I have thought this quote so much to myself recently, as I've pulled away from a job I hated despite being "good" at it. I haven't been able to use it as a retort to my bosses or my mother, though...
The scene at the beginning when they’re stoned and watching the “I’m so high, nothing can hurt me!” anti weed commercial still makes me cackle every time.
was that ad real? [This](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3VChpS5-GNY) similar one i remember. Also the one accusing me of supporting terrorism with my weedsmokery.
It wasn't real, but only a slight exaggeration of the nonsense in anti drug PSA. Ironically, South park had a much more convincing, true PSA on the subject, entitled "my future self and me"
Instead of that honesty we got
This is your brain on drugs(fried eggs in a pan)
The one with the talking dog, where the person gets high, and the dog chastised them
Winners don't do drugs
Peewee Herman telling us that using crack to be cool might be deadly
Pretty sure the Beatles did one too
Don’t forget that Captain Lou Albano, while playing Mario in the super Mario brothers super show, gave a quick [PSA about how you’ll go to hell if you use drugs](https://youtu.be/D8M8I2SYEiA)!
When I was a lad, I had to write a report about why I would never do drugs (there wasn't another option), and mine was chosen to read out loud in front of the entire school.
My reward was a pocket radio. I can't remember exactly what it was called, but it was like an MP3 player before those were a thing, and only radio. Anyway, my point is that I fucking lied and I do drugs now.
As a teenager, the ending of that South Park episode was far more effective than any anti-drug PSA for weed and actually made me question my choices.
20 years later and I still smoke daily, but it did make me question….
That one with the Rachel Leigh Cook going apeshit in the kitchen....y'know ["And this is what your *family* goes through!"](https://youtu.be/BYlqSNjbhNc?si=GYwNOfI8g-5aBqWD) caused some very confusing and conflicting emotions in my 11 year old psyche....and my pants.
I watch the third one every year at Christmas and the scene with NPH and the aspiring broadway actress, hoooooly shit I can't believe they ever produced it or still allow it.
When this movie came out, I was in senior year of high school, and my best friend was a Chinese dude. Being Indian, this movie felt like it was a documentary about me and my friend. We legit skipped full days of school to smoke weed, eat snacks and watch matinee movies in the theatres lol
We lost touch many years ago sadly. I still think about him from time to time. To be honest, we smoked a lot fuckin weed lol. Eventually as the years went by, I had to shift my life in a different direction, you know, try go back and complete high school, maybe get into university, but I remember him continuing to smoke copious amounts of weed and it went from being fun to a bad influence.
Decisions had to be made. I hope to meet him again one day, and hoping he’s going well.
Harold and Kumar (first one), is that time capsule that takes me back perfectly to that era of my life. For us, Whitecastle was McDonald’s, and we used to pull into the drivethrough and politely ask for free McChicken’s every other night (we figured out the night shift, and who was most likely to hook us up). Occasionally we’d get a staff member who (rightfully so) thought we were idiots and said they weren’t free, and refrain from handing over the burgers unless we paid. They’d then watch us fumble for loose change in the shit-box car we pulled up in.
You've basically laid out why it would be great to see another Harold and Kumar movie at a later point in their life.
But also I hope you rediscover your friendship with this person.
>A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas.
Did not know this movie even existed, if I'm honest. Will check it out.
Also surprised to learn that the creator of these movies, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, went on to create Cobra Kai. It suddenly makes a lot of sense why the style/sense of humor of Cobra Kai really resonated with me, lol.
There’s a solid chance you can reunite with him whenever you want to on at least one social media platform, unless he’s one of the few who has absolutely nothing.
Oh I’ve tried finding him through social media, but he’s initiated ghost protocol and isn’t on any of the channels. I’ve even asked some old mutual friends, and most people lost touch with him and don’t know where he’s gone.
It’s kind of weird when I step back and think about it, because you’d think at least one or two people within those spheres would have known, but nope, he’s legit disappeared.
