SOCIAL CLASS CONFLICT IN KEVIN KWAN’S CRAZY RICH ASIAN FILM
THESIS
Submitted to the Board of Examiners in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Literature Degree at English Literature Department
by
NUR HASYAMI BERUTU NIM: 403170896
ENGLISH LITERATURE DEPARTMENT ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SULTHAN THAHA SAIFUDDIN JAMBI
2021
ii
NOTA DINAS
Jambi, 05 Juli 2021 Pembimbing I : H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd
Pembimbing II : Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA Alamat : Fakultas Adab dan Humaniora
UIN Sulhan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi Kepada Yth,
Dekan Fakultas Adab dan Humaniora UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi Di-
Tempat
Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb.
Setelah membaca dan mengadakan perbaikan seperlunya maka kami berpendapat bahwa skripsi saudari: Nur Hasyami Berutu, NIM. 403170896, yang berjudul “Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film”, telah dapat diajukan untuk dimunaqasyahkan guna melengkapi tugas-tugas dan memenuhi syarat untuk memperoleh gelar sarjana strata satu (S1) pada fakultas Adab dan Humaniora, UIN STS Jambi. Maka, dengan itu kami ajukan skripsi tersebut agar diterima dengan baik.
Demikianlah kami ucapkan terimakasih, semoga bermanfaat bagi kepentingan kampus dan para peneliti.
Wassalamualaikum Wr. Wb.
Pembimbing I Pembimbing II
H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA NIP. 196903161995031001
iii APPROVAL
Jambi, July 5th 2021
Supervisor I : H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd
Supervisor II : Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA Address : Faculty of Adab and Humanities
State Islamic University
Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi To
The Dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic University Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi
Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.
After reading and revising everything extended necessary, so we agree this thesis entitled “Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film”
could be submitted to Munaqasyah (thesis examination) in partial fulfilment to the requirement for the Degree of Humaniora Scholar. So we submit it in order to be received well, thus, we hope it can be usefull for all.
Wassalamualaikum Wr. Wb.
Supervisor I Supervisor II
H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA NIP. 196903161995031001
iv
LETTER OF RATIFICATION
This thesis has been examined by the board examiner of Adab and Humanity Faculty of The State Islamic University Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi on 2021 and accepted as a part of the requirement which has to be fulfilled for obtaining Undergraduate Degree (S1) in English Literature Department.
Jambi, September, 3 2021 Dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty
Dr. Halimah Dja’far, M. Fil.I NIP. 196012111988032001
Secretary, Chairperson,
Rahmat Fajar, MA Dr. Diana Rozelin, SS., M.Hum NIP. 198612272020121005 NIP. 197604282005012004
Examiner I, Supervisor I,
Ulfatmi Azlan, SS., MA H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd NIP. 198411272011012012 NIP. 196903161995031001
Examiner II, Supervisor II,
Firdiansyah, MA Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA
NIDN. 2004118102
v
ORIGINAL THESIS STATEMENT
I who signed this letter:
Name : Nur Hasyami Berutu NIM : 403170896
Supervisor I : H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd
Supervisor II : Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA Department : English Literature
Faculty : Adab and Humanities
By signing this letter, I state that the thesis entitles “Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film” is my original work. It does not plagiarize any material from other studies except for the quotations and bibliographies. If this thesis is found to be not original or plagiarized from other researcher, I am ready to be held responsible and suffer the consequences based on the rule of Adab and Humanities Faculty of the State Islamic University Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi. Therefore, I make this statement in good health and mind.
Jambi, September, 3 2021 The Researcher,
Nur Hasyami Berutu NIM: 403170896
vi MOTTO
ْمُكْي َوَخَأ َنْيَب ۟اوُحِلْصَأَف ٌة َوْخِإ َنوُنِم ْؤُمْلٱ اَمَّنِإ َنوُمَح ْرُت ْمُكَّلَعَل َهَّللٱ ۟اوُقَّتٱ َو
“Believers people are actually brothers/sisters. That's why make peace (improve the relationship) between your two brothers/sisters and be afraid of
Allah, that you may receive mercy.”
Artinya: “Orang-orang beriman itu sesungguhnya bersaudara. Sebab itu damaikanlah (perbaikilah hubungan) antara kedua saudaramu itu dan takutlah terhadap Allah, supaya kamu mendapat rahmat.” (Qs. Al-Hujarat : 10 Madaniyah).
vii
DEDICATION
I dedicated this thesis to:
My beloved Father, Amri Berutu S.Pd My beloved Mother, Rosinta Manik
Thank you for always give me support and endless love, pray for my success and always do the best for me. Because your upbringing made me able to be like this. I
proudly want to say that both of you are my parents.
To my dearest Sisters and Brothers:
Fatimah Napratilova Berutu, A.Md Lestari Syawalina Berutu, S.Pd.I
Ahmad M. P. Berutu, S.Sos Irfansyah Berutu
Netti Rohmoida Berutu, soon to be S.Tr.Gz Kasavana Berutu
Not a day goes by that I don't say thanks to Allah SWT. for giving me sisters and brothers like you. I've never properly thanked you guys, so here I want to say thank you very much for being a source of strength for me. Thank you for sticking
through all the difficult things together until we got to this point. Thank you because we never fight no matter how difficult the circumstances. Thank you for taking good care of each other. But above all, thank you for being my sisters and
brothers.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH GUYS!!!
Amy
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Bismillahirahmanirahim…
All praises to Allah SWT, God the almighty, the owner of the universe who wills over everything, who has given the researcher power and resilience for completing this thesis with the title, “Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film” to fulfill the requirements for getting the degree of Sarjana (S1) of English Literature, Adab and Humanity Faculty, in State Islamic University Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi. May blessings and salutations be delivered to the last and final messenger of Allah, Muhammad (peace be upon him) who had delivered us from the age of darkness to the age of light and knowledge.
In accomplishing this thesis, the researcher had been given one great to many people. So, the researcher’s sincere gatitude goes to:
1. Prof. Dr. H. Su’aidi, MA., Ph.D as a Rector of State Islamic University Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, and the Vices of Rector; Dr. Rofiqoh Ferawati, SE., M.El; Dr. As’ad Isma, M.Pd; Dr. Bahrul Ulum, S.Ag., MA.
