Xuenou > Featured > I Can’t Stop Laughing At The Opening Scene From The New Trailer For “Joy Ride,” And I’m Not The Only One Who Feels Seen By It
I Can’t Stop Laughing At The Opening Scene From The New Trailer For “Joy Ride,” And I’m Not The Only One Who Feels Seen By It
I Can't Stop Laughing At The Opening Scene From The New Trailer For "Joy Ride," And I'm Not The Only One Who Feels Seen By It,"I need to know nothing else about this movie. I'll see it on that alone."

I Can’t Stop Laughing At The Opening Scene From The New Trailer For “Joy Ride,” And I’m Not The Only One Who Feels Seen By It

This week, the trailer for Joy Ride — a new raunchy movie starring Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu as well as Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, and Sabrina Wu — dropped at South by Southwest. Directed by Adele Lim, the film follows four Asian American friends as they travel through Asia in search of one of their biological mothers. And one particular clip from the trailer has been going viral online.

ET / Lionsgate / Via youtube.com

And then Lolo does something I can only describe as inner child healing: She punches the kid in the face, prompting Audrey to ask her, “You want to be best friends?”

ET / Lionsgate / Via youtube.com

Just for good measure, the scene shows the boy running off crying while clutching his face before accidentally getting kicked by another kid on a swing.

ET / Lionsgate / Via youtube.com

I laughed while watching the trailer, and I laughed while writing this article. 

While the entire trailer is hilarious (it’s got Bop It, Cardi B, and K-pop references), many people are calling out this scene in particular. From Twitter…

<

blockquote>
@Voltairdontcare, @iamvanessachang, @theasianeducator / Via tiktok.com tiktok.com tiktok.com

Personally, I’m obsessed. As someone who also moved to a white town and was called “chink” (and, on occasion, “chink bitch,” lest we forget intersectionality) by other kids, I found it so relatable and vindicating to see little Lolo curse at and clock that kid in the face — especially when so much anti-Asian bullying is normalized.

This one boy would call me a “chink” day after day on the bus ride home, and no one — including the bus driver — would ever say a word. When I reported it to my vice principal — who, I believe, was actually the only Asian staff member at the school — her face instantly dropped. She asked me for the kid’s name, and I never heard anything from him again. 

Beyond this scene, many people are excited about the Asian women–led movie for dimensionalizing female Asian characters and representing transracial adoptees in a heartfelt and hilarious story.

Rick Kern / Getty Images for Lionsgate

You can catch the entire trailer for Joy Ride, in theaters July 7, below — and let me know what you think in the comments!


View this video on YouTube

ET / Lionsgate / Via youtube.com