The franchise’s unique approach that separates it from usual Hollywood fare is the casting of Asian-American males in the lead roles a fountain spring for the series’ comedy is society’s racism and its archaic existence in the 21 st century. The franchise’s success has been attributed for several reasons: its irreverent humor towards drugs, sex, and popular culture, the show-stopping performances by Neil Patrick Harris, and perhaps most importantly, the subversion of Asian-American stereotypes. The movie’s success has spawned two sequels, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay in 2008, and the yet-to-be released A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, due in early November. This stoner comedy follows one night in the lives of two twenty-somethings, Harold and Kumar, and their midnight road trip in a quest to satisfy their hunger while running into (and from) trouble along the way. In the summer of 2004, New Line Cinema released Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle to critical and commercial success. Who wants to read that? Seriously, college professors. Nothing drastic, just removing some of the MLA citations so you folks don’t get burned out reading a bunch of numbers in parenthesis. I’m going with C, but I’ll let you be the judge as I’m giving you the entire essay right here. Well, I got a 95 on it, which means A) It’s probably a good paper B) John Cho and Kal Penn made an offer to my professor she couldn’t refuse, or C) She didn’t read it. Believe it or not, when I told my professor about my subject she thought I would be condemning the flick. For promising social commentary but delivering little more than stoner hijinks and gratuitous nudity, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay earns runner-up on our list.Last semester I wrote an essay on Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle and its satirical yet positive portrayal of Asian Americans in 21st century Hollywood cinema. In a particular egregious display of gratuitous nudity, the camera travels through the party as the pair and Raza discuss key plot points, lingering over the naked crotches of the female partygoers. It turns out that Raza has come up with his answer to topless parties: bottomless parties. One scene in particular lands the comedy firmly at number 2 on our list.Īfter escaping from their extremely brief captivity in Guantanamo Bay, Harold and Kumar find their way to Miami, where they crash their friend Raza's party. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay's exploitative elements go beyond its attention-grabbing title. Instead, Harold and Kumar spend about five minutes of screen time trapped in the prison before they promptly escape, addressing none of the thorny social and moral issues around the prison and its detainees. The sequel's bold title promised to redress the horrific human rights violations occurring at the Guantanamo Bay via the comedy stylings of two chronically stoned slackers. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo BayĪudiences loved the antics of stoner duo Harold and Kumar in their first feature film Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, so the pair decided to re-team for a cash-in sequel, 2008's Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
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