateAbsence
Annihilating absence was my main goal through this activism project. By this, I intended to raise awareness firstly about the lack of diversity in the American entertainment industry and how this absence could be detrimental to the health of college students. Specifically, I intended to focus on the campus of Christopher Newport University because I have observed that CNU is a predominately white institution (PWI). Even in my Women and Gender Studies classes, I have still witnessed a lack of diversity, making me more aware of my double minority as a Vietnamese woman.
In my research, I found that women of color were often demonized as “femme noires” or “femme fatales” who would be the downfall of the protagonist white, cisgender, straight male. The media has perpetuated women of color as sidekicks, math nerds, illegal immigrants, welfare queens, you name it, Hollywood has perpetrated that stereotype. Additionally, according to Chronister, Forrest, Lau, & Lum much of my research showed that once women of color recognize that they are not being accurately represented, or lack thereof, they feel pressured to acculturate to the dominant culture, rather than embracing their own heritage and traditions. Misawa expands upon this phenomenon by asserting that such a discrepancy in values puts women of color at higher risk of eating disorders and lowered self-esteem.
Therefore, I created the hashtag “#AnnihilateAbsence” in hopes of giving a space for women of color on campus to share experiences of erasure, as well as to highlight women of color in Hollywood who use their platforms to spread awareness of their erasure. I based my project off symbolic annihilation; coined in 1978 by Tuchman and colleagues, this concept describes the erasure of marginalized groups in the media.
Firstly, I shared Instagram Stories on Constance Wu, Gina Rodriguez, and Issa Rae, showing how each of these artists of color use their voices to increase awareness on the injustice of symbolic annihilation in Hollywood. Constance Wu, who starred in ABC Network’s Fresh Off the Boat and Jon M. Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians, is important because she emphasizes that even though Crazy Rich Asians is a very limited and small lived experience of Asians, it is a baby step in the right direction, the beginning of a movement. I spoke about Gina Rodriguez, star of The CW’s Jane the Virgin and Miss Bala, who inspired this project with her own #MovementMondays, where she highlights not only Latinx artists but also other artists of color and their accomplishments. Lastly, I spoke about Issa Rae, the star and co-writer of HBO’s Insecure, and I chose her because she emphasizes that people of color don’t always have to be portrayed struggling with race. We are normal human beings too and we experience life in many similar ways as non-people of color. Unfortunately, a failure of my project was that no one made their own posts using #AnnihilateAbsence to share their experiences of erasure.
Something I could have done to improve my project would be to promote my hashtag better as a way for my fellow people of color at CNU to share their experiences. I could have promoted it by making fliers or making daily reminders in my Instagram Story that the hashtag was available to use as a platform for one’s voice. Additionally, I wanted to do more Instagram Stories on more minority women artists, but I got caught up in my other schoolwork and neglected to do it starting on when I said I would do it. Even though I did it on a once a week basis, I feel like I could have been able to at least double the number of women I shared. Quantity was definitely a fear of mine during this project. I may have stuck to this once a week basis because I am scared of what people think of me and what they see when they go on to my social media profiles. I had a lot of anxiety thinking about this activism project because I don’t like to put myself out there, especially when it concerns controversial issues that not everyone will agree with me about. I also didn’t want to sound like an obnoxious liberal, intersectional feminist by putting #AnnihilateAbsence on the internet. Lastly, another failure I could have avoided was not emphasizing how symbolic annihilation in Hollywood can have negative effects on the mental and physical healths of women of color, especially college students. If much of my research pushed these ideas, I could have found some way to highlight such effects through my Instagram project.
Despite all my fears surrounding #AnnihilateAbsence, I enjoyed being able to empower my fellow women on campus at CNU, who often gave me positive feedback whenever they saw my Instagram Stories. I also got positive feedback from women who are not students at CNU, which made me proud that they admired what I was doing. Moreover, as an activist, I have learned that it takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there and stand up for what you believe in. You have to empower yourself first before you can empower others to rally to your cause.
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Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
This essay contains light spoilers for Crazy Rich Asians, which opened in theaters today, August 15th.
There's a moment in Crazy Rich Asians when we hear an Asian accent. Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina) is walking Rachel (Constance Wu) through her family's giant mansion, where the gold-heavy decor is described as “Donald Trump's bathroom.” Then the accent appears-the one that has haunted almost every Asian American kid since the days of Mr. Yunioshi and Long Duk Dong. The accent that tells the white people in the audience, “You are allowed to laugh at Asian people.”
In Crazy Rich Asians, that accent comes from Ken Jeong, who plays Awkwafina's father and first appears dressed as an Asian Elvis. I tense up. “Oh no,” I think to myself. Even in a film that's supposed to be a historic win for Asians in Hollywood, with an all-Asian cast, we can't escape that accent. We can't escape being the butt of the joke.
And then something wonderful happens.
Jeong drops the accent and says, “I'm just joking. I don't have an accent. I went to Cal State Fullerton.”
I'm in a theatre with almost 200 people-95 percent of them are Asian-and the room erupts into laughter, me included. It was relief. Like the film was saying, “Asian accents aren't funny, and fuck you for thinking they are.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
When I walked into Crazy Rich Asians, I tried to keep my expectations for the movie low. As my friend Christine (who is Korean-American) put it, “It has to be really, really shitty for me not to like it.” I wasn't going to play into the Tiger Mom stereotype and expect excellence. I just really, really didn't want it to suck.
As Christine and I sat down with our beers at a complimentary screening for Asian American journalists, I looked around the room and thought to myself, This is going to be a tough crowd. As director Jon M. Chu told the Hollywood Reporter, “If our movie does well, four [Asian-centric] projects will go into production….if it doesn't, they're going to be in unknown states.” The future of Asians in Hollywood was at stake, and if the journalists around me didn't like the film, what hope did the movie have with a more general audience?
Two hours later, I had watched the “poor” Chinese American Rachel navigate the opulent lifestyle of the rich and Singaporean and manage to leave with her principals intact. I saw her share a kiss with Nick (Henry Golding), and the audience exploded into applause at the end credits. I turned to Christine: “What did you think?” She had read the book by Kevin Kwan on which the movie was based. She responded with, “I wanted it to be more about the family than their love story,” but overall, she liked it.
She then said, “I have never seen so many Asians Americans on-screen.”
youtube
When I asked other people at the screening what they thought of Crazy Rich Asians, the reactions were as varied as the characters in the movie. The people on screen came in all shapes and sizes. They were funny and romantic, conniving and serious.
Asians are not a monolith, and the film-and reactions to the film-made that clear.
“It reached me on a personal, professional and spiritual level. After a while, I forgot I was Asian,” enthused Toan, who is Chinese-American. “I was watching Astrid [played by Gemma Chan], and seeing her insecurities and her experience with adultery-that happened to someone in my family. And there's an LGBT character and it resonated with some of my experiences. And I understood the immigrant experience with Rachel.”
While some audience members I talked to loved the film as much as Toan, others found it to be lacking. “I didn't see anyone who looked like me except for one Filipino lady,” said Clare, who is Filipino-American. Indeed, the film has come under criticisms for focusing too much on East Asians, and not on the the Indian and Malaysian population of Singapore; the only “brown faces” in the movie are servants. “Like Astrid's maids, they were all Filipino!” exclaimed Clare.
Still, Clare admits it was “refreshing” to see that many Asians in a movie. She plans to see it again.
youtube
Unfortunately, when you're part of a marginalized group and the opportunities to see yourself in pop culture are so few and far between (25 years since Joy Luck Club, 13 years since Memoirs of a Geisha), the very little you receive bears the burden of perfection. It must represent your particular story or else it's a disappointment-because there probably won't be another opportunity.
Already, there are criticisms of Crazy Rich Asians for not being all things to all Asian people, as if it's possible for one movie to accurately represent 48 different countries and their diasporas. That would be like expecting The Godfather to represent all white people.
For me, as someone who grew up as a crazy poor immigrant Asian-whose parents actually did encourage me to follow my dreams-the movie wasn't my perfect Asian American movie. But after seeing the film, and laughing along to lines like, “God forbid we lose the ancient Chinese tradition of guilting your children,” I realized that the film didn't need to be perfect for me to love it. I could love it on its own terms: as a romantic comedy with a distinctly Asian American sensibility.
The leads were charming and beautiful, and they oozed chemistry. The supporting characters were memorable and the jokes were funny. And while I didn't relate to every moment that occurred on screen, I certainly related to some things. When Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) asked Nick, “Did you eat yet?” as a greeting, I was reminded of my own mom who shows her love not with words, but with food. When Eleanor tells Rachel, “You are an American,” it reminded me of my first trip to Vietnam. I quickly learned that, over there, I wasn't considered Vietnamese-even though I was born there.
And Crazy Rich Asians may be the first Hollywood film to explain why Asian Americans call each other bananas: “Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.”
#CrazyRichAsians opens August 15th. Read below to understand why it means so much to so many people. All love. @CrazyRichMovie @FreshOffABC @WarnerBrosEnt pic.twitter.com/IISLRDMRjU
- Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) August 1, 2018
As Constance Wu wrote on Twitter, “I know CRW won't represent every Asian American. So for those who don't feel seen, I hope there is as story you find soon that does represent you.”
