Destroying Stereotypes In 'Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle'
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08
Fall
Destroying Stereotypes in “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle”
Keith Hernandez
3/6/12
Professor Sandoval
CHLS 341
“Harold and Kumar go to White Castle” is a film unlike any I’ve ever seen. Not because it involved to successful “pot heads”, not because it their journey to a White Castle restaurant took an entire night to get to (although that is part of it), or even because it starred Neil Patrick Harris as a complete drug addict looking for the next party. It was because it starred two stars--previously only known for portraying characters based on their ethnicity-- in the leading role. Actors John Cho and Kal Penn had their biggest acting breaks before “Harold and Kumar” as “that Asian guy from American Pie” and “that Indian guy from Van Wilder”, where they both played the “typical Asian/ Indian” stereotype. Writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg wrote Harold and Kumar to be your typical everyday kind of guy, excluding of course the fact that they smoke a lot of pot. While Hurwitz and …show more content…
The two are attempting to walk across the street at a completely vacant intersection. Kumar urges Harold to just walk across and disregard the street sign because there is no one around. As Harold takes his first step to cross, he is stopped by a police officer. The officer harasses the two of them and in a sign of blatant racism, he mocks Kumar and Harold’s ethnicities by asking if they have strange names. He asks Kumar if his name has “like five O’s or two U’s”. At this scene Kumar stands up for himself by belittling the officer and telling him he was loser in high school and is still one now. Although the officer has a much bulkier body type than Harold and Kumar, Kumar still stands face to face with the officer, representing his courage to go against someone he knows could take him to
08
Fall
Destroying Stereotypes in “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle”
Keith Hernandez
3/6/12
Professor Sandoval
CHLS 341
“Harold and Kumar go to White Castle” is a film unlike any I’ve ever seen. Not because it involved to successful “pot heads”, not because it their journey to a White Castle restaurant took an entire night to get to (although that is part of it), or even because it starred Neil Patrick Harris as a complete drug addict looking for the next party. It was because it starred two stars--previously only known for portraying characters based on their ethnicity-- in the leading role. Actors John Cho and Kal Penn had their biggest acting breaks before “Harold and Kumar” as “that Asian guy from American Pie” and “that Indian guy from Van Wilder”, where they both played the “typical Asian/ Indian” stereotype. Writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg wrote Harold and Kumar to be your typical everyday kind of guy, excluding of course the fact that they smoke a lot of pot. While Hurwitz and …show more content…
The two are attempting to walk across the street at a completely vacant intersection. Kumar urges Harold to just walk across and disregard the street sign because there is no one around. As Harold takes his first step to cross, he is stopped by a police officer. The officer harasses the two of them and in a sign of blatant racism, he mocks Kumar and Harold’s ethnicities by asking if they have strange names. He asks Kumar if his name has “like five O’s or two U’s”. At this scene Kumar stands up for himself by belittling the officer and telling him he was loser in high school and is still one now. Although the officer has a much bulkier body type than Harold and Kumar, Kumar still stands face to face with the officer, representing his courage to go against someone he knows could take him to