About two weeks ago I started seeing adds on tv for this new comedy staring that Indian guy from the new National Lampoon movie. Oh yeah, and there is some random Asian guy. Anyway, you quickly find out that both of the main characters are stoners. One night both of them want White Castle really bad because of a commerical they saw. So they set out to get their munchies but are delayed by countless weird/funny incidents. That's pretty much the entire plot.
But is there more?
After seeing the first 20 minutes of this film I thought that it was going to be a funny stoner film. But, as I kept watching I quickly noticed that there seemed to be more beneath the comedy.
First: The characters. Why did the director pick an Indian and an Asian? Maybe the director wanted to be different. Or, maybe someone wanted to put Asians and Indian people in a better light. In a sense subliminally cause caucasion stoners and teenagers to not think of their Indian peers as different. In fact, the movie portrayed them as being very "cool". I could honestly see some stupid white stoner coming out from this film and having a higher opinion of Indian kids.
Next: White Castle? What the hell? Why did they pick White Castle as the focal point of an entire full budget movie? Did the writer want it to be random/funny and therefore appealing to teenagers [or stoners]? Who knows, but either way the entire movie was a giant advertisement for White Castle. I actually have a desire to go there and eat sometime soley due to this movie.
Third: The Stereotypes. Referencing my first analysis paragraph, it seemed as if the stereotypes were put in the movie with a specific intent. White kids were portrayed as grungy tough guys who were "extreme" and loved Mt. Dew. Black people were portrayed as helpless victims of discrimination and bigot cops. Cops were presented as the douchebags from highschool that no one really liked. The kind of people who beatup kids smarter than them, but ended up with a low paying job working as a full time jerk (cop). Is this true? probably not, but this image does appeal to stoners who already thought of cops as fucking cocksuckers. Asians & Indians, however, were shown acting like white people. Not too many other movies have done this. I detected a subtle undertone of counter-racism in this movie. That isn't really a big deal I guess, it's just that I wonder how many other people will see that deep into the movie, or it it might actually have an effect on white people's views.
Who knows, maybe I'm just over-analyzing. Regardless, this movie is worth seeing if you enjoy stoner movies.
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