Crazy Rich Asians is an important first step to more: more stories, more representation, more complexity.
This week, I'll be seeing Crazy Rich Asians for a second time, not necessarily because I'm aching to see it again, but because if see it multiple times-and those around me at that screening see it multiple times-then that movie will do well at the box office, and that will lead to more Asian-led films. Perhaps seeing Crazy Rich Asians again will lead me one step closer to my perfect Asian American movie.
The post Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians appeared first on HelloGiggles.
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Text
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
This essay contains light spoilers for Crazy Rich Asians, which opened in theaters today, August 15th.
There's a moment in Crazy Rich Asians when we hear an Asian accent. Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina) is walking Rachel (Constance Wu) through her family's giant mansion, where the gold-heavy decor is described as “Donald Trump's bathroom.” Then the accent appears-the one that has haunted almost every Asian American kid since the days of Mr. Yunioshi and Long Duk Dong. The accent that tells the white people in the audience, “You are allowed to laugh at Asian people.”
In Crazy Rich Asians, that accent comes from Ken Jeong, who plays Awkwafina's father and first appears dressed as an Asian Elvis. I tense up. “Oh no,” I think to myself. Even in a film that's supposed to be a historic win for Asians in Hollywood, with an all-Asian cast, we can't escape that accent. We can't escape being the butt of the joke.
And then something wonderful happens.
Jeong drops the accent and says, “I'm just joking. I don't have an accent. I went to Cal State Fullerton.”
I'm in a theatre with almost 200 people-95 percent of them are Asian-and the room erupts into laughter, me included. It was relief. Like the film was saying, “Asian accents aren't funny, and fuck you for thinking they are.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
When I walked into Crazy Rich Asians, I tried to keep my expectations for the movie low. As my friend Christine (who is Korean-American) put it, “It has to be really, really shitty for me not to like it.” I wasn't going to play into the Tiger Mom stereotype and expect excellence. I just really, really didn't want it to suck.
As Christine and I sat down with our beers at a complimentary screening for Asian American journalists, I looked around the room and thought to myself, This is going to be a tough crowd. As director Jon M. Chu told the Hollywood Reporter, “If our movie does well, four [Asian-centric] projects will go into production….if it doesn't, they're going to be in unknown states.” The future of Asians in Hollywood was at stake, and if the journalists around me didn't like the film, what hope did the movie have with a more general audience?
Two hours later, I had watched the “poor” Chinese American Rachel navigate the opulent lifestyle of the rich and Singaporean and manage to leave with her principals intact. I saw her share a kiss with Nick (Henry Golding), and the audience exploded into applause at the end credits. I turned to Christine: “What did you think?” She had read the book by Kevin Kwan on which the movie was based. She responded with, “I wanted it to be more about the family than their love story,” but overall, she liked it.
She then said, “I have never seen so many Asians Americans on-screen.”
youtube
When I asked other people at the screening what they thought of Crazy Rich Asians, the reactions were as varied as the characters in the movie. The people on screen came in all shapes and sizes. They were funny and romantic, conniving and serious.
Asians are not a monolith, and the film-and reactions to the film-made that clear.
“It reached me on a personal, professional and spiritual level. After a while, I forgot I was Asian,” enthused Toan, who is Chinese-American. “I was watching Astrid [played by Gemma Chan], and seeing her insecurities and her experience with adultery-that happened to someone in my family. And there's an LGBT character and it resonated with some of my experiences. And I understood the immigrant experience with Rachel.”
While some audience members I talked to loved the film as much as Toan, others found it to be lacking. “I didn't see anyone who looked like me except for one Filipino lady,” said Clare, who is Filipino-American. Indeed, the film has come under criticisms for focusing too much on East Asians, and not on the the Indian and Malaysian population of Singapore; the only “brown faces” in the movie are servants. “Like Astrid's maids, they were all Filipino!” exclaimed Clare.
Still, Clare admits it was “refreshing” to see that many Asians in a movie. She plans to see it again.
youtube
Unfortunately, when you're part of a marginalized group and the opportunities to see yourself in pop culture are so few and far between (25 years since Joy Luck Club, 13 years since Memoirs of a Geisha), the very little you receive bears the burden of perfection. It must represent your particular story or else it's a disappointment-because there probably won't be another opportunity.
Already, there are criticisms of Crazy Rich Asians for not being all things to all Asian people, as if it's possible for one movie to accurately represent 48 different countries and their diasporas. That would be like expecting The Godfather to represent all white people.
For me, as someone who grew up as a crazy poor immigrant Asian-whose parents actually did encourage me to follow my dreams-the movie wasn't my perfect Asian American movie. But after seeing the film, and laughing along to lines like, “God forbid we lose the ancient Chinese tradition of guilting your children,” I realized that the film didn't need to be perfect for me to love it. I could love it on its own terms: as a romantic comedy with a distinctly Asian American sensibility.
The leads were charming and beautiful, and they oozed chemistry. The supporting characters were memorable and the jokes were funny. And while I didn't relate to every moment that occurred on screen, I certainly related to some things. When Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) asked Nick, “Did you eat yet?” as a greeting, I was reminded of my own mom who shows her love not with words, but with food. When Eleanor tells Rachel, “You are an American,” it reminded me of my first trip to Vietnam. I quickly learned that, over there, I wasn't considered Vietnamese-even though I was born there.
And Crazy Rich Asians may be the first Hollywood film to explain why Asian Americans call each other bananas: “Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.”
#CrazyRichAsians opens August 15th. Read below to understand why it means so much to so many people. All love. @CrazyRichMovie @FreshOffABC @WarnerBrosEnt pic.twitter.com/IISLRDMRjU
- Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) August 1, 2018
As Constance Wu wrote on Twitter, “I know CRW won't represent every Asian American. So for those who don't feel seen, I hope there is as story you find soon that does represent you.”
Crazy Rich Asians is an important first step to more: more stories, more representation, more complexity.
This week, I'll be seeing Crazy Rich Asians for a second time, not necessarily because I'm aching to see it again, but because if see it multiple times-and those around me at that screening see it multiple times-then that movie will do well at the box office, and that will lead to more Asian-led films. Perhaps seeing Crazy Rich Asians again will lead me one step closer to my perfect Asian American movie.
The post Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians appeared first on HelloGiggles.
0 notes
Text
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
This essay contains light spoilers for Crazy Rich Asians, which opened in theaters today, August 15th.
There's a moment in Crazy Rich Asians when we hear an Asian accent. Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina) is walking Rachel (Constance Wu) through her family's giant mansion, where the gold-heavy decor is described as “Donald Trump's bathroom.” Then the accent appears-the one that has haunted almost every Asian American kid since the days of Mr. Yunioshi and Long Duk Dong. The accent that tells the white people in the audience, “You are allowed to laugh at Asian people.”
In Crazy Rich Asians, that accent comes from Ken Jeong, who plays Awkwafina's father and first appears dressed as an Asian Elvis. I tense up. “Oh no,” I think to myself. Even in a film that's supposed to be a historic win for Asians in Hollywood, with an all-Asian cast, we can't escape that accent. We can't escape being the butt of the joke.
And then something wonderful happens.
Jeong drops the accent and says, “I'm just joking. I don't have an accent. I went to Cal State Fullerton.”
I'm in a theatre with almost 200 people-95 percent of them are Asian-and the room erupts into laughter, me included. It was relief. Like the film was saying, “Asian accents aren't funny, and fuck you for thinking they are.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
When I walked into Crazy Rich Asians, I tried to keep my expectations for the movie low. As my friend Christine (who is Korean-American) put it, “It has to be really, really shitty for me not to like it.” I wasn't going to play into the Tiger Mom stereotype and expect excellence. I just really, really didn't want it to suck.
As Christine and I sat down with our beers at a complimentary screening for Asian American journalists, I looked around the room and thought to myself, This is going to be a tough crowd. As director Jon M. Chu told the Hollywood Reporter, “If our movie does well, four [Asian-centric] projects will go into production….if it doesn't, they're going to be in unknown states.” The future of Asians in Hollywood was at stake, and if the journalists around me didn't like the film, what hope did the movie have with a more general audience?
Two hours later, I had watched the “poor” Chinese American Rachel navigate the opulent lifestyle of the rich and Singaporean and manage to leave with her principals intact. I saw her share a kiss with Nick (Henry Golding), and the audience exploded into applause at the end credits. I turned to Christine: “What did you think?” She had read the book by Kevin Kwan on which the movie was based. She responded with, “I wanted it to be more about the family than their love story,” but overall, she liked it.
She then said, “I have never seen so many Asians Americans on-screen.”
youtube
When I asked other people at the screening what they thought of Crazy Rich Asians, the reactions were as varied as the characters in the movie. The people on screen came in all shapes and sizes. They were funny and romantic, conniving and serious.
Asians are not a monolith, and the film-and reactions to the film-made that clear.