2. Dr. Halimah Dja’far, M.Fill.I as the dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty.
3. Dr. Ali Muzakir, M.Ag. as the first Vise Dean of Acadmic, Dr. Alfian, S.Pd., M.Ed as the second Vise Dean of Finances, and Dr. Roudhoh, S.Ag., M.Pd.I as the third vise Dean of University Student of Adab and Humanities Faculty.
4. Dian Mukhlisa, S.Pd., MA and Chandri Febri Santi, M.Pd. as the chairperson and secretary of English Literature Department.
5. H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd and Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA as the researcher's supervisors, mentors, and life coaches. Their wise counsel led the researcher through the technical and non-technical aspects of writing this study. Suggestions and constructive criticism from them greatly aided in the improvement of this thesis, making it much more interesting and engaging than the researcher had expected.
6. All the Lecturers and staffs of Adab and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic University, Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.
ix
7. The last but not least, the researcher would like to thanks; Muslimah Nur Agustin, Puja Nabila Arifah, Ledy Vusvita Sari, Mudwiyah, Rahmania Zakri, Dini Aprilia Rozana, and Muhammad Faydullah who gave fully support and love to the researcher. They will always be the best friends in researcher’s heart.
This study is a long way from being perfect. The researcher needs some feedback and suggestions in order to improve in the future. Finally, the researcher hopes that this thesis will benefit readers, especially students in English Literature Department faculty of Adab and Humanities.
Jambi, August 10th 2021 The researcher,
Nur Hasyami Berutu NIM. 403170896
x ABSTRAK
Nur Hasyami Berutu, 2021 : Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film
Supervisor I : H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd
Supervisor II : Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA
Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menganalisis film yang ber-genre romantis- komedi yang mengangkat konflik tentang perbedaan kelas sosial yang terjadi antara Rachel yang merupakan dari kelas menengah dan menjalin hubungan dengan Nick yang merupakan dari kelas atas, dimana hubungan mereka ditentang keras oleh ibu Nick yang bernama Eleanor. Dari konflik yang tersebut, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendiskusikan mengenai; 1) konflik kelas sosial yang terjadi di dalam film, 2) dampak dari konflik kelas sosial tersebut, serta 3) akhir atau penyelesain dari konflik yang terjadi. Peneliti menggukan kualitatif deskriptif sebagai desain dari penelitian ini, dimana data-data untuk penelitian ini diambil dari dialog dan adegan di dalam film. Peneliti mengaplikasiakan teori sosial konflik tentang konflik kelas sosial dari Karl Marx namun peneliti juga menggunakan teori lain sebagai pedoman untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan dalam rumusan masalah. Dalam penelitian ini juga digunakan pendekatan sosiologi. Peneliti juga menggunakan teknik deskriptif dalam menganalisis data pada penelitian ini. Hasil dari penelitian ini menemukan, (1) konflik kelas sosial terjadi karena: kelas atas menginginkan level kelas yang sama, kelas menengah menurut latar belakang keluarga dan keegoisan, (2) dampak konflik kelas sosial, menghindari orang yang memusuhinya, cara berfikir zero-sum, dan evil enemy, (3) solusi untuk konflik kelas sosial adalah, menghindari, konfrontasi tanpa kekerasan, dan penerimaan.
Kata Kunci : Konflik Kelas Sosial, Film, Rachel.
xi ABSTRACT
Nur Hasyami Berutu, 2021 : Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film
Supervisor I : H. Mislan, S.Pd., M.Pd
Supervisor II : Muhammad Beni Saputra, MA
In this study, the researcher examined a romantic-comedy genre film that raises the conflict about social class differences that occurred between Rachel who is from the middle-class and has a relationship with Nick who is from the upper- class, where their relationship was strongly opposed by Nick's mother named Eleanor. From this conflict, this study aims to discuss; 1) the social class conflict that occurs in the film, 2) the impact of the social class conflict, and 3) the resolution of the conflict that occurs in the film. The researcher used descriptive qualitative as the design of this research, where the data for this research was taken from dialogues and scenes in the film. The researcher applied the theory of social class conflict from Karl Marx but apart from that, the researcher also used other theories as a guide to answer questions in the formulation of the problem. In this study also used a sociological approach. Researchers also used descriptive techniques in analyzing the data in this study. The results of this study found, (1) social class conflict occured because, upper-class desires the same class level, middle-class;
based on family's background and egoistic issue, (2) the impacts of social class conflict; avoiding people who are hostile to her, zero-sum way of thinking, and evil enemy, and (3) the resolution were avoidance, nonviolent confrontation, and acceptance.
Keywords : Social Class Conflict, Film, Rachel.
xii
TABLE OF CONTENT
APPROVAL ... ii
NOTA DINAS ... iii
LETTER OF RATIFICATION... iv
ORIGINAL THESIS STATEMENT ... v
MOTTO ... vi
DEDICATION ... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... viii
ABSTRAK ... x
ABSTRACT ... xi
TABLE OF CONTENT ... xii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Problem ... 1
B. Formulation of the Problem ... 4
C. Limitation of the Problem ... 5
D. Purpose of the Research... 5
E. Significance of the Research ... 5
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A. Sociological Approach ... 6
B. Marxism ... 7
C. Marxist Theory of Social Class ... 8
D. The Impact of Social Class ... 9
E. Social Class Conflict ... 11
F. Reviewed of Related Literature ... 12
CHAPTER III: METHOD OF RESEARCH A. Design of Research ... 15
B. Source of Research ... 16
C. Technique of Data Collection ... 17
xiii
D. Technique of Data Analysis ... 18
CHAPTER IV: FINDING AND DISCUSSION A. Social Class Issue in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film ... 20
B. The Impacts of Social Class Issue in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film... 27
C. The Resolution of Social Class conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film... 33
CHAPTER V: CONCLUTION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclution ... 39
B. Suggestion ... 40
REFFERENCE ... 42
APPENDIX ... 44
1
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Problem
There are many different levels of people in this world in terms of wealth, status, and education. Many people desire a perfect existence and live happily ever after. However, everyone has their own idea of what happiness is. There are many who believe that having a lot of money will make you happy, but there are also people who believe that we can be happy even if we don't have a lot of money. There are also individuals who refuse to let other people's lives to enter their life class. Because in social life there will always be a social class to determine whether someone is in the same class or not.
