A decade ago, before Celine Song scored two Oscar nominations for her debut film, Past Lives, she was a struggling playwright searching for odd jobs to make ends meet. She didn’t have the latte-art skills to be a barista and couldn’t land a steady babysitting gig without prior experience. But with a tip from a friend already in the industry, she secured a role as a matchmaker in Manhattan.
A naive creature might assume Song’s meetings with clients seeking their soulmates involved conversations about hobbies, work-life balance, or procreation. In fact, the initial consultation was far more mathematical: they listed their requirements for height, income, age, and, yes, race. “All of the men would say ‘fit.’ What they meant was 20 BMI, just one level above underweight,” Song remembers.…