“It reached me on a personal, professional and spiritual level. After a while, I forgot I was Asian,” enthused Toan, who is Chinese-American. “I was watching Astrid [played by Gemma Chan], and seeing her insecurities and her experience with adultery-that happened to someone in my family. And there's an LGBT character and it resonated with some of my experiences. And I understood the immigrant experience with Rachel.”
While some audience members I talked to loved the film as much as Toan, others found it to be lacking. “I didn't see anyone who looked like me except for one Filipino lady,” said Clare, who is Filipino-American. Indeed, the film has come under criticisms for focusing too much on East Asians, and not on the the Indian and Malaysian population of Singapore; the only “brown faces” in the movie are servants. “Like Astrid's maids, they were all Filipino!” exclaimed Clare.
Still, Clare admits it was “refreshing” to see that many Asians in a movie. She plans to see it again.
youtube
Unfortunately, when you're part of a marginalized group and the opportunities to see yourself in pop culture are so few and far between (25 years since Joy Luck Club, 13 years since Memoirs of a Geisha), the very little you receive bears the burden of perfection. It must represent your particular story or else it's a disappointment-because there probably won't be another opportunity.
Already, there are criticisms of Crazy Rich Asians for not being all things to all Asian people, as if it's possible for one movie to accurately represent 48 different countries and their diasporas. That would be like expecting The Godfather to represent all white people.
For me, as someone who grew up as a crazy poor immigrant Asian-whose parents actually did encourage me to follow my dreams-the movie wasn't my perfect Asian American movie. But after seeing the film, and laughing along to lines like, “God forbid we lose the ancient Chinese tradition of guilting your children,” I realized that the film didn't need to be perfect for me to love it. I could love it on its own terms: as a romantic comedy with a distinctly Asian American sensibility.
The leads were charming and beautiful, and they oozed chemistry. The supporting characters were memorable and the jokes were funny. And while I didn't relate to every moment that occurred on screen, I certainly related to some things. When Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) asked Nick, “Did you eat yet?” as a greeting, I was reminded of my own mom who shows her love not with words, but with food. When Eleanor tells Rachel, “You are an American,” it reminded me of my first trip to Vietnam. I quickly learned that, over there, I wasn't considered Vietnamese-even though I was born there.
And Crazy Rich Asians may be the first Hollywood film to explain why Asian Americans call each other bananas: “Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.”
#CrazyRichAsians opens August 15th. Read below to understand why it means so much to so many people. All love. @CrazyRichMovie @FreshOffABC @WarnerBrosEnt pic.twitter.com/IISLRDMRjU
- Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) August 1, 2018
As Constance Wu wrote on Twitter, “I know CRW won't represent every Asian American. So for those who don't feel seen, I hope there is as story you find soon that does represent you.”
Crazy Rich Asians is an important first step to more: more stories, more representation, more complexity.
This week, I'll be seeing Crazy Rich Asians for a second time, not necessarily because I'm aching to see it again, but because if see it multiple times-and those around me at that screening see it multiple times-then that movie will do well at the box office, and that will lead to more Asian-led films. Perhaps seeing Crazy Rich Asians again will lead me one step closer to my perfect Asian American movie.
The post Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians appeared first on HelloGiggles.
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Text
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
This essay contains light spoilers for Crazy Rich Asians, which opened in theaters today, August 15th.
There's a moment in Crazy Rich Asians when we hear an Asian accent. Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina) is walking Rachel (Constance Wu) through her family's giant mansion, where the gold-heavy decor is described as “Donald Trump's bathroom.” Then the accent appears-the one that has haunted almost every Asian American kid since the days of Mr. Yunioshi and Long Duk Dong. The accent that tells the white people in the audience, “You are allowed to laugh at Asian people.”
In Crazy Rich Asians, that accent comes from Ken Jeong, who plays Awkwafina's father and first appears dressed as an Asian Elvis. I tense up. “Oh no,” I think to myself. Even in a film that's supposed to be a historic win for Asians in Hollywood, with an all-Asian cast, we can't escape that accent. We can't escape being the butt of the joke.
And then something wonderful happens.
Jeong drops the accent and says, “I'm just joking. I don't have an accent. I went to Cal State Fullerton.”
I'm in a theatre with almost 200 people-95 percent of them are Asian-and the room erupts into laughter, me included. It was relief. Like the film was saying, “Asian accents aren't funny, and fuck you for thinking they are.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
When I walked into Crazy Rich Asians, I tried to keep my expectations for the movie low. As my friend Christine (who is Korean-American) put it, “It has to be really, really shitty for me not to like it.” I wasn't going to play into the Tiger Mom stereotype and expect excellence. I just really, really didn't want it to suck.
As Christine and I sat down with our beers at a complimentary screening for Asian American journalists, I looked around the room and thought to myself, This is going to be a tough crowd. As director Jon M. Chu told the Hollywood Reporter, “If our movie does well, four [Asian-centric] projects will go into production….if it doesn't, they're going to be in unknown states.” The future of Asians in Hollywood was at stake, and if the journalists around me didn't like the film, what hope did the movie have with a more general audience?
Two hours later, I had watched the “poor” Chinese American Rachel navigate the opulent lifestyle of the rich and Singaporean and manage to leave with her principals intact. I saw her share a kiss with Nick (Henry Golding), and the audience exploded into applause at the end credits. I turned to Christine: “What did you think?” She had read the book by Kevin Kwan on which the movie was based. She responded with, “I wanted it to be more about the family than their love story,” but overall, she liked it.
She then said, “I have never seen so many Asians Americans on-screen.”
youtube
When I asked other people at the screening what they thought of Crazy Rich Asians, the reactions were as varied as the characters in the movie. The people on screen came in all shapes and sizes. They were funny and romantic, conniving and serious.
Asians are not a monolith, and the film-and reactions to the film-made that clear.
“It reached me on a personal, professional and spiritual level. After a while, I forgot I was Asian,” enthused Toan, who is Chinese-American. “I was watching Astrid [played by Gemma Chan], and seeing her insecurities and her experience with adultery-that happened to someone in my family. And there's an LGBT character and it resonated with some of my experiences. And I understood the immigrant experience with Rachel.”
While some audience members I talked to loved the film as much as Toan, others found it to be lacking. “I didn't see anyone who looked like me except for one Filipino lady,” said Clare, who is Filipino-American. Indeed, the film has come under criticisms for focusing too much on East Asians, and not on the the Indian and Malaysian population of Singapore; the only “brown faces” in the movie are servants. “Like Astrid's maids, they were all Filipino!” exclaimed Clare.
Still, Clare admits it was “refreshing” to see that many Asians in a movie. She plans to see it again.
youtube
Unfortunately, when you're part of a marginalized group and the opportunities to see yourself in pop culture are so few and far between (25 years since Joy Luck Club, 13 years since Memoirs of a Geisha), the very little you receive bears the burden of perfection. It must represent your particular story or else it's a disappointment-because there probably won't be another opportunity.
Already, there are criticisms of Crazy Rich Asians for not being all things to all Asian people, as if it's possible for one movie to accurately represent 48 different countries and their diasporas. That would be like expecting The Godfather to represent all white people.
For me, as someone who grew up as a crazy poor immigrant Asian-whose parents actually did encourage me to follow my dreams-the movie wasn't my perfect Asian American movie. But after seeing the film, and laughing along to lines like, “God forbid we lose the ancient Chinese tradition of guilting your children,” I realized that the film didn't need to be perfect for me to love it. I could love it on its own terms: as a romantic comedy with a distinctly Asian American sensibility.
The leads were charming and beautiful, and they oozed chemistry. The supporting characters were memorable and the jokes were funny. And while I didn't relate to every moment that occurred on screen, I certainly related to some things. When Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) asked Nick, “Did you eat yet?” as a greeting, I was reminded of my own mom who shows her love not with words, but with food. When Eleanor tells Rachel, “You are an American,” it reminded me of my first trip to Vietnam. I quickly learned that, over there, I wasn't considered Vietnamese-even though I was born there.
And Crazy Rich Asians may be the first Hollywood film to explain why Asian Americans call each other bananas: “Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.”
#CrazyRichAsians opens August 15th. Read below to understand why it means so much to so many people. All love. @CrazyRichMovie @FreshOffABC @WarnerBrosEnt pic.twitter.com/IISLRDMRjU
- Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) August 1, 2018
As Constance Wu wrote on Twitter, “I know CRW won't represent every Asian American. So for those who don't feel seen, I hope there is as story you find soon that does represent you.”
Crazy Rich Asians is an important first step to more: more stories, more representation, more complexity.
This week, I'll be seeing Crazy Rich Asians for a second time, not necessarily because I'm aching to see it again, but because if see it multiple times-and those around me at that screening see it multiple times-then that movie will do well at the box office, and that will lead to more Asian-led films. Perhaps seeing Crazy Rich Asians again will lead me one step closer to my perfect Asian American movie.
The post Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians appeared first on HelloGiggles.
0 notes
Text
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
This essay contains light spoilers for Crazy Rich Asians, which opened in theaters today, August 15th.