Each country usually has a variety of ethnicities as well as different social classes. Each ethnic group has its own set of rules in its representative community. Asian is one of the many ethnic groups that still adhere to the social class system. Social class usually refers to hierarchical differences between individuals or groups in social life. According to Giddens in his book about Sociology tells that, “class is a group of people who stand in common relationship to the means of production – the means by which they gain a livelihood.”1 From this quote, it can be concluded that, in social life there will be a group of people who formed a social class and within that social class are people who have the same position.
There are so many definitions about social class that we can found and all of the definitions are almost the same, but the researcher found that Britannica said in its article that, a social class is a group of people within a
1 Anthony Giddens, Sociology, (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1991), p.210
2
society who possess the same socioeconomic status.2 It means that in this social life, there will be no conflict in society if someone is in the same level as other people. Peter Saunders also said in his book about social class which is:
Translated into the very different science of sociology, the concept of stratification has been adapted to refer to the different ‘layers’ or strata of social groups which are thought to be arranged, one on top of the other, in various human societies.3
From the paragraph above we can conclude that in social life there will be social class. We live in society and will find problems that exist in that community group. Especially if we are in a different class from other societies. And also we can see the description of the social class gap problem in a literary work such as a film. This is because literary works such as films are depictions of real life or are closely related to the real world as a result of the author's imaginative thought process whose story material is also inseparable from the author's life experience. One of the films with the theme of social class disparities is Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.
The issue of social class occurs in a film entitled Crazy Rich Asian.
This film is about Romantic-Comedy set in 2018, United States. As we know, this film is based on the popular novel by Kevin Kwan, a writer from Singapore. This book has led Kevin Kwan to become a world-class writer with astonishing achievements. Kevin Kwan has made it into The Hollywood Reporter's list of the most influential writers. Also Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Crazy Rich Asian film tells the story of Chinese people living in Singapore with a background as rich people, with abundant wealth makes
2 Duignan, B. (2021, January 10). Social Class: social differentiation. Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-class
3 Peter Saunders, Social Class and Stratification, (London and New York: Taylor and Francis e- Library, 2001), p.1
them belong to the upper-class. But they also really like to interfere of other people's bussines and find out about other people's lives. The Chinese who were in the upper class never allowed people from different classes to enter their family, especially if that person wasn't from the upper class like them.
Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film focuses on the romance between the two main characters, Nick Young and Rachel Chu. Nick Young is a Chinese who lives in Singapore and comes from a very rich and famous family, and is also from the upper class. Meanwhile, Rachel Chu is only a professor of economics at New York University with a background who only has a mother without knowing who and where her father is. The relationship between the two was strongly discussed by Nick's mother, Eleanor Young, on the grounds that Rachel did not deserve Nick because she came from an unclear background and Rachel was only a middle class (Proletariat) woman, not comparable to Nick who came from the upper class.
Being a middle-class woman did not make Rachel feel insecure at first, but after meeting Nick's mother and also several other upper class women, Rachel decicided to broke up with Nick because she thought they were from different classes and would never be side by side together, especially Nick's mother who doesn't like her. Karl Marx stated that such class conflict leads to a radical change in the economic based of society from a feudal system of power, based on inherited wealth and status to a capitalist system, and based on the ownership of private property.4 From the statement above, we know that in the face of society, the social classes already had a form of readiness, one of them with the establishment power structure. We also know that those who are part of the power structure are not ordinary people.
4 Charles E. Bressler, Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice, (Prentice Hall, 1998), p.210
4
The researcher chose Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film because of two reasons, the first because the researcher found that the existence of differences in social class can hinder a goal, and the second reason is it describes how social class is very influential in social life. Kevin Kwan as the screenwriter in the Crazy Rich Asian film said, "Everything is inspired by things I have seen, or experiences I've been part of in a roundabout way".
In this film we can also see how different backgrounds can causes social conflict in community.
Therefore, the researcher is very interested in analyzing what causes social class conflict, its impact, and solutions to the conflicts that occurs in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film and the end of social conflicts among the characters in the film. The researcher believes that social class lessons in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film are very important to learn because it does not only happen in the world of film or in the world of acting, but social class conflicts also occur in real life in society. So, the researcher entitles this skripsi with “Social Class Issues in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film”.
B. Formulation of the Problem
Based on background above, this research aims to find the answer of the following questions :
1) How are social class in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film?
2) What are the impacts of social class conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film?
3) How is the Resolution of social class conflict among the characters in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film?
C. Limitation of the Problem
There are many aspects that can be analyzed in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film, which was released in 2018. But to make this research focus, in this case, the researcher limits the analysis only on social class that are reflected in the film, what are the impacts and how are the resolution of the social class conflict among the characters in the film.
D. Purpose of the Research
Based on the formulation of the the problem above, the purposes of the research are :
1) To know social class in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.
2) To know the impacts of social class conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.
3) To know the resolution of social class conflict among the characters in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.
E. Significance of the Research
This research is significant in terms of making a contribution to the literature. There are two advantages to carrying out the research. This research is being carried out for both theoretical and practical purposes.
Theoretically, the researcher hopes that it is related to one of the elements of fiction, namely conflict, and that it will also be able to explain how the theory was applied in literary work.
Then, practically, this research can help readers understand the content of Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asian film. The findings of this study can be used to assist people who are experiencing social class conflict. In addition, the author hopes that this research will be a useful reference for other researchers who are interested in conducting additional research.
6 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Sociological Approach
According to Laurenson and Swingewood in their book The Sociology of Literature: “Sociology is essentially the scientific, objective study of man in society, the study of social institutions and of social processes; it seeks to answer the question of how society is possible, how it works, why it persists”.5 According to the quotation above, if a person wants to analyze a literary work using sociology of literature theory, they must relate the situation in the work with the social condition at the time the film was produced.