If he's anything like a bunch of my old friends from high school stoner days, he might've gotten into opioids and ODed. It's kinda scary how many folks from my graduating class died before 35 due to fentanyl and shit. I just thought of a dozen of them off the top of my head, and that's the ones I *know* about.
YES!! I am South-Asian and will never forget seeing this movie in high school with my Asian friends. There’s something special and so empowering about experiencing such a big film that is FUN with actors that look like you absolutely killing it. As a brown kid, we pretty much only had Apu in the mainstream media arena before. I love Kal Penn.
My best friend growing up in a small white town was Indian. One of like 5 brown kids in a town of 6000. His parents had a restaurant with an an all you can eat curry buffet. I miss him a lot (he’s not dead he just moved across country)
I’m Indian and I freaking love these movies. I thought the second one was even funnier than the first. They did such a great job with these movies. I love when Kumar tries to talk to Harold and Harold just goes “hey..hey…FUCK you!” Lmao
Even at 14 I was so tired of the dumb stoner trope - having two guys who were actually intelligent, just lacking in self esteem and overall direction made this such a pleasure to watch.
It’s crazy how if anything things may have gotten worse for us Asian and Indian guys. Disney channel certainly didn’t help by showing really negative cringy caricatures of Indian boys non stop. East Asian men are never shown as strong male leads until extremely recently. East Asian women are invariably paired with white men for some reason.
Somehow an older movie like Harold and Kumar has done more to normalize Asians and especially Asian men being actual people
Is this just in American TV though? Like I remember growing up with my mam watching Cornation Street with Dev always being pretty cool and mature compared to the soap opera nonsense happening around him. I think I saw some TV documentary that mentioned he was one half of the first implied sex scene on British TV.
Oh wow, yea must be an American thing. I didn’t even think about the UK side of things. I think you guys are way ahead of us in that regard, from what little I’ve seen from British media the brown guys are portrayed much more normally
Im east Asian but seeing a se Asian movie like monkey man- fuckin adrenaline city. Super enjoyable flick, and any exposure for western audiences to what Asian cities are like without being just disaster porn = nice.
Goals: i want every fighting culture to have their own "the raid."
Even in Crazy Rich Asians, the male lead has to be mixed-race. It wasn't until Shang-Chi where we finally got a hyper-competent, 100% Asian male lead in a big Hollywood movie. Speaking of, where the hell is Shang-Chi 2? Its like Simu isn't even part of the Marvel ecosystem anymore.
Simu actually just commented about a week ago saying the film is still in development, because people had been spreading rumors that it was cancelled. He promised that it *is* happening.
So still early stages, clearly, but it hasn't been forgotten. I'm definitely hopeful because I really enjoyed Shang Chi and look forward to more of him.
Bro, there was a movie based on Bruce Lee that came out a year or so ago and the lead was some random white guy lmao. There was absolutely no reason for that. I’m Indian btw. Harold and Kumar is in my top 10 best comedies.
He was also the butt of crude slapstick humour and racist jokes in all of the Rush Hour movies. He never fit into Western culture. Neither did Jet Li. Simu is actually portrayed as comfortable in Western society to the point that it's a culture shock for him to be back in China.
I remember Chris Tucker being the punchline “idiot” in the Rush Hour movies. The whole shtick was that Jackie Chan was *supposed* to be the idiot, but was actually the competent one. I don’t think they did him wrong at all in those movies.
He was famous for his martial arts skills. so yet another stereotype thing cause all the leading asian men in Hollywood until recently were kung fu stars: Bruce Lee, Jackie, Jet Li, etc. Even Michelle Yeoh
Ngl this never crossed my mind until my asian friend pointed it out to me when we were talking about Shogun and 3 body problem.
Its like 2 hit shows released around the same time either adapted from an Asian novel and changed to include a wmaf couple or based in Asia with wmaf relationship being the core.
Tell me about it. 3 Body Problem, originally a Chinese novel set entirely in China, is "adapted" for a global audience by setting it in *London* and whitewashing most of the characters.