There's a moment in Crazy Rich Asians when we hear an Asian accent. Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina) is walking Rachel (Constance Wu) through her family's giant mansion, where the gold-heavy decor is described as “Donald Trump's bathroom.” Then the accent appears-the one that has haunted almost every Asian American kid since the days of Mr. Yunioshi and Long Duk Dong. The accent that tells the white people in the audience, “You are allowed to laugh at Asian people.”
In Crazy Rich Asians, that accent comes from Ken Jeong, who plays Awkwafina's father and first appears dressed as an Asian Elvis. I tense up. “Oh no,” I think to myself. Even in a film that's supposed to be a historic win for Asians in Hollywood, with an all-Asian cast, we can't escape that accent. We can't escape being the butt of the joke.
And then something wonderful happens.
Jeong drops the accent and says, “I'm just joking. I don't have an accent. I went to Cal State Fullerton.”
I'm in a theatre with almost 200 people-95 percent of them are Asian-and the room erupts into laughter, me included. It was relief. Like the film was saying, “Asian accents aren't funny, and fuck you for thinking they are.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
When I walked into Crazy Rich Asians, I tried to keep my expectations for the movie low. As my friend Christine (who is Korean-American) put it, “It has to be really, really shitty for me not to like it.” I wasn't going to play into the Tiger Mom stereotype and expect excellence. I just really, really didn't want it to suck.
As Christine and I sat down with our beers at a complimentary screening for Asian American journalists, I looked around the room and thought to myself, This is going to be a tough crowd. As director Jon M. Chu told the Hollywood Reporter, “If our movie does well, four [Asian-centric] projects will go into production….if it doesn't, they're going to be in unknown states.” The future of Asians in Hollywood was at stake, and if the journalists around me didn't like the film, what hope did the movie have with a more general audience?
Two hours later, I had watched the “poor” Chinese American Rachel navigate the opulent lifestyle of the rich and Singaporean and manage to leave with her principals intact. I saw her share a kiss with Nick (Henry Golding), and the audience exploded into applause at the end credits. I turned to Christine: “What did you think?” She had read the book by Kevin Kwan on which the movie was based. She responded with, “I wanted it to be more about the family than their love story,” but overall, she liked it.
She then said, “I have never seen so many Asians Americans on-screen.”
youtube
When I asked other people at the screening what they thought of Crazy Rich Asians, the reactions were as varied as the characters in the movie. The people on screen came in all shapes and sizes. They were funny and romantic, conniving and serious.
Asians are not a monolith, and the film-and reactions to the film-made that clear.
“It reached me on a personal, professional and spiritual level. After a while, I forgot I was Asian,” enthused Toan, who is Chinese-American. “I was watching Astrid [played by Gemma Chan], and seeing her insecurities and her experience with adultery-that happened to someone in my family. And there's an LGBT character and it resonated with some of my experiences. And I understood the immigrant experience with Rachel.”
While some audience members I talked to loved the film as much as Toan, others found it to be lacking. “I didn't see anyone who looked like me except for one Filipino lady,” said Clare, who is Filipino-American. Indeed, the film has come under criticisms for focusing too much on East Asians, and not on the the Indian and Malaysian population of Singapore; the only “brown faces” in the movie are servants. “Like Astrid's maids, they were all Filipino!” exclaimed Clare.
Still, Clare admits it was “refreshing” to see that many Asians in a movie. She plans to see it again.
youtube
Unfortunately, when you're part of a marginalized group and the opportunities to see yourself in pop culture are so few and far between (25 years since Joy Luck Club, 13 years since Memoirs of a Geisha), the very little you receive bears the burden of perfection. It must represent your particular story or else it's a disappointment-because there probably won't be another opportunity.
Already, there are criticisms of Crazy Rich Asians for not being all things to all Asian people, as if it's possible for one movie to accurately represent 48 different countries and their diasporas. That would be like expecting The Godfather to represent all white people.
For me, as someone who grew up as a crazy poor immigrant Asian-whose parents actually did encourage me to follow my dreams-the movie wasn't my perfect Asian American movie. But after seeing the film, and laughing along to lines like, “God forbid we lose the ancient Chinese tradition of guilting your children,” I realized that the film didn't need to be perfect for me to love it. I could love it on its own terms: as a romantic comedy with a distinctly Asian American sensibility.
The leads were charming and beautiful, and they oozed chemistry. The supporting characters were memorable and the jokes were funny. And while I didn't relate to every moment that occurred on screen, I certainly related to some things. When Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) asked Nick, “Did you eat yet?” as a greeting, I was reminded of my own mom who shows her love not with words, but with food. When Eleanor tells Rachel, “You are an American,” it reminded me of my first trip to Vietnam. I quickly learned that, over there, I wasn't considered Vietnamese-even though I was born there.
And Crazy Rich Asians may be the first Hollywood film to explain why Asian Americans call each other bananas: “Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.”
#CrazyRichAsians opens August 15th. Read below to understand why it means so much to so many people. All love. @CrazyRichMovie @FreshOffABC @WarnerBrosEnt pic.twitter.com/IISLRDMRjU
- Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) August 1, 2018
As Constance Wu wrote on Twitter, “I know CRW won't represent every Asian American. So for those who don't feel seen, I hope there is as story you find soon that does represent you.”
Crazy Rich Asians is an important first step to more: more stories, more representation, more complexity.
This week, I'll be seeing Crazy Rich Asians for a second time, not necessarily because I'm aching to see it again, but because if see it multiple times-and those around me at that screening see it multiple times-then that movie will do well at the box office, and that will lead to more Asian-led films. Perhaps seeing Crazy Rich Asians again will lead me one step closer to my perfect Asian American movie.
The post Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians appeared first on HelloGiggles.
0 notes
Text
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
This essay contains light spoilers for Crazy Rich Asians, which opened in theaters today, August 15th.
There's a moment in Crazy Rich Asians when we hear an Asian accent. Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina) is walking Rachel (Constance Wu) through her family's giant mansion, where the gold-heavy decor is described as “Donald Trump's bathroom.” Then the accent appears-the one that has haunted almost every Asian American kid since the days of Mr. Yunioshi and Long Duk Dong. The accent that tells the white people in the audience, “You are allowed to laugh at Asian people.”
In Crazy Rich Asians, that accent comes from Ken Jeong, who plays Awkwafina's father and first appears dressed as an Asian Elvis. I tense up. “Oh no,” I think to myself. Even in a film that's supposed to be a historic win for Asians in Hollywood, with an all-Asian cast, we can't escape that accent. We can't escape being the butt of the joke.
And then something wonderful happens.
Jeong drops the accent and says, “I'm just joking. I don't have an accent. I went to Cal State Fullerton.”
I'm in a theatre with almost 200 people-95 percent of them are Asian-and the room erupts into laughter, me included. It was relief. Like the film was saying, “Asian accents aren't funny, and fuck you for thinking they are.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
When I walked into Crazy Rich Asians, I tried to keep my expectations for the movie low. As my friend Christine (who is Korean-American) put it, “It has to be really, really shitty for me not to like it.” I wasn't going to play into the Tiger Mom stereotype and expect excellence. I just really, really didn't want it to suck.
As Christine and I sat down with our beers at a complimentary screening for Asian American journalists, I looked around the room and thought to myself, This is going to be a tough crowd. As director Jon M. Chu told the Hollywood Reporter, “If our movie does well, four [Asian-centric] projects will go into production….if it doesn't, they're going to be in unknown states.” The future of Asians in Hollywood was at stake, and if the journalists around me didn't like the film, what hope did the movie have with a more general audience?
Two hours later, I had watched the “poor” Chinese American Rachel navigate the opulent lifestyle of the rich and Singaporean and manage to leave with her principals intact. I saw her share a kiss with Nick (Henry Golding), and the audience exploded into applause at the end credits. I turned to Christine: “What did you think?” She had read the book by Kevin Kwan on which the movie was based. She responded with, “I wanted it to be more about the family than their love story,” but overall, she liked it.
She then said, “I have never seen so many Asians Americans on-screen.”
youtube
When I asked other people at the screening what they thought of Crazy Rich Asians, the reactions were as varied as the characters in the movie. The people on screen came in all shapes and sizes. They were funny and romantic, conniving and serious.
Asians are not a monolith, and the film-and reactions to the film-made that clear.
“It reached me on a personal, professional and spiritual level. After a while, I forgot I was Asian,” enthused Toan, who is Chinese-American. “I was watching Astrid [played by Gemma Chan], and seeing her insecurities and her experience with adultery-that happened to someone in my family. And there's an LGBT character and it resonated with some of my experiences. And I understood the immigrant experience with Rachel.”
While some audience members I talked to loved the film as much as Toan, others found it to be lacking. “I didn't see anyone who looked like me except for one Filipino lady,” said Clare, who is Filipino-American. Indeed, the film has come under criticisms for focusing too much on East Asians, and not on the the Indian and Malaysian population of Singapore; the only “brown faces” in the movie are servants. “Like Astrid's maids, they were all Filipino!” exclaimed Clare.