A sociological approach is a broad understanding of why and how a problem arises, how people are affected by it, and what is involved in dealing with it. In other words, a sociological approach is a method of discovering the meaning of the imaginary in literary works by learning about society, social classes, love affairs, religion, nature, and so on. The sociological approach can be used to develop what the researcher sees within society and deliver it in resarcher’s own style.
There are three perspectives that proposed by Laurenson and Swingewood in their book The Sociology of Literature, but the researcher will just take one of their perspectives that is, The most popular perspective adopts the documentary aspect of literature, arguing that it provides a mirror to the age.6 According to this viewpoint, literature is a direct reflection of various aspects of social structure, family relationships, class conflict, and population composition. This perspective seems to be possible to be applied in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film. Furthermore, Crazy Rich Asian film is an appropriate object for analysis using sociological approach as a theoretical framework.
5 Diana T. Laurenson and Alan Swingewood, The Sociology of Literature, (USA: Schocken Books, 1772), p.11
6 Ibid, p.13
B. Marxism
Marxism is a thought coined by a prominent philosopher and theorist in the 19th century named Karl Marx. The thought of Marx was undoubtedly a stimulus for the development of sociology, economics, philosophy, politics and culture. The presence of Marx's theories was never felt as an intellectual thought, but as an attempt by Marx to improve the conditions of life and its environment in order to escape from arbitrary oppression. Karl Marx stated in his book entitled The Communist Manifesto that:
… the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.7
The quote above provides a broad definition of how social class really is in social life. The essence is, there is always such a thing as a struggle between two groups or classes which is referred to as evidence of the struggle for equality in social life. According to Marx, this condition is an antagonistic relation between human in differentiate class, a struggle between one classes owned the means of upper-class and, while the other class owned nothing but their labor power which they were obligate to sell in order to survive.
But not only discussing about class struggle, Marx also developed a Marxist theory with several conceptions, namely the conceptions of social class, social change, power and the state where these conceptions are mutually sustainable. With the emergence of the Marxist social class theory, sociologists began to issue their views on social class and most of them had similar views. When sociologists talk of social class, they refer to a group of
7 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto. 1848. Trans. Samuel Moore.
(London: Penguin, 1967)
8
individuals who occupy a similar position in the economic system of production. Within that system occupation is very important because it provides financial rewards, stability and benefits like healthcare.8 It means that a person's social class is determined directly based on socioeconomic variables such as income, wealth, education, and occupation. It also said that, position in social class is closely related to how people places themselves in social life.
C. Marxist Theory of Social Class
Marxist social class analysis examines class structures, and changes in those structures are critical to comprehending capitalism and other social systems or modes of production. According to Marx, classes are defined by the relationships between work and labor, as well as ownership or possession of property and the means of production. The Marxist of social class is a theory that focuses on conflicts that occur in the social environment. Marxist theory explains human life in the world and Marxist theory also considers how literature views conflicts that occur in society.
Class theory is the core of Marx's social class theory, because usually a social class can be formed by a certain way of production that further shapes the identity of a particular country, creates conflict in society, and brings about major changes in social life. In social life, there are class positions which will later cause conflict because of these class differences.
The class social in Marx's view has been devided into some classes based on their society. In ancient Rome, the social status is devided into slaves and plebeians as the lower-class whereas patricians and knights are the upper- class. However, in the middle-class devided into serfs, vassals, apprentice.9
8 What is social class?, Retrived August 11th 2021, from https://udel.edu/~cmarks/What%20is%20social%20class.htm
9 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, (London: Pluto Press, 2007), p.7
1) Upper class (rich) is frequently distinguished by the possession of largely inherited wealth. The upper-class benefits greatly from the ownership of large amounts of property and the income generated by it.
2) Middle-class can be said to include middle and upper level administrative workers, those involved in technical and professional work, supervisors and managers, and self-employed workers such as small-scale shop owners, entrepreneurs, and farmers.
3) Lower-class (poor) is a group of people who are below the middle class and have the lowest social rank or standing as a result of low income and a lack of skills or education. Lower-class people are members of the social class with the lowest social status and the least money.
D. The Impact of Social Class
Dean stated that attitude and perception have a consistent valence, which means that if a person has negative or positive feelings for others, he is also dominated by negative and positive perceptions of that person. They are, however, not entirely consistent. Someone may not like another person and may have negative thoughts about that person in general, but he believes because he always has positive experiences when he relies on that person.
However, social conflicts will always bring up other issues that may or may not be related to an individual or society. The impact of social conflict cannot be separated from negative attitudes and perceptions, which eventually lead to another act. Dean stated that negative attitudes and perceptions encourage conflict escalation and that efforts are made to resolve conflicts in at least seven ways.10
1. The first way is by encouraging the tendency to blame the object's attitude towards the unpleasant experience that a person experienced.
People who get an aversive experience will usually look for someone to blame.
10 Dean. G. Pruitt, Social Conflict, Some Basic Principles, (J. Disp. Resol, 2007)
10
2. The second way, which is related to the mechanism that leads to escalation, is that parties who are not trusted tend to be perceived as a threat if their actions are ambiguous. They only get little benefit from these doubts or just a little confidence in their good intentions. This leads to an escalation of defense and prevention measures and often results in new conflicts.
3. The third way, how negative attitudes and perceptions can drive escalation, is by removing obstacles to aggression among people who have been provoked. People are reluctant to commit aggression against those they like and respect even though they can clearly be blamed for things that are not pleasant, but they will be happy to commit aggression against parties that they do not like or respect.
4. The fourth way, how negative attitudes and perceptions can encourage escalation, is to interfere with communication. People tend to avoid people who are hostile to them. This is well explained by Coleman,
“When controversy develops, the relationship with people from the opposite party will fade”.
5. The fifth way is how negative attitudes and perceptions tend to cause difficulty to empathize with opponents. Opponents are considered so different from us that it is difficult to put ourselves in their place.
6. The sixth way is that negative attitudes and perceptions can cause a
"zero-sum" way of thinking, namely the belief that what is good for you is bad for me, and vice versa. This is partly due to mistrust. The zero- sum way of thinking also rises from the negative feelings of others.