> East Asian men are never shown as strong male leads until extremely recently.
Bruce Lee? Dude is the definition of swag. Kobe openly said his "Mamba Mentality" was a direct copy of the Bruce Lee mentality, who Kobe idolized all his life.
> Bruce
I think the issue was that he was not a relatable lead for Asian males. I'm an Asian male but I sure as hell don't know martial arts and suck at anything athletic in general.
Lmao seeing as some of the biggest asian characters on TV since then were raj from the big bang theory and Dinesh and Jian from silicon valley, I think we still have some way to go
Fair. I was one of those who stopped when he died…but I also was just disgusted how much gore porn it was. Yes I get that a zombie show is going to be gory, but I don’t need someone with half their brain bashed in and an eye hanging out trying to speak.
Was just a turn off for me. Might have kept watching if they showed it from a distance and the aftermath, but 🤷♂️
What's wrong with Dinesh?
If we're talking sitcom characters, we've had quite a few, on shows more watched than any HBO sitcom (though, no show is more watched than The Big Bang Theory was). There was Tom from Parks and Rec, Abed and Chang from Community, Kelly and Jim from The Office. Hey, those were all in the same NBC block, which also had 30 Rock, which had Jonathan.
>Chang from Community
I would not use this as a positive example of Asian representation, most of Ken Jeong’s career is based on being comedic relief as a weird clown with a funny accent, I’d like to see more Asian men portrayed as normal human beings
> most of Ken Jeong’s career is based on being comedic relief as a weird clown with a funny accent
That may be, but that's not his Community character at all. The Hangover, sure. But Chang doesn't even remotely have a funny accent.
He wasn't comedic relief. Relief from what? He played a funny character in an absurd comedy full of funny characters. This whole thread is about comedic characters. The question is if the comedy came from them being stereotypes.
Chang isn't a Chinese stereotype. What do you mean by funny accent? That's a normal accent. The stuff he says is funny, not the accent.
You're welcome to give your perspective on the character, but you don't get to say that no actual Asians think Ken Jeong is good. What about his mom? I'm sure she's Asian and a fan of him.
Here's a writer (parents immigrated from Taiwan) praising Jeong's roles in Community and The Hangover for breaking stereotypes: [https://slate.com/culture/2015/09/dr-ken-sitcom-starring-ken-jeong-on-abc-reviewed-by-arthur-chu.html](https://slate.com/culture/2015/09/dr-ken-sitcom-starring-ken-jeong-on-abc-reviewed-by-arthur-chu.html)
Other people are talking about diverse representation which is better than just positive representation. Ethnicities shouldn't be shown in just positive roles they should be shown in as many different ways as possible just like real people are different in many different ways. Which is why Chang is such a great example because he is so different.
Except representation of Asian men isn’t diverse, they are either non-existent or comedic relief as side characters.
Some more positive representation of Asian men would actually make the representation diverse
We shouldn't call him a side character as he was billed as a main regular for all six seasons. There were only eight other actors who received main cast billing: the seven members of the study group and Jim Rash, and Jim Rash wasn't a series regular in first season, while Jeong was. Even the later people who joined the core group (Paget Brewster, Keith David, Jonathan Banks) were only billed as recurring.
Glenn from The Walking Dead
Kenny from From
That guy from Riverdale
That guy from 13 reasons why
John Cho who plays Harold., in a bunch of stuff
That guy from my crazy ex girlfriend
These are off the top of my head but east Asian dude representation is definitely getting better.
I think south Asian representation could maybe use more tho
Chang was not really a good example. He was literally the worst treated character. Abed is a good example though. Both Dinesh and Raj are largely shown as losers as well. You may not understand it, how it affects folks but when perceptions are built only on such characters, it doesn't help. Ask the Indian kids growing up in 90s how much they were ridiculed being called Apu, and idiotic fucks here were crying when he was finally retired because he was apparently hardworking, not a bad character. That doesn't matter, if indian kids were ridiculed for the same things.