Still, Clare admits it was “refreshing” to see that many Asians in a movie. She plans to see it again.
youtube
Unfortunately, when you're part of a marginalized group and the opportunities to see yourself in pop culture are so few and far between (25 years since Joy Luck Club, 13 years since Memoirs of a Geisha), the very little you receive bears the burden of perfection. It must represent your particular story or else it's a disappointment-because there probably won't be another opportunity.
Already, there are criticisms of Crazy Rich Asians for not being all things to all Asian people, as if it's possible for one movie to accurately represent 48 different countries and their diasporas. That would be like expecting The Godfather to represent all white people.
For me, as someone who grew up as a crazy poor immigrant Asian-whose parents actually did encourage me to follow my dreams-the movie wasn't my perfect Asian American movie. But after seeing the film, and laughing along to lines like, “God forbid we lose the ancient Chinese tradition of guilting your children,” I realized that the film didn't need to be perfect for me to love it. I could love it on its own terms: as a romantic comedy with a distinctly Asian American sensibility.
The leads were charming and beautiful, and they oozed chemistry. The supporting characters were memorable and the jokes were funny. And while I didn't relate to every moment that occurred on screen, I certainly related to some things. When Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) asked Nick, “Did you eat yet?” as a greeting, I was reminded of my own mom who shows her love not with words, but with food. When Eleanor tells Rachel, “You are an American,” it reminded me of my first trip to Vietnam. I quickly learned that, over there, I wasn't considered Vietnamese-even though I was born there.
And Crazy Rich Asians may be the first Hollywood film to explain why Asian Americans call each other bananas: “Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.”
#CrazyRichAsians opens August 15th. Read below to understand why it means so much to so many people. All love. @CrazyRichMovie @FreshOffABC @WarnerBrosEnt pic.twitter.com/IISLRDMRjU
- Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) August 1, 2018
As Constance Wu wrote on Twitter, “I know CRW won't represent every Asian American. So for those who don't feel seen, I hope there is as story you find soon that does represent you.”
Crazy Rich Asians is an important first step to more: more stories, more representation, more complexity.
This week, I'll be seeing Crazy Rich Asians for a second time, not necessarily because I'm aching to see it again, but because if see it multiple times-and those around me at that screening see it multiple times-then that movie will do well at the box office, and that will lead to more Asian-led films. Perhaps seeing Crazy Rich Asians again will lead me one step closer to my perfect Asian American movie.
The post Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians appeared first on HelloGiggles.
0 notes
Text
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians
This essay contains light spoilers for Crazy Rich Asians, which opened in theaters today, August 15th.
There's a moment in Crazy Rich Asians when we hear an Asian accent. Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina) is walking Rachel (Constance Wu) through her family's giant mansion, where the gold-heavy decor is described as “Donald Trump's bathroom.” Then the accent appears-the one that has haunted almost every Asian American kid since the days of Mr. Yunioshi and Long Duk Dong. The accent that tells the white people in the audience, “You are allowed to laugh at Asian people.”
In Crazy Rich Asians, that accent comes from Ken Jeong, who plays Awkwafina's father and first appears dressed as an Asian Elvis. I tense up. “Oh no,” I think to myself. Even in a film that's supposed to be a historic win for Asians in Hollywood, with an all-Asian cast, we can't escape that accent. We can't escape being the butt of the joke.
And then something wonderful happens.
Jeong drops the accent and says, “I'm just joking. I don't have an accent. I went to Cal State Fullerton.”
I'm in a theatre with almost 200 people-95 percent of them are Asian-and the room erupts into laughter, me included. It was relief. Like the film was saying, “Asian accents aren't funny, and fuck you for thinking they are.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
When I walked into Crazy Rich Asians, I tried to keep my expectations for the movie low. As my friend Christine (who is Korean-American) put it, “It has to be really, really shitty for me not to like it.” I wasn't going to play into the Tiger Mom stereotype and expect excellence. I just really, really didn't want it to suck.
As Christine and I sat down with our beers at a complimentary screening for Asian American journalists, I looked around the room and thought to myself, This is going to be a tough crowd. As director Jon M. Chu told the Hollywood Reporter, “If our movie does well, four [Asian-centric] projects will go into production….if it doesn't, they're going to be in unknown states.” The future of Asians in Hollywood was at stake, and if the journalists around me didn't like the film, what hope did the movie have with a more general audience?
Two hours later, I had watched the “poor” Chinese American Rachel navigate the opulent lifestyle of the rich and Singaporean and manage to leave with her principals intact. I saw her share a kiss with Nick (Henry Golding), and the audience exploded into applause at the end credits. I turned to Christine: “What did you think?” She had read the book by Kevin Kwan on which the movie was based. She responded with, “I wanted it to be more about the family than their love story,” but overall, she liked it.
She then said, “I have never seen so many Asians Americans on-screen.”
youtube
When I asked other people at the screening what they thought of Crazy Rich Asians, the reactions were as varied as the characters in the movie. The people on screen came in all shapes and sizes. They were funny and romantic, conniving and serious.
Asians are not a monolith, and the film-and reactions to the film-made that clear.
“It reached me on a personal, professional and spiritual level. After a while, I forgot I was Asian,” enthused Toan, who is Chinese-American. “I was watching Astrid [played by Gemma Chan], and seeing her insecurities and her experience with adultery-that happened to someone in my family. And there's an LGBT character and it resonated with some of my experiences. And I understood the immigrant experience with Rachel.”
While some audience members I talked to loved the film as much as Toan, others found it to be lacking. “I didn't see anyone who looked like me except for one Filipino lady,” said Clare, who is Filipino-American. Indeed, the film has come under criticisms for focusing too much on East Asians, and not on the the Indian and Malaysian population of Singapore; the only “brown faces” in the movie are servants. “Like Astrid's maids, they were all Filipino!” exclaimed Clare.
Still, Clare admits it was “refreshing” to see that many Asians in a movie. She plans to see it again.
youtube
Unfortunately, when you're part of a marginalized group and the opportunities to see yourself in pop culture are so few and far between (25 years since Joy Luck Club, 13 years since Memoirs of a Geisha), the very little you receive bears the burden of perfection. It must represent your particular story or else it's a disappointment-because there probably won't be another opportunity.
Already, there are criticisms of Crazy Rich Asians for not being all things to all Asian people, as if it's possible for one movie to accurately represent 48 different countries and their diasporas. That would be like expecting The Godfather to represent all white people.
For me, as someone who grew up as a crazy poor immigrant Asian-whose parents actually did encourage me to follow my dreams-the movie wasn't my perfect Asian American movie. But after seeing the film, and laughing along to lines like, “God forbid we lose the ancient Chinese tradition of guilting your children,” I realized that the film didn't need to be perfect for me to love it. I could love it on its own terms: as a romantic comedy with a distinctly Asian American sensibility.
The leads were charming and beautiful, and they oozed chemistry. The supporting characters were memorable and the jokes were funny. And while I didn't relate to every moment that occurred on screen, I certainly related to some things. When Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) asked Nick, “Did you eat yet?” as a greeting, I was reminded of my own mom who shows her love not with words, but with food. When Eleanor tells Rachel, “You are an American,” it reminded me of my first trip to Vietnam. I quickly learned that, over there, I wasn't considered Vietnamese-even though I was born there.
And Crazy Rich Asians may be the first Hollywood film to explain why Asian Americans call each other bananas: “Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.”
#CrazyRichAsians opens August 15th. Read below to understand why it means so much to so many people. All love. @CrazyRichMovie @FreshOffABC @WarnerBrosEnt pic.twitter.com/IISLRDMRjU
- Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) August 1, 2018
As Constance Wu wrote on Twitter, “I know CRW won't represent every Asian American. So for those who don't feel seen, I hope there is as story you find soon that does represent you.”
Crazy Rich Asians is an important first step to more: more stories, more representation, more complexity.
This week, I'll be seeing Crazy Rich Asians for a second time, not necessarily because I'm aching to see it again, but because if see it multiple times-and those around me at that screening see it multiple times-then that movie will do well at the box office, and that will lead to more Asian-led films. Perhaps seeing Crazy Rich Asians again will lead me one step closer to my perfect Asian American movie.
The post Watching Crazy Rich Asians in a room full of other Asians appeared first on HelloGiggles.
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Text
XRP Is Not Dead - Ripple USD (Cryptocurrency:XRP-USD)
New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/06/xrp-is-not-dead-ripple-usd-cryptocurrencyxrp-usd/
XRP Is Not Dead - Ripple USD (Cryptocurrency:XRP-USD)
One thing that I have to remind myself constantly in crypto is to ignore the noise. There are vastly contrasting opinions about the asset in general. Is it the future? Does Bitcoin have any value? Up until this week, are ICOs securities or not? But I don’t think any coin in this space has come under as much scrutiny as XRP.
In fact, I believe there’s an element of derangement syndrome from those who see it as ‘a banker’s coin’ – these people tend to be Bitcoin maximalists and that’s fine.