7. The seventh way is that negative attitudes and perceptions develop so badly that the opponent is then considered an "evil enemy". Conflict is considered a war between the light (our side) and dark (their side). In this situation the opposite party is to be blamed for everything that goes wrong, communication is often insufficient, empathy is very weak and problem-solving is very difficult to achieve.
E. Social Class Conflict Resolution
According to Kenny, Social conflict is a conflict between the characters against another character.11 The meaning of this quote is that the character has a conflict in social life with another character. Conflict usually occurs when an actor has a problem with another actor that causes such contractions fight. According to Jones (in Nurgiyantoro, 2012) The social conflict is defined as "a conflict that arises as a result of the interaction or contact between the story's characters. It's known as a character conflict with a social relationship, and the issue is extremely intricate, requiring a solution from one of the characters or the other.” It means that if the characters in the film are unable to find a satisfactory solution to the problem fast, it may become serious and complex. People deal with conflict in a variety of ways, therefore you need different conflict resolution strategies.
When we identify a structural basis for social conflict, we can take a variety of approaches to it. Distinguished scholars, as well as ordinary mortals, have taken widely differing positions on how to resolve such conflict. Scellenberg in his book developed five conflict resolution strategies that people use to handle conflict, including:
1) Avoidance; Someone who employs a "avoiding" strategy tries to ignore or sidestep the conflict in the hope that it will resolve or dissipate on its own.
2) Acceptance; this approach recognizes that conflict may be based on social structural foundations, but it sees the conflict as so basic a part of life that we can do little about it except study it.
3) Gradual Reform; the structure of society is too well established to try to do much about it, but it can be changed little by little by continuing to deal with the sources of social tension. Thus through an evolutionary kind of change, policies of social reform can achieve a restructuring of society.
11 W. Kenny, How to Analyze Fiction, (New York: Harper Colling Publisher Inc, 1996), p.32
12
4) Nonviolent Confrontation; One may enlist directly in movements for fundamental social change, and seek to accomplish that change in the near future, but without violence.
5) Violent Confrontation; Keeping always present the possibility of violent tactics is seen by some as the most effective way to seek basic social change.12
F. Reviewed of Related Literature
In this part, there are several journals, research, or articles that are relevant to the issue, the first research is by Muhammad Akbar Fiyadi. This research entitled Social Conflict in the Novel The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald (2021). The purpose of this study is to look into the social conflicts in the novel The Great Gastby. This study was carried out to assist readers in identifying and comprehending the novel's social conflicts. This research also uses Marxist theory to analyze the problems. After analyzing the findings, it was determined that due to the personalities of each character in the novel, it was not possible to find other solutions to end the novel peacefully.
And then there is Muhammad Tomy Mahfudz. This paper, Class Struggle as Seen in the Upside Down Movie (2017), examines a social class issue through the lens of different objects. It tells the story of film as a literary text in audio-visual form. The film depicts two worlds with significant differences: that is, the rich live in the Up Top World, while the poor live in the Down Below World. Both worlds are only linked by a single large corporation known as Transworld. The disparities between the two worlds result in a social status or social class gap. The goals of this research are to discover how the bourgeoisie and proletariat are depicted in film, as well as how the class struggle was carried out. The main theory in this study
12 James A. Scellenberg, Conflict Resolution: Theory, Research, and Practice, (State University of New York Press, 1996), p.99-100
was Marxist theory, with Film theory serving as a supporting theory. After analyzing all of the data, the researcher concluded that because of the restriction and differentiation between the two worlds, the proletariat parties would engage in a class struggle for equality.
In a similar vein to Muhammad Tomy's article on the issue of social class, Chaesary Rekinagara's study is titled Class Struggle and Conflict as Seen Through Characters in Veronica Roth's Divergent (2015). It is a dystopian novel that uses an ardent Marxist belief to depict the novel's central conflict. This novel is about classes in dystopian Chicago, where people are classified into different groups based on their personality traits.
This novel is worth studying because it elevates the struggle of ordinary people to stand up to the superstructure as a result of capitalist society.
Reading this novel can make you feel the class struggle and conflict between classes. Each character in this novel represents the social class in which they reside. Class struggle and conflict are powerful to analyze because they occur invariably in a capitalist society because the base and superstructure have opposing interests.
The last article is by Hsin-Yun Ou, entitled The Chinese Stereotyical Signification in “Ah Sin” (2013). This paper also discusses a similar issue to the researcher's, which was social class in the Chinese class system. This paper investigates a racial ideology exemplified in Ah Sin as it manifested itself in a variety of settings, particularly the Gilded Age economy and the conventions of yellowface performance. The play, by emphasizing the ambivalence of the Chinese title character, takes a decisive step toward disrupting what Homi Bhabha refers to as the "fixity" of racialized stereotypes.
From several of the studies above, it can be seen that the relevance of the studies above with this research is the similarity in studying the problems of social class. However, most of the studies above discuss class struggle, while this research focuses on the depiction of social class in Kevin Kwan’s
14
Crazy Rich Asian, and also the end of social conflict among among the characters in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.
15 CHAPTER III
METHOD OF RESEARCH
A. Design of Research
In writing this thesis, the researcher employs descriptive qualitative research that is appropriate for the purpose of this study. Descriptive qualitative research is possible. The information is gathered in the form of words as a descriptive explanation rather than numbers. The research findings include data quotations to illustrate and substantively support the presentation. Descriptive research is research that aims to accurately describe a phenomenon based on research characteristics, with data analyzed through interpretation rather than statistical analysis. According to Denzin and Lincoln define:
Qualitative research is multi method in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study thing in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials-case study, personal experience, introspective, life story, interview, observational, historical, interactional, and visual textsthat describe routine and problematic moments and meaning in individuals‟ lives.13
According to the quotation above, qualitative research is a method that focuses on a naturalistic approach to the subject matter. It means that qualitative researchers investigate phenomena in their natural contexts, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings that people assign to them. Descriptive Analysis is the transformation of raw data into a form that will make them easy to
13 Denzin and Lincoln in John W. Creswell, Qualitative Inquiry And Research Design, (United States of America: California, 1997), p.15
16
understand and interpret; rearranging, ordering, and manipulating data to generate descriptive information.14
It means that qualitative research is analyzing about descriptive data such as writer or spoken, at the person who is observed in this research, where qualitative research also analyzing about the data from outside which the data still not right.15 The researcher finds it simple to analyze the film using this qualitative research. Based on those statements, it is possible to conclude that qualitative research examines descriptive data collected in the form of a natural object's situation. Where descriptive data, such as written or spoken data, is used, qualitative research is used, the researcher will have answers about the question in analyzing the problem about social class in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.
