“Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu has shared a heartfelt letter he sent to the members of Coldplay asking for permission to use their hit song “Yellow” in his movie.
Chu wanted to reappropriate the word “yellow”, which has been used as a derogatory slur against Asians for years, and believed using the Coldplay song in the film would help towards that cause.
“We’re going to own that term,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “If we’re going to be called yellow, we’re going to make it beautiful.”
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According to Chu, Warner Bros. were initially worried about the song’s title and how its use in the movie could be misunderstood.
“They were like, ‘Whoa, we can’t do that, what do you think people will say?’ And I told them, ‘Well, a white director couldn’t do it,'” Chu said in an interview with Quartzy. “All credit to them, I said, ‘Guys trust me on this one,’ and they gave in.”
The 38-year-old filmmaker had a little more trouble convincing Coldplay, who initially rejected the request. Undeterred, Chu decided to write a personal letter to the band’s members — Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion — and explained why he wanted the song in his movie.
In the letter, shared by THR, Chu wrote about his “complicated relationship” with the colour yellow, “From being called the word in a derogatory way throughout grade school, to watching movies where they called cowardly people yellow, it’s always had a negative connotation in my life. That is, until I heard your song.
“I remember seeing the music video in college for the first time on TRL,” he continued. “That one shot with the sun rising was breathtaking for both my filmmaker and music-loving side. It immediately became an anthem for me and my friends and gave us a new sense of pride we never felt before.”
“We could reclaim the colour for ourselves and it has stuck with me for the majority of my life.”
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Within 24 hours of sending the letter, Coldplay changed their minds and allowed Chu to use “Yellow” in “Crazy Rich Asians”, which is the first Hollywood film to feature an all-Asian cast in 25 years.
The version of “Yellow” featured in the movie is a Mandarin cover by “The Voice” season 10 contestant Katherine Ho.