I am pro Bitcoin too, but I feel they’re totally missing the point. I briefly want to explain why then go into my thoughts on the long-term direction from a pure price and volume basis.
Just one thing – I do not care about being wrong. I manage risk accordingly and take a view on where I believe the best price to buy at is. If it works out, great.
If it doesn’t, no sweat; I’m onto the next trade.
Some misconceptions
Yes, Ripple is working alongside banks.
Yes, they want mass adoption amongst banks and financial institutions.
No, they do not control most of the supply – nor are they able to ‘print’ more XRP as many suggest, no matter how much you inform them differently.
This third point seems to be the biggest misconception in my view, but the easiest to debunk.
There is absolutely no benefit to randomly increasing the amount of XRP – that would destroy trust in the network and make the value of XRP totally worthless. Who would want to own something that can have its value that easily degraded? That would massively interfere with the goal that they have of institutional adoption.
In simple terms, banks wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole if they were able to modify the code to create a greater supply. In fact, here is the simple code that disproves the fact that more XRP can be printed since the XRP ledger is a consensus network & doesn’t rely on proof of work (which is subject to brute force attacks but which are probably unlikely to occur as well):
In addition, an increasing price means that less XRP is required to make large transactions. It is, therefore, more liquid for market makers to use, which simply adds another reason as to why in the long term, price would rather be higher than lower.
The next misconception is that there is no use case.
This generally comes from those who do not understand the FX world and the aggravation and high costs that banks & financial institutions have with regards to moving money around the world & paying people.
XRP (in a perfect world) would remove the requirement of banks to hold currencies in reserve to facilitate payments as well as removing the T+2 settlement – it would settle instantly through the use of market makers acting as liquidity providers, while freeing up a huge amount of capital, roughly to the tune of $19tn.
In essence, it is a pure bridging currency – something that acts universal to all which can be dealt into and out of with ease.
Again, this is in a perfect world, and I wouldn’t say this is 100% achievable…
But there is an ethical point here as well. Think of all of the countries with low liquidity in their FX markets. These illiquid corridors mean that the cost of transferring money is extremely high and eats into firm’s margins. XRP is hugely beneficial to the people in these countries since it removes the necessity to be paying massive spreads and commissions to firms such as Western Union (NYSE:WU) and MoneyGram (NYSE:MGI). In my view, paying 15% commission on a transfer is daylight robbery – so how does paying $0.004 sound? Sounds way better, right?
And you can see the cost of transferring here on the XRP ledger… I’m not making this up.
The example above shows that the transaction cost 0.000012 XRP.
This is actually some XRP being burnt (destroyed). In essence, this makes XRP more valuable with every transaction sent – but by a minuscule amount which I don’t believe will have any real effect on price as the transaction cost will decrease over time.
I would much rather be paying extremely little to send money vs. paying some of the fees and spreads that are charged by some brokers.
That’s just a few of the misconceptions out of the way – I’m sure I’ll get some comments to answer as well, but I want to move onto my plan of getting in and reaping some gains from this market.
Where Do We Go From Here?
It’s been a torrid time for crypto in general over the last few months.
We’ve seen support levels be flushed very easily and with little sustained bullish volume to maintain higher prices.
First a slight tangent: Here is a good read on what I believe is occurring in the BTC market which occurs in currency markets & a lot of commodity markets too: Selling the Froth: A Simple Hedged Forex Strategy for Bitcoin-Denominated Returns
If we take a look at a chart of XRP, we can see the decimation that we have faced.
From the high of $3.30 to the current price of 51c, all in the space of 6ish months.
You really have to hand it to the market; it will always be one of the most emotion creating beasts that any human can contend with.
But for me, there is still much more pain to come…
And I cannot wait. When I trade FX, I am always looking for where the most people are about to get hurt.
Why? Because the market is designed to pick up liquidity and then choose its direction. The market has chosen its direction with the rally from late last year – now all it is doing is picking off the weak hands – those that are emotional; those who run out of the store when the products have gone on sale, an abridged quote from this gentleman.
For me, that flat bottom made back in April is just waiting to get absolutely capitulated upon…
The hysteria is likely to result in posts such as ‘I have lost all of my money on XRP – what do I do?’, which is unfortunate, but a fantastic indicator for me to buy at – with adequate risk management (I would not bet the farm on anything, in other words).
If we look at the chart, we can see that the most volume is between 20c and 25c. Back in Q4 2017, this rough price zone had formed a massive bullish pennant, which was my reasoning for being long from 19c back then. But the key thing to remember is that XRP had already rallied by 4313% by the time we saw the major rally in late 2017!
Those who say that this market is done are simply relativists – they are comparing it to the major rally late in the year when most of the hard work had been done in the 12 or so months preceding that!
This is why I believe that the 20-25c zone is key. This is the zone at which re-accumulation of longs is likely to occur and another ascent upwards can happen.
It’s a return to the price at which people were excited to get into the market back in October, except this time they will be liquidating at break even or at a loss. They will be in despair. This means that there will be ample liquidity to buy into and build a nice large position again.
Conclusion
Please remember I am not emotionally driven here.
I just look at an opportunity, size it up and see whether I have an edge.
I feel my edge here is the fact that others WILL be emotional, and I want to capitalise on this – I do not have a price target, but I have a strategy for scaling out of my position if I see the tide turning which is based on simple support breaks – if you know the Turtle Trading rules, then this type of risk management strategy will be familiar.
Thank you for reading, and I really do welcome any comments whether they are positive or if you want to shout at me!
Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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Text
LinkedIn’s New Lead Gen Forms vs. Facebook Lead Ads | WordStream
See on Scoop.it - Lead Generation Experts 315-926-5034
Late last year I wrote a blog post on the 5 questions advertisers should ask themselves each quarter[1].
In it, I suggested seeking opportunities on new networks. Facebook and Bing? No brainers. Twitter? Eh. But LinkedIn? My feelings were, uh, strong…
A certain unicorn-hunting Thought Leader™ might have had similar feelings[2]…
Today the fourth item can be crossed off Larry’s list.
Today, I come to you a changed man, a man convinced that symphonic arthropods aren’t all Reid Hoffman and Co. have going for them (ad-wise, at least).
Why the change of heart?
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms[3].
What’s a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form?
Per LinkedIn, Lead Gen Forms are “a new solution that helps you drive even more high-quality leads from your Sponsored Content campaigns by removing the main barrier to mobile conversion: making someone complete a clunky contact form on a smartphone.”
Per me, they might be LinkedIn’s route to viability as an ad platform.
Prior to, oh, about yesterday, LinkedIn sponsored content was clunky and overpriced, making it damn near impossible to leverage the social network’s robust business-centric targeting. It sucked.
Today? Less so.
These new lead ads are a push towards capturing valuable information from almost half a billion potential prospects[4] on the devices they use most: their phones. LinkedIn has removed two major barriers to conversion that businesses advertising on mobile devices face:
Mobile landing page experience
Completing a form using nothing but thumbs
Now, when a targeted LinkedIn user clicks the new “Sign up” button on a piece of your sponsored content, they’re brought to a (mostly) pre-populated lead form. LinkedIn pulls pertinent data right from a prospect’s probably-up-to-date personal page, ensuring accurate contact information. From there, you can either share content with a prospect (now a bona fide lead) or direct them to your website.
No typographic errors attributable to meaty digits. No dummy demo accounts. No Eastern European spam bots. Just leads, baby.
Over on Facebook, many advertisers have already found success using lead ads[5]; it stands to reason that LinkedIn’s Lead Gen Forms will be a boon for advertisers, too. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key factors in determining whether LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms are right for your business.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form UX
The general look and feel of LinkedIn’s lead ads is very much comparable to their Facebook equivalent. From a prospect’s perspective, the ad flows seamlessly from your piece of sponsored content to a mostly pre-populated form and then to a thank you page.
The fact that so much pertinent lead information can be pulled directly from LinkedIn profile pages makes the experience seamless for prospects. Lead gen forms cannot exceed seven questions, so even if there’s information a prospect needs to input manually, doing so isn’t as cumbersome as it could be.
It’s also worth mentioning that prospects can edit pre-populated contact information (email address and phone number) if those pulled from their LinkedIn profile are no longer valid.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
At first glance, LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms have two steps fewer than Facebook lead ads.
The lack of a terms and conditions page makes LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms a bit quicker to complete, but the difference seems negligible. Finally, the autocompletion of key contact information, shared by both platforms, makes conversion easier on a mobile device.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form ROI
TBD… for now.
We haven’t run them yet, but per LinkedIn, “Ninety percent of the 50 customers surveyed from our pilot beat their cost-per-lead (CPL) goals. They also saw lower CPLs with Lead Gen Forms compared to their standard Sponsored Content campaigns.”
Now, this statement makes it seem as though lead gen forms are exceptionally effective. In reality, they’re probably not quite as good as LinkedIn is touting (yet). Based on my limited experience, standard Sponsored Content has not proven particularly effective; beating CPL goals associated with the format is nothing to slouch at, but improving upon something mediocre doesn’t necessarily mean extraordinary value or results. Try ‘em out, but tread lightly.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
Lead gen forms on Facebook are a mixed bag and largely depend on your vertical and the targeting methods you’re using. I’ve seen accounts that attempt to use lead ads at the top of the funnel and they bring in a ton of unqualified leads. This gets expensive real quick.
