Just Curious

Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (2004)

I just watched the stoner-movie Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, and found it to be a fairly refreshing experience. It basically is a road-trip movie about two stoners, Harold, a Korean American investment banker, and Kumar, an Indian American medical student, trying to satisfy their munchies by undertaking a midnight adventure to the 24-hour slider burger joint White Castle.

It is a film that has to be watched from the beginning to the end, and viewed as a whole, for if one takes out any one scene from it and examines it up close and personal, the scene probably would't be funny or humorous at all. It is the gradual buildup of a chain of one after another surreal situation our heroes found themselves in that makes the movie humorous in a very sly way.

I don't know if any of you out there have this similar experience. You're watching this comedy, and instead of laughing your tears out (many of who to get Harold and Kumar did in fact), you are being constantly provoked by outwardly grotesque yet inwardly very clever puns and jokes, that sorta' tickle your funny bone in a very subtle way.

It is a social commentary in a very subtle way. Ethnic profiling, racial discrimination, stereotyping, etc. are all poked fun at. The makers of this film clearly did not adopt a confrontational and angry stance against the injustice our heroes have to face, including being stopped by a racist cop three o'clock in the morning; harassed by a gang of hooligans for no reason, etc., etc. Instead, they let our heroes, conformist kids as they are, subvert "the system" that is so prejudicial against them in very light-hearted, surreal (who would use a glider to get to a burger joint?) and humerous ways.

The whole racism thing is depicted in a very tongue-in-cheek way that helped to easily earn the sympathy of white audiences for our heroes without them even realizing it. Instead of protesting their unfair treatment vehemently, our heroes gleefully overlooked these nonsense, and instead put up a really perseverent effort to get what they want (be it a White Castle burger, or the American dream), letting Lady Justice to take care of their adversaries. Instead of portraying racism as something evil and scary, the filmmakers portray it more or less as something "un-cool." Notice that such a treatment could have far greater impact on gen-Y Americans than any treatise written by Professors W.E.B. DuBois or Randall Kennedy. At the same time, codemies are always the best venues for stereotypes that are otherwise sinister to be perverted. How refreshing it is to have a Korean and an Indian American stoner in the first place!

Anyhow, I recommend anyone who wants to watch a wickedly intelligent movie to go watch this one. It's a hilarious experience.

posted by James Chang @ 1:25 PM