B. Source of Data
Siswantoro noticed that : “Primary data is the main data, that is the data selected or obtained directly from the source without”.16
Data Source in this study is a famous Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film. Crazy Rich Asian film consist of 2 hours and 1 minute, and also was released on August 15, 2018 in United States. This film actually is about Romantic-Comedy and as we know, this film is based on the popular novel by Kevin Kwan, a writer from Singapore. The researcher will use the script and the scenes from the film to identify the social class issue and its impact toward the characters in the film. Therefore the forms of the data are dialogues and picture from Crazy Rich Asian film.
14 William G Zikmund, Research Methods, 2003, p.2
15 Martinis Yamin,Metodologi Penelitian Pendidikan dan Sosial Kualitatif dan Kuantitatif, (Jakarta: Gaung Persada Press, 2009), p.186
16 Siswantoro, Metode Penelitian Sastra Analisis Struktur Puisi. Cet-IV. (Yogyakarta : Pustaka Pelajar, 2016), p.73
C. Technique of Data Collection
According to Creswell, “The data collection procedures in qualitative research involve four basic types: observation, interview, documentation and visual image”.17
The goal of data collection is to gather information about the topics.
There are numerous methods for gathering data, like Chaterine Marshall And Gretchen B Rossman stated that: “the fundamental methods relied on by qualitative researcher for gathering information, participation in the setting, direct observation, in-depth interviewing, document review.”18 It means that in qualitative research, there are some data collection methods, such as participant observation, direct observation, interviews, and document review. The researcher uses documentation to gather information and analyze the research problem.
Sugiyono stated that, Dokumen merupakan catatan peristiwa yang sudah berlalu. Dokumen bisa berbentuk tulisan,gambar, atau karya-karya monumetal dari seseorang.19 Furthermore Atkinson and Coffey stated that:
Documents contain text (words) and images that have been recorded without a researcher’s intervention. For the purposes of this discussion, other mute or trace evidence, such as cultural artifacts, is not included. Documents as ‘social facts’, which are produced, shared, and used in socially organized ways.20
Based on the quotations above, documentation refers to how events are recorded in the form of a document, a note, or a saved file. It is about events or things that happened in the past. There are some types of documentation, such as photographs and literary works created by someone.
Therefore, documentation is one of the usable methods to literature
17 John W Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, (United Stated of America, 1994), p.148
18 Sugiyono, Metode Penelitian Pendidikan, (Bandung: Alfabeta, 2012), p.309
19 Sugiyono, Op. Cit., p.240
20 Glem A Bowen, Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method, (California: Western Carolina University, 2009), p.1
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research. The researcher will perform some data collection steps in this study as seen below.:
1) Downloading the film
The researcher downloaded Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film from Netflix and took the script from www.scriptslug.com.
2) Watching the film repeatedly
The researcher watches the film repeatedly and takes the scenes and dialogues that related to formulation of problem in this research 3) Reading the script and making notations on the sentences
The researcher reads the the script and highlights the words or sentences that are related to formulation of problem in this research.
D. Technique of Data Analysis
After the researcher done to collecting all data that relevant to the research, the next step is the writer tried to analyze all the data to find the result for this research. Bogdan noticed that :
Data analysis is the process of systematically searching and compiling data obtained from interviews, field notes and other materials, so that they can be easily understood, and their findings can be shared with others.21
Based on statement above data analysis is the process of searching for and organizing data obtained from interviews, field notes, and other materials in a systematic manner so that it can be easily understood and findings can be communicated to others. It means that analyzing data entails searching for information related to the formulation of a problem through interviews, field notes, and other materials and then organizing it in a
21 Andi Prastowo, Metode Penelitian Kualitatif Dalam Perspektif Rancangan Penelitian, (Yogyakarta: Ar-Ruzz Media, 2011), p.208
systematic manner so that it can be easily understood and communicated to others. Nawawi noticed:
Descriptive method can be interpreted as a problem solving procedure that is investigated by describing state of the subject or object of research (novels, dramas, short stories, poems) at the present time based on the facts that appear or as they are .22
Based on statement above, descriptive method is the way to find out the answer of problems. Descprtive method can be used to data in the form descriptive also, so this method can help writer to find out the answer. In order to make this research more specific, the researcher must go through some steps in data analysis.
The first step is identifying. The researcher will identify the data and make assumptions or finds the social class issue in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film. Second, classifying the data. The researcher will classify the data in forms of action, conversation and expression in the film witch are related to Social class issue. Third step is analysing, describing and explaining. The researcher will analyze, describe and explain the data about kinds of social class issue as seen in the film, how is the end of social conflict in the film. The last step is making the conclution. The researcher will reach a conclusion after all of the data in the study has been analyzed, described, and explained.
22 Siswantoro, Metode Penelitian Sastra Analisis Struktur Puisi 4th edition, (Yogyakarta : Pustaka Pelajar, 2016), p.73
20 CHAPTER IV
FINDING AND DISCUSSION
This chapter contains of finding and analysis of data which is taken from Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film.
A. Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film
As discussed in chapter 2, to analyze the formulation of the first problem that discusses the social class issue, the researcher uses the Marxist theory by Karl Marx. Marxist is a socioeconomic analysis method that employs a materialist interpretation of historical development to comprehend class relations and social conflict, as well as a dialectical viewpoint to comprehend social transformation. It means that a person's social class is determined directly based on socioeconomic variables such as income, wealth, education, and occupation. It also said that, position (upper-class, middle-class, lower-class) in social class is closely related to how people places themselves in social life. The position of a person in this social class is what makes the researcher interested in examining the Crazy Rich Asian film which also discusses social class.