Conversely, as a mid-funnel and pre-close tool (used in a remarketing campaign to encourage a nurtured lead to book a demo) Facebook lead ads are straight fire. I imagine LinkedIn will function similarly; that being said, since there are probably less spam accounts on LinkedIn than Facebook, and the targeting options all but ensure some semblance of professional interest, Lead Gen Forms could have a bigger impact on top of funnel campaigns.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form Lead Quality
Here’s where I think LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms will make their mark.
LinkedIn is unique among social networks in that advertisers can leverage mounds of professional data that’s (usually) up to date. The profile stewardship exhibited by most members ensure that the lead data captured by advertisers is up-to-date (much less likely to be a fake email address or phone number), creating better informed, easier-to-convert sales opportunities.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
Facebook is valuable to advertisers because everyone and their mother uses it.
LinkedIn’s user base is much smaller than Facebook’s (just under half a billion), but now that lead gen forms are available to advertisers, their cost combined with the amount of profession-based targeting information available should make it the perfect channel for B2B marketers.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form Measurability
The two most important KPIs you can track within the LinkedIn UI are CPL and form fill rate. And since there’s no need for a prospect to visit your website on their path to conversion, there’s no need for any kind of tricky tracking code implementation on your part.
Per LinkedIn, the internal reporting tools allow advertisers to “track key metrics like CPL, form fill rate, and other important data points to measure the value you're getting from your ad spend. In the near future, we’ll also include demographic reports that show the exact number of leads you're getting from specific audience segments.”
That last part gets me especially excited, since this demographic information has the potential to improve performance on other channels, too.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
LinkedIn and Facebook both have a lot to learn from Google when it comes to measurability. While both platforms have made strides of late and they both offer more robust targeting options than AdWords, the extent to which you can measure things like attribution and other advanced metrics still lags behind.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form Manageability
Per LinkedIn, Lead Gen Forms are already compatible with Zapier and Driftrock. If you use either of these systems for marketing automation, LinkedIn leads will pull into your existing CRM in real-time.
There are plans to offer integrations with Marketo, Microsoft Dynamic 3654, and Oracle Eloqua, too. Stay tuned.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
Just like Facebook, if you use a non-compatible CRM and don’t have a team of developers who can work with the LinkedIn API, you can still harvest magical, delicious, top-shelf leads. All you need to do is download the CSV file containing your lead. Just don’t forget to check in frequently; doing so would allow those scorching hot prospects to cool off or worse, stumble upon your competitors.
Also worth noting: LinkedIn’s launch article alludes to their giving advertisers the ability to include Lead Gen Forms in sponsored InMail campaigns for both mobile and desktop later this year. This should take another step towards relevance for B2B marketers.
About the Author
Allen Finn is a content marketing specialist and the reigning fantasy football champion at WordStream. He enjoys couth menswear, dank eats, and the dulcet tones of the Wu-Tang Clan. If you know what's good for you, you'll follow him on LinkedIn[6] and Twitter[7].
References^ 5 questions advertisers should ask themselves each quarter (www.wordstream.com)^ similar feelings (www.wordstream.com)^ LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms (business.linkedin.com)^ potential prospects (www.wordstream.com)^ success using lead ads (www.wordstream.com)^ LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)^ Twitter (twitter.com)
Andrew Wroblewski's insight:
http://yourprofitweb.com
0 notes
Text
LinkedIn’s New Lead Gen Forms vs. Facebook Lead Ads | WordStream
See on Scoop.it - Lead Generation Experts 315-926-5034
Late last year I wrote a blog post on the 5 questions advertisers should ask themselves each quarter[1].
In it, I suggested seeking opportunities on new networks. Facebook and Bing? No brainers. Twitter? Eh. But LinkedIn? My feelings were, uh, strong…
A certain unicorn-hunting Thought Leader™ might have had similar feelings[2]…
Today the fourth item can be crossed off Larry’s list.
Today, I come to you a changed man, a man convinced that symphonic arthropods aren’t all Reid Hoffman and Co. have going for them (ad-wise, at least).
Why the change of heart?
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms[3].
What’s a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form?
Per LinkedIn, Lead Gen Forms are “a new solution that helps you drive even more high-quality leads from your Sponsored Content campaigns by removing the main barrier to mobile conversion: making someone complete a clunky contact form on a smartphone.”
Per me, they might be LinkedIn’s route to viability as an ad platform.
Prior to, oh, about yesterday, LinkedIn sponsored content was clunky and overpriced, making it damn near impossible to leverage the social network’s robust business-centric targeting. It sucked.
Today? Less so.
These new lead ads are a push towards capturing valuable information from almost half a billion potential prospects[4] on the devices they use most: their phones. LinkedIn has removed two major barriers to conversion that businesses advertising on mobile devices face:
Mobile landing page experience
Completing a form using nothing but thumbs
Now, when a targeted LinkedIn user clicks the new “Sign up” button on a piece of your sponsored content, they’re brought to a (mostly) pre-populated lead form. LinkedIn pulls pertinent data right from a prospect’s probably-up-to-date personal page, ensuring accurate contact information. From there, you can either share content with a prospect (now a bona fide lead) or direct them to your website.
No typographic errors attributable to meaty digits. No dummy demo accounts. No Eastern European spam bots. Just leads, baby.
Over on Facebook, many advertisers have already found success using lead ads[5]; it stands to reason that LinkedIn’s Lead Gen Forms will be a boon for advertisers, too. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key factors in determining whether LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms are right for your business.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form UX
The general look and feel of LinkedIn’s lead ads is very much comparable to their Facebook equivalent. From a prospect’s perspective, the ad flows seamlessly from your piece of sponsored content to a mostly pre-populated form and then to a thank you page.
The fact that so much pertinent lead information can be pulled directly from LinkedIn profile pages makes the experience seamless for prospects. Lead gen forms cannot exceed seven questions, so even if there’s information a prospect needs to input manually, doing so isn’t as cumbersome as it could be.
It’s also worth mentioning that prospects can edit pre-populated contact information (email address and phone number) if those pulled from their LinkedIn profile are no longer valid.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
At first glance, LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms have two steps fewer than Facebook lead ads.
The lack of a terms and conditions page makes LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms a bit quicker to complete, but the difference seems negligible. Finally, the autocompletion of key contact information, shared by both platforms, makes conversion easier on a mobile device.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form ROI
TBD… for now.
We haven’t run them yet, but per LinkedIn, “Ninety percent of the 50 customers surveyed from our pilot beat their cost-per-lead (CPL) goals. They also saw lower CPLs with Lead Gen Forms compared to their standard Sponsored Content campaigns.”
Now, this statement makes it seem as though lead gen forms are exceptionally effective. In reality, they’re probably not quite as good as LinkedIn is touting (yet). Based on my limited experience, standard Sponsored Content has not proven particularly effective; beating CPL goals associated with the format is nothing to slouch at, but improving upon something mediocre doesn’t necessarily mean extraordinary value or results. Try ‘em out, but tread lightly.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
Lead gen forms on Facebook are a mixed bag and largely depend on your vertical and the targeting methods you’re using. I’ve seen accounts that attempt to use lead ads at the top of the funnel and they bring in a ton of unqualified leads. This gets expensive real quick.
Conversely, as a mid-funnel and pre-close tool (used in a remarketing campaign to encourage a nurtured lead to book a demo) Facebook lead ads are straight fire. I imagine LinkedIn will function similarly; that being said, since there are probably less spam accounts on LinkedIn than Facebook, and the targeting options all but ensure some semblance of professional interest, Lead Gen Forms could have a bigger impact on top of funnel campaigns.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form Lead Quality
Here’s where I think LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms will make their mark.
LinkedIn is unique among social networks in that advertisers can leverage mounds of professional data that’s (usually) up to date. The profile stewardship exhibited by most members ensure that the lead data captured by advertisers is up-to-date (much less likely to be a fake email address or phone number), creating better informed, easier-to-convert sales opportunities.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
Facebook is valuable to advertisers because everyone and their mother uses it.
LinkedIn’s user base is much smaller than Facebook’s (just under half a billion), but now that lead gen forms are available to advertisers, their cost combined with the amount of profession-based targeting information available should make it the perfect channel for B2B marketers.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form Measurability
The two most important KPIs you can track within the LinkedIn UI are CPL and form fill rate. And since there’s no need for a prospect to visit your website on their path to conversion, there’s no need for any kind of tricky tracking code implementation on your part.
Per LinkedIn, the internal reporting tools allow advertisers to “track key metrics like CPL, form fill rate, and other important data points to measure the value you're getting from your ad spend. In the near future, we’ll also include demographic reports that show the exact number of leads you're getting from specific audience segments.”
