Man. Reality TV just got so much more interesting with the introduction of Netflix’ latest showing ‘Bling Empire’.
It follows a group of prominent Asian-American celebrities as high-society faces as they navigate their way through life in Los Angeles.
From some of the production team who brought us ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ comes something that is new and exotic, but at the same time is also typical trash TV that’s fun to watch and hard to forget.
It stars model Kevin Kreider, tech billion-heiress Jaime Xie, millionaire couple Christine and Gabriel Chiu, mom, musician and heiress Cherie Chan, Anna Shay, who’s the daughter of an international arms dealer, hairdresser and personality Guy Tang, and entrepreneur Kane Lim.
They are just like your average hot and happening celebrities, but bring in that Asian flair and twist made popular by blockbuster film ‘Crazy Rich Asians’.
In this series, the group made up of people from China, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and others purport to be the ‘real-life’ versions of the movie characters and promise that reality is a lot more dramatic than fiction could ever be.
From celebrating one or other Asian holiday in spectacular fashion, to closing down whole streets for their parties, or having major fashion labels come all the way to their homes for personal buying, the cast of this new series makes sure to exclude nothing, going as far to show us their relationship problems, their struggles with having children, their hopes and dreams for the future, and their heartbreaks and disappointments.
What sets this show apart is that they seem a lot less scripted and a whole lot more honest than what we usually see from reality TV. There are no forced plots or storylines, no made-up drama and no fake conversations. The characters are open and honest, and not afraid to speak their minds.
What there is though, is a glimpse into what the super rich spend their time doing.
Be it petty arguments over jewellery, pranking each other and taking it a little too far, or jetting across the world like it’s no big deal, it can be interesting to see just how the fabulous Asian and Asian-American community is moving through life.
Then there are also the super deep and intimate moments that leave you pensive, but also grateful that these people would share this much of themselves with the audience for the sake of good television.
We see them talk about their relationship fears, their struggles with honouring family dynasties, with letting their pride down and with finding out the truth about their heritage.
It’s definitely a must watch if you love a little drama, and of course if you want to learn a thing or two about this very vibrant and colourful community.
– Anne Hambuda is a poet, writer and social commentator.
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