Because it turns out that a person's position in social class greatly affects how a person will be treated in social life.
Crazy Rich Asian is a film written by Singaporean-American novelist Kevin Kwan. Crazy Rich Asian film tells about the life of the rich Chinese in Singapore, who have abundant wealth so they belong to the upper class. But they also like to interfere other people's business and find out about other people's lives. Abundant Chinese wealth can’t just accept other people who want to enter into his family. Especially if other people not from the rich group like them. This film tells the story of Nick Young and Rachel Chu's relationship which is opposed due to different backgrounds. The researcher found several scenes that show the depiction of social class issue in this film, as shown below.
1) Upper-Class Desires the Same Class Level
When Rachel arrived in Singapore, Rachel took the time to visit her best friend from college in America named Peik Lin. The Peik Lin family is one of the richest people in Singapore. At first, Rachel and Peik Lin's family only engaged in casual conversation, such as the Peik Lin family thanking Rachel for wanting to be friends with Peik Lin when they were still studying in America while eating lunch at the dinner table. Until Peik Lin said that Rachel came to Singapore with her boyfriend and Neenah (Peik Lin's mother) asked Rachel's boyfriend's name because they might know him from the small country of Singapore. And Rachel's answer when she mentioned her boyfriend's name really made Peik Lin's family shocked and couldn't believe it. Like the snippets of pictures and short conversations below:
(Picture 1)23
Peik Lin : The Nick you’re dating is Nick Young?! (Shocked) Rachel : Yeah. You guys know them or something?
Wye Mun : Hell yeah. The Young… I mean, who doesn’t know who they are? They’re just the biggest developers in all of Singapore. And Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, New Mexico.
Peik Lin : Did you not know?
Rachel : I don’t really know what they are, I mean, I haven’t met them yet …24
23 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:30:37 – 00:31:44
24 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:30:37 – 00:31:44
22
Seeing from the picture and conversation above, Peik Lin and even her family were very surprised that what Rachel meant as her boyfriend was Nick who came from the Young family. Where no one does not know that the Young family is the most influential person in Singapore and several other countries as said by Wye Mun (Peik Lin's father). Peik Lin was even more shocked because Rachel did not know the background of her boyfriend, which made Rachel speechless when Peik Lin's family explained and told how the very famous Nick Young family was rich in Singapore. Rachel said she only knew that Nick was just an ordinary man who made the Peik Lin family laugh at her.
After hearing all the information about Nick's family, Rachel said that Nick invited her to a party at Nick's grandmother's house tonight, but again Peik Lin was surprised by Rachel as seen in the conversation below:
Peik Lin : You’re going to Nick’s grandma’s house wearing this? Wearing that? No way. No way.
Rachel : Yeah, I thought red was a lucky color, right?
Peik Lin : Rachel, these people aren’t just rich, okay. They’re crazy rich.
Rachel : Yeah, but Nick is not like that.
Peik Lin : Even if he isn’t, I guarantee you the family is.
Which is why tonight, you need to not look like Sebastian of The Little Mermaid. You know, little crab guy.25
From the conversation above, it can be seen that Peik Lin did not expect that Rachel said she was going to a party at Nick's grandmother's house with the red dress she was wearing, where the dress Rachel was wearing was very old-fashioned, unbranded and looked very cheap which of course
25 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:31:50 – 00:32:54
would not be suitable to wear to rich people's party and it will certainly be luxurious. Peik Lin strongly opposed Rachel's plan to only wear her red dress to the party, so Peik Lin took Rachel to her walk-in closet to choose clothes that would suit Rachel to the party. Because Peik Lin does not want Rachel to be humiliated by Nick's family in the middle of the party because of her tacky dress. As Peik Lin said, maybe Nick did accept Rachel as she was, but not necessarily with the man's family.
2) Middle-Class
a. Family’s Background Issue
Some people from the upper classes have behavior that seems antagonistic, for example, do not hesitate to ask other people something related to work. The question is said regardless of whether it offends the other person or not. Upper class people always want to know a person's family background whether that person is from the same social class or not, because most of them want to have a good relationship only with people from the same class because it is considered profitable. As an example of what Eleanor is doing to Rachel, which can be seen in the scene and conversation below:
(Picture 2)26
Eleanor : Nick tells me you’re a professor, what do you teach?
Rachel : Um, I teach Economics.
26 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:39:33 – 00:39:49
24
Eleanor : So, Economics. Sounds challenging.
(Subtly fishing) … are your parents academics, as well?
Rachel : No.27
The scene above takes place at Nick's Grandmother’s party which held at his grandmother's house. Nick also invites Rachel to come to the party so that Nick can introduce Rachel to his family, especially Nick's mother. So Nick takes Rachel to see his mother first. From the picture and dialogue above, we can see clearly that Eleanor try to investigate Rachel’s background even in their first meet. In Eleanor and Rachel's first meeting, Nick's mother had even made a bad impression by asking about Rachel’s profession and about her father and mother.
Rachel : Well, my dad actually died before I was born and, um, my mom didn’t even go to college. She actually hardly spoke any English when she immigrated to the United States.
Eleanor : … well, your mother is very open-minded, not like here, where parents are obsessed with shaping the life of their children.
(It sounds like a compliment, but Rachel isn’t entirely sure. Eleanor turns away again to talk to a passing COOK before returning to Rachel. Eleanor shoots Nick a look. He shifts, uncomfortable, and is relieved to hear a MUSICAL GONG from upstairs.)28
Based on the dialogue excerpt data above, it is very clear that Eleanor does not like Rachel, especially when Eleanor heard herself that Rachel was not from the same class as Nick and Rachel's background wasn't even clear at all. While they were talking, Eleanor gave Rachel a cold attitude for her distaste for her son's choice and Nick even Rachel realized it. Actually, it was not only Eleanor who asked about
27 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:39:33 – 00:39:49
28 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:39:51 – 00:40:35
Rachel's background, but all of Nick's family who attended the party asked the same thing that made Rachel uncomfortable.