That last part gets me especially excited, since this demographic information has the potential to improve performance on other channels, too.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
LinkedIn and Facebook both have a lot to learn from Google when it comes to measurability. While both platforms have made strides of late and they both offer more robust targeting options than AdWords, the extent to which you can measure things like attribution and other advanced metrics still lags behind.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form Manageability
Per LinkedIn, Lead Gen Forms are already compatible with Zapier and Driftrock. If you use either of these systems for marketing automation, LinkedIn leads will pull into your existing CRM in real-time.
There are plans to offer integrations with Marketo, Microsoft Dynamic 3654, and Oracle Eloqua, too. Stay tuned.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
Just like Facebook, if you use a non-compatible CRM and don’t have a team of developers who can work with the LinkedIn API, you can still harvest magical, delicious, top-shelf leads. All you need to do is download the CSV file containing your lead. Just don’t forget to check in frequently; doing so would allow those scorching hot prospects to cool off or worse, stumble upon your competitors.
Also worth noting: LinkedIn’s launch article alludes to their giving advertisers the ability to include Lead Gen Forms in sponsored InMail campaigns for both mobile and desktop later this year. This should take another step towards relevance for B2B marketers.
About the Author
Allen Finn is a content marketing specialist and the reigning fantasy football champion at WordStream. He enjoys couth menswear, dank eats, and the dulcet tones of the Wu-Tang Clan. If you know what's good for you, you'll follow him on LinkedIn[6] and Twitter[7].
References^ 5 questions advertisers should ask themselves each quarter (www.wordstream.com)^ similar feelings (www.wordstream.com)^ LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms (business.linkedin.com)^ potential prospects (www.wordstream.com)^ success using lead ads (www.wordstream.com)^ LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)^ Twitter (twitter.com)
Andrew Wroblewski's insight:
http://yourprofitweb.com
0 notes
Text
LinkedIn’s New Lead Gen Forms vs. Facebook Lead Ads | WordStream
See on Scoop.it - Lead Generation Experts 315-926-5034
Late last year I wrote a blog post on the 5 questions advertisers should ask themselves each quarter[1].
In it, I suggested seeking opportunities on new networks. Facebook and Bing? No brainers. Twitter? Eh. But LinkedIn? My feelings were, uh, strong…
A certain unicorn-hunting Thought Leader™ might have had similar feelings[2]…
Today the fourth item can be crossed off Larry’s list.
Today, I come to you a changed man, a man convinced that symphonic arthropods aren’t all Reid Hoffman and Co. have going for them (ad-wise, at least).
Why the change of heart?
LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms[3].
What’s a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form?
Per LinkedIn, Lead Gen Forms are “a new solution that helps you drive even more high-quality leads from your Sponsored Content campaigns by removing the main barrier to mobile conversion: making someone complete a clunky contact form on a smartphone.”
Per me, they might be LinkedIn’s route to viability as an ad platform.
Prior to, oh, about yesterday, LinkedIn sponsored content was clunky and overpriced, making it damn near impossible to leverage the social network’s robust business-centric targeting. It sucked.
Today? Less so.
These new lead ads are a push towards capturing valuable information from almost half a billion potential prospects[4] on the devices they use most: their phones. LinkedIn has removed two major barriers to conversion that businesses advertising on mobile devices face:
Mobile landing page experience
Completing a form using nothing but thumbs
Now, when a targeted LinkedIn user clicks the new “Sign up” button on a piece of your sponsored content, they’re brought to a (mostly) pre-populated lead form. LinkedIn pulls pertinent data right from a prospect’s probably-up-to-date personal page, ensuring accurate contact information. From there, you can either share content with a prospect (now a bona fide lead) or direct them to your website.
No typographic errors attributable to meaty digits. No dummy demo accounts. No Eastern European spam bots. Just leads, baby.
Over on Facebook, many advertisers have already found success using lead ads[5]; it stands to reason that LinkedIn’s Lead Gen Forms will be a boon for advertisers, too. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key factors in determining whether LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms are right for your business.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form UX
The general look and feel of LinkedIn’s lead ads is very much comparable to their Facebook equivalent. From a prospect’s perspective, the ad flows seamlessly from your piece of sponsored content to a mostly pre-populated form and then to a thank you page.
The fact that so much pertinent lead information can be pulled directly from LinkedIn profile pages makes the experience seamless for prospects. Lead gen forms cannot exceed seven questions, so even if there’s information a prospect needs to input manually, doing so isn’t as cumbersome as it could be.
It’s also worth mentioning that prospects can edit pre-populated contact information (email address and phone number) if those pulled from their LinkedIn profile are no longer valid.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
At first glance, LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms have two steps fewer than Facebook lead ads.
The lack of a terms and conditions page makes LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms a bit quicker to complete, but the difference seems negligible. Finally, the autocompletion of key contact information, shared by both platforms, makes conversion easier on a mobile device.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form ROI
TBD… for now.
We haven’t run them yet, but per LinkedIn, “Ninety percent of the 50 customers surveyed from our pilot beat their cost-per-lead (CPL) goals. They also saw lower CPLs with Lead Gen Forms compared to their standard Sponsored Content campaigns.”
Now, this statement makes it seem as though lead gen forms are exceptionally effective. In reality, they’re probably not quite as good as LinkedIn is touting (yet). Based on my limited experience, standard Sponsored Content has not proven particularly effective; beating CPL goals associated with the format is nothing to slouch at, but improving upon something mediocre doesn’t necessarily mean extraordinary value or results. Try ‘em out, but tread lightly.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
Lead gen forms on Facebook are a mixed bag and largely depend on your vertical and the targeting methods you’re using. I’ve seen accounts that attempt to use lead ads at the top of the funnel and they bring in a ton of unqualified leads. This gets expensive real quick.
Conversely, as a mid-funnel and pre-close tool (used in a remarketing campaign to encourage a nurtured lead to book a demo) Facebook lead ads are straight fire. I imagine LinkedIn will function similarly; that being said, since there are probably less spam accounts on LinkedIn than Facebook, and the targeting options all but ensure some semblance of professional interest, Lead Gen Forms could have a bigger impact on top of funnel campaigns.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form Lead Quality
Here’s where I think LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms will make their mark.
LinkedIn is unique among social networks in that advertisers can leverage mounds of professional data that’s (usually) up to date. The profile stewardship exhibited by most members ensure that the lead data captured by advertisers is up-to-date (much less likely to be a fake email address or phone number), creating better informed, easier-to-convert sales opportunities.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
Facebook is valuable to advertisers because everyone and their mother uses it.
LinkedIn’s user base is much smaller than Facebook’s (just under half a billion), but now that lead gen forms are available to advertisers, their cost combined with the amount of profession-based targeting information available should make it the perfect channel for B2B marketers.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form Measurability
The two most important KPIs you can track within the LinkedIn UI are CPL and form fill rate. And since there’s no need for a prospect to visit your website on their path to conversion, there’s no need for any kind of tricky tracking code implementation on your part.
Per LinkedIn, the internal reporting tools allow advertisers to “track key metrics like CPL, form fill rate, and other important data points to measure the value you're getting from your ad spend. In the near future, we’ll also include demographic reports that show the exact number of leads you're getting from specific audience segments.”
That last part gets me especially excited, since this demographic information has the potential to improve performance on other channels, too.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
LinkedIn and Facebook both have a lot to learn from Google when it comes to measurability. While both platforms have made strides of late and they both offer more robust targeting options than AdWords, the extent to which you can measure things like attribution and other advanced metrics still lags behind.
LinkedIn Lead Gen Form Manageability
Per LinkedIn, Lead Gen Forms are already compatible with Zapier and Driftrock. If you use either of these systems for marketing automation, LinkedIn leads will pull into your existing CRM in real-time.
There are plans to offer integrations with Marketo, Microsoft Dynamic 3654, and Oracle Eloqua, too. Stay tuned.
How does it compare to Facebook Lead Ads?
Just like Facebook, if you use a non-compatible CRM and don’t have a team of developers who can work with the LinkedIn API, you can still harvest magical, delicious, top-shelf leads. All you need to do is download the CSV file containing your lead. Just don’t forget to check in frequently; doing so would allow those scorching hot prospects to cool off or worse, stumble upon your competitors.
Also worth noting: LinkedIn’s launch article alludes to their giving advertisers the ability to include Lead Gen Forms in sponsored InMail campaigns for both mobile and desktop later this year. This should take another step towards relevance for B2B marketers.
About the Author
Allen Finn is a content marketing specialist and the reigning fantasy football champion at WordStream. He enjoys couth menswear, dank eats, and the dulcet tones of the Wu-Tang Clan. If you know what's good for you, you'll follow him on LinkedIn[6] and Twitter[7].
References^ 5 questions advertisers should ask themselves each quarter (www.wordstream.com)^ similar feelings (www.wordstream.com)^ LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms (business.linkedin.com)^ potential prospects (www.wordstream.com)^ success using lead ads (www.wordstream.com)^ LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)^ Twitter (twitter.com)
Andrew Wroblewski's insight:
http://yourprofitweb.com
0 notes
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