Learning Mahjong and that one scene in Crazy Rich Asians

It’s been roughly 7 years since the movie Crazy Rich Asians came out, but I thought now was as good a time as any to resurface this masterpiece of summer cinema. I say that half-jokingly, I really did enjoy this movie quite a bit. It has been a while since I’ve seen it though, and therefore slightly odd that I feel the need to talk about it now.

For everyone who has seen it, I want to focus in on that climactic scene towards the end of the movie where our main character, Rachel, is playing a game of Mahjong. She is squaring off against Eleanor, who in the film is Nick’s (Rachel’s boyfriend) ruthless mom. Lucky for us, Eleanor is portrayed by the G.O.A.T. of ruthlessness, Michelle Yeoh. If you don’t remember this scene, let me refresh your memory by retelling the scene as I remember it, which will become important why in just a minute.

In this scene, Rachel is sitting with two elderly women when our queen Michelle Yeoh walks up to the table and sits down for a game of Mahjong. It’s a tense scene, and you just know its about to get real. In this scene, the two women are talking about Nick, and Rachel informs Eleanor that he has proposed to her. You can see Eleanor’s heart sink when she hears this news. However, as Rachel explains that she received the proposal, she quells Eleanor’s fears by telling her that she turned Nick down. Then, she delivers the final blow by making it known that Eleanor should be thanking her for giving Eleanor the future she always envisioned for her son. When the speech ends, Eleanor lays out her tiles smugly revealing her hand. It’s then followed by Rachel revealing her hand - the winning hand. End scene.

Which brings me to this past weekend and the fact that I finally learned how to play Mahjong. My partner and her family embrace their Filipino and Asian heritage, so her parents took it upon themselves to teach me and another family outsider (my partner’s sister’s fiancé) how to play. Mahjong is truly a game that brings families and friends together, so they graciously shared their many years of experience. And, as a result, I learned what actually happens in that aforementioned scene.

I won’t go into all the rules here, but essentially, the game is similar to Gin Rummy. If you aren’t familiar with Gin Rummy, then my next best comparison is Phase 10. If you know neither, well I apologize because I am out of ideas. The gist of Mahjong is similar to those games in that the tiles are comprised of four suits, not unlike a deck of cards, and the goal is to create 3-of-a-kinds, small straights, and pairs, until you have completed your hand of 17 tiles. The first to complete their hand wins the game.

The next day, with my newly acquired knowledge, I thought it would be a fun idea to go back and watch the Mahjong scene one more time. Giddy with excitement, I pulled up the scene on YouTube. I wanted to observe their playing style and watch their movements, pausing the screen at different moments to get a good look at the tiles in their hands. I felt this would bring more context to the scene. The moment Rachel shows her “winning hand,” I noticed that it wasn’t a winning hand at all! I was aghast. This didn’t make sense to me. Insert facepalm emoji. If you know the rules of Mahjong, and were paying closer attention than me, you would notice that Rachel lets her win. (I can picture everyone nodding their head vigorously right now as they read this.) She purposefully discards the tile she needs to complete her winning hand, thus allowing Eleanor to complete hers. As you might have guessed, Rachel’s speech leading up to that moment make so much more sense to me now. In retrospect, this is all blatantly obvious. Insert clown emoji.

If you’re like me and you never caught that subtlety at the end of movie, go back and watch it. It’s worth revisiting with the added context. And I know this all sounds trivial, but I must say that my new love for Mahjong, and my increased appreciation for that movie have made for quite a unique weekend. I can’t expect every holiday weekend to be like this, but I’ll take it every time it presents itself. I learned a new game. I learned more about my partner’s family, and I learned that I don’t ever stand a chance at winning as long as they’re at the table.