(Picture 3)29
All the Young family attended this event including Astrid (Nick's cousin) and her husband Michael. Astrid is described as a glamorous, alluring, and considerate woman who lives a glamorous lifestyle. She is from an upper-class family and is a successful businesswoman. She is a woman of enormous wealth. She is not only wealthy, but she is also charitable in her charitable giving. Michael is Astrid's husband.
Unlike Astrid, Michael comes from a middle-class background. In comparison to Astrid, he leads a normal existence. The couple started out their marriage pleasantly, everything went smoothly, and they even had a baby boy. Until finally Astrid accidentally saw an incoming message on Michael's cellphone, when the man left for a while. The person who sent the message is a woman, in the text it reads "The bed feels empty without you" Astrid could not believe what she was seeing. Her husband is cheating on her and she does not know what to do. After that Astrid, who was always confident in herself, became insecure again, she always thought about what made Michael
29 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 00:44:36
26
cheat on her, and thought what she lacked to make her husband cheat on her and that made her even more insecure.
b. Egoistic Issue
Rachel visits Ah Ma's house (Nick's grandmother) for the second time because Ah Ma invites Rachel to come to her house so that Ah Ma can teach Rachel how to make dumplings. At that time some of the Young's family were also gathering to make dumplings together. The activities that the Young family usually do are just to take a break from their work and get together and share stories. Everything seemed normal, they chatted casually, even Rachel also said that she had never felt how a big family gathered and chatted casually like them. Until a few moments later, Rachel wanted to go to the toilet, so when Rachel left the dining room to go to the toilet, and when she wanted to go back to the dining room she went the wrong way because the house was too big until finally on the stairs Rachel accidentally met Eleanor.
Eleanor comes to Rachel and they walk and talk through the halls of Tyersall. Since they were alone, so Eleanor took the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with Rachel. Eleanor tells how she also was not approved by Nick's grandmother to be his son's wife. It took many years for Eleanor for the Young family to accept her because Eleanor was also not from the same class as the Young family, As explained by the following dialogue:
(Picture 4)30
Eleanor : I didn’t come from the right family, have the right connections. And Ah Ma thought I would not make an adequate wife to her son.
Rachel : But, she came around, obviously.
Eleanor : … Because I had no idea the work and the sacrifice it would take. There were many days when I wondered if I would ever measure up—
But having been through it all, I know this much...
You will never be enough.31
As explained in the dialogue above that Eleanor was originally also the same as Rachel, she was not from the upper class and Ah Ma also did not approve of Eleanor with her son because she thought Eleanor would not be able to meet her son. That is, what Ah Ma did to Eleanor made Eleanor behave the same way with Rachel. If in their first meeting Eleanor didn't show too much dislike for Rachel because Nick was with them, it was different with their second meeting where they were currently alone, Eleanor clearly said that Rachel would never be able to stand by Nick even though Eleanor had been through what Rachel is currently experiencing.
B. The Impacts of Social Class Conflict in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Film
However, social conflicts will always raise other issues which may refer to an individual or society. The impact of the social class conflict itself is certainly not separated from negative attitude and perception which finally cause another act. This kind of thing is also illustrated in the Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian film, where the social class conflict occurred in the story
30 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 1:12:32 – 1:13:13
31 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 1:12:32 – 1:13:13
28
also raises other issues. Problems that occur due to social class conflict also ultimately have an impact, especially to Rachel who is the main character in the film.
As the main character in the film, Rachel is the one who has problems with the class differences that she has with her lover, Nick. The problem begins when Rachel is invited to meet Nick's family who are from the upper-class.
Then Nick's mother, Eleanor, who is openly against their relationship. In addition to Rachel who comes from the middle-class, there is also Michael who has a middle-class status. But the difference is, Michael is already married to Astrid who is from the upper-class. However, the conflicts create a lot of negative attitudes and perceptions that encourage the escalation of the conflict.
1) Avoiding People Who Are Hostile to Her
The impact that Rachel experienced as a result of the social conflict that occurred was emergence of other negative attitudes and perceptions that can also lead to conflict escalation, namely the emergence of suspicion in people who cannot more trusted and will tend to avoid it. Dean said in the impact of social class conflict number two, which is related to the mechanism that leads to escalation, is that parties who are not trusted tend to be perceived as a threat if their actions are ambiguous. They only get little benefit from these doubts or just a little confidence in their good intentions. This leads to an escalation of defense and prevention measures and often results in new conflicts. In addition, Dean also explains that people tend to avoid people who are hostile to them. It can be seen in the scene when Rachel attended bachelor party of Araminta and Collin.
During the party, not a few of those from the upper-class sneered at Rachel because Rachel was not from the same circle as them. Their hatred becomes even clearer when Rachel returns to the inn and encounters a threat like the one shown below:
(Picture 5)32
(“CATCH THIS, YOU GOLD-DIGGING BITCH!”) Astrid : I’ll call security— (Shocked)
Rachel : No.
I’m not gonna make a scene.
I’m not gonna give them the satisfaction.33
As can be seen from the picture above, they pose threats to rachel like, on the bed is a LARGE, GUTTED FISH. Its blood and guts all over the white sheets. On one of the windows are words scrawled in red “CATCH THIS, YOU GOLD-DIGGING BITCH!”. It's obvious that they don't like Rachel and Nick's relationship, Rachel is considered a woman who wants to take advantage of Nick's wealth to elevate her. So they made threats to Rachel hoping that Rachel would freak out and leave Nick. But as Rachel told Astrid as in the dialogue above, Rachel chose to ignore them even though Rachel was aware of how much they disliked Rachel. Rachel didn't want to create a new conflict with people from the upper-class.
2) “Zero-Sum” Way of Thinking
According to Dean about impact of social class conflict in number sixth, is that negative attitudes and perceptions can cause a "zero-sum" way of thinking, namely the belief that what is good for you is bad for me, and
32 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 1:02:25 – 1:02:48
33 Crazy Rich Asian Film, Duration: 1:02:25 – 1:02:48