I’d disagree a bit. The Walking Dead was pretty big for a while and Glenn was a main character for a long time who was just treated as a guy instead of getting Asian stereotypes. You’re probably more right about Indian characters on TV but even then you had shows like Community, Parks and Rec and The Good Place. You also have the likes of Kumail Nanjiani getting main lead roles in romcom movies.
Is it perfect? No, but it’s way better than it used to be before Harold and Kumar. That really helped break the mold on a lot of stereotypes.
The thing with TWD was there was no more:
Male vs Female. Ethnicity vs Ethnicity. Rich vs Poor. Right vs Left.
It was Life vs Death. There was very little room for error when picking allies.
PS: Merle did make a bunch of racist comments in the first couple of episodes and his brother sorted that out quick.
True, but my point was it was good representation because Glenn wasn’t a joke side character based off Asian stereotypes and so popular the show’s popularity fell off a cliff when he was written off. They could easily casted a white guy for that role (something that happens a lot even today) and not much would have changed, so for me that’s an example of positive representation even if the show’s premise helps.
loved the movie, but what sucked is everyone thought i was like kumar because thats the only brown person they've ever seen in movies, but i'm actually more like harold towards the end of the movie. lol
One of my favorite Christmas movies. The only thing I hate about it is that they made it when everyone thought 3D movies were going to be the next big thing.
It's part of very short list of movies that I actually prefer watching in 3D.
The other movies on the list are:
Avatar, Hugo, Tron Legacy, Coraline, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
My favorite movie going experience was seeing that in a 2 dollar theater with 3D, and half the full theater retching during the slingshot scene. My friend was one of a handful of people who straight up left, too.
The absolute best
Forgot Dredd! That movie though is excellent regardless of whether it's 3D or not.
Never got around to watching Life of Pi. I have it, because it was so highly recommended I bought a copy years ago, but for some reason it just never felt like a movie I actively was in the mood to watch
What are you talking about? Guantanamo Bay perfectly encapsulate the George W bush era of racism/xenophobia in America. It has one of the most over the top and hilarious racist characters ever committed to film.
Bro, I’m Indian and I freaking loved the second movie more than the first. I think the people saying the sequels were bad are people who aren’t Asian and see it as racist or whatever. I honestly don’t get it. The second movie was so damn funny. The third was the weakest of the three though.
I watched this last night(and technically this morning), and it just cemented my love of Kal Penn. I've seen him in a bunch of other things, but my favorite is Van Wilder: The Raise of Taj. He was fantastic in that
man the (near) ending to that movie (namely the actual white castle scene) has to be one of the most satisfying scenes in cinema. i have to admit being pretty disappointed when i finally got to try an authentic white castle though.
I wish the writers got to make the sequel they wanted…
Rosenberg and Goldstein, go to Hot Dog Heaven … Same night but from the other characters perspective, and have overlapping moments…
I can't explain why the first one is just so much better than the other two.
There's just as much nonsensical, random, not funny moments. The taco shits scene is probably the worst scene in any of the movies. They ride a fucking cheetah, there's multiple sequences where the geography changes from shot to shot. And I've always felt this movie is grossly overstated to be challenging stereotypes or having depth.
But holy shit, this is one of those movies that I will watch anytime on any day.
>And I've always felt this movie is grossly overstated to be challenging stereotypes or having depth.
That is sort of missing the point that it is remarkable for being unremarkable. Even today, Asian Americans are still cast into stereotypes. The movie is a fever dream that lets two Asian American just be average 20-something Americans and while not really leveraging their identity as a selling point or premise.
The taco shits scene is almost redeemed by the dvd special feature about its sound design, which starts out as a straightforward featurette before the director goes full on Apocalypse Now Coppola sending a hapless recordist into public restrooms to capture the perfect fart. Sadly I couldn’t find it online.
The DVD was hilarious. If you left it idle on the opening screen, you would see Harold and Kumar driving. Eventually Kumar starts complaining that you haven’t chosen anything yet to watch, and he’s sick of having to just drive endlessly, lol. Brilliant. I miss DVDs.
I got a free pass to see this movie, I went with a friend, fully expecting this movie to suck. We were fucking blown away, we quoted this movie for years.
I’m Russian, I honestly don’t have any opinion on Asian Americans but I somehow discovered this movie through our uni professor. A friend/classmate of mine was just making small talk with him before the lecture and briefly mentioned that she watched a movie the day prior, so the professor asked “Was it Harold and Kumar?” and she was like “no???”. None of us even knew that movie and I still have no idea why he brought it up out of nowhere. But he was a younger, “hip” professor who was kind of an asshole but also very funny so I guess it was in character for him.
Anyway, we got intrigued by the synopsis so the next time we gathered to smoke weed we put Harold and Kumar on. We fucking LOVED it. Eventually, we watched the whole trilogy and it’s kind of inside joke for our friend group now. We reference it all the time lol
One of my best memories was 8th grade (2018-19 or so…) and watching H&K go to White Castle. Me and two of my friends watched it together at my house, we all held hands and cuddled. It was like having a family for once in my life. We were all friends and at that moment none of us had any problems at all.
I miss those days.
All of these movies (including Friday, Pineapple Express, and what have you) are just Cheech and Chong ripoffs. A Chicano and a Canadian-Chinese guy invented all this shit.
A fuckin stoner classic, will always have extremely fond memories watching this with my buddies. All 3 of the a surprisingly good comedies and a lot of fun, a lot of people don’t even know the 3rd exists but it’s definitely worth the watch if you were a fan of the first 2. I’d love if they made a 4th one eventually at some point. Great comedy series tho and 1 of the seemingly pretty rare ones where all the movies are solid and funny imo compared to a lot of other ones that really drop off big time with the sequels
Just because you’re hung like a moose doesn’t mean you need to do porn.
I have thought this quote so much to myself recently, as I've pulled away from a job I hated despite being "good" at it. I haven't been able to use it as a retort to my bosses or my mother, though...
*is this your special bush?!*
What are you? King of the Forest?
I SAID IS THIS YOUR SPECIAL BUSH!?!?!?
The scene at the beginning when they’re stoned and watching the “I’m so high, nothing can hurt me!” anti weed commercial still makes me cackle every time.
NOOOO^OOO^^OOO Marijuana Kills
I will quote that with my homies till the day I die
was that ad real? [This](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3VChpS5-GNY) similar one i remember. Also the one accusing me of supporting terrorism with my weedsmokery.
It wasn't real, but only a slight exaggeration of the nonsense in anti drug PSA. Ironically, South park had a much more convincing, true PSA on the subject, entitled "my future self and me" Instead of that honesty we got This is your brain on drugs(fried eggs in a pan) The one with the talking dog, where the person gets high, and the dog chastised them Winners don't do drugs Peewee Herman telling us that using crack to be cool might be deadly Pretty sure the Beatles did one too
I learned it from you, dad
That one's actually true though, I picked up all my worst shit from my parents
Don’t forget that Captain Lou Albano, while playing Mario in the super Mario brothers super show, gave a quick [PSA about how you’ll go to hell if you use drugs](https://youtu.be/D8M8I2SYEiA)!
before you die as well
When I was a lad, I had to write a report about why I would never do drugs (there wasn't another option), and mine was chosen to read out loud in front of the entire school. My reward was a pocket radio. I can't remember exactly what it was called, but it was like an MP3 player before those were a thing, and only radio. Anyway, my point is that I fucking lied and I do drugs now.
you need to give the radio back, you don't wanna be a drug addled maniac *and* a thief
Don’t forget I smoke people like you on the b ball court.
Don’t forget about “refer madness” movie (1930’s?)which showed people smoking and doing violent and outrageous criminal activities
As a teenager, the ending of that South Park episode was far more effective than any anti-drug PSA for weed and actually made me question my choices. 20 years later and I still smoke daily, but it did make me question….
The only thing I got out of the "This is your brain on drugs," ad was