Monsters at the Movies
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Reviewed by Nick Spake
GRADE: B After years of stereotyping, typecasting, and even whitewashing, western entertainment is finally starting to craft more complex roles for Asian performers. Not only has there been several acclaimed TV shows like Fresh Off the Boat and Andi Mack, but Crazy Rich Asians dominated the box office three weeks in a row. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is another romantic comedy that shines the spotlight on a strong Asian lead. What makes this adaptation of Sofia Alvarez’s young adult novel so encouraging is that the film doesn’t call attention to itself for being diverse. Actually, you could take out the fact that the protagonist is part Asian and it wouldn’t change the narrative in the slightest. There seems to be a mentality in Hollywood that if a lead is a person of color, that needs to be the focus of the movie. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, however, demonstrates that ethnicity doesn’t need to govern a character’s entire personality. Lana Condor delivers a lovable breakthrough performance as Lara Jean, a shy teenage girl struggling to navigate through life as she enters her junior year of high school and her older sister Margot (Janel Parrish) goes off to college. Margot is also leaving behind her ex-boyfriend Josh (Israel Broussard), who was originally Lara Jean’s best male 46
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friend and longtime crush. Although Lara Jean never had the guts to reveal her true feelings to Josh, she unleashed all of her emotions in a love letter years ago. Lara Jean actually wrote letters to every boy she’s ever had a crush on, keeping them hidden away in a secret box. A can of worms is opened when the letters are accidentally mailed, sending Lara Jean into panic mode. In addition to Josh, a letter is also sent to the hunky Peter (Noah Centineo), who Lara Jean kissed in a game of spin-the-bottle during their early teens. In order to convince Josh that she no longer has feelings for him and salvage her relationship with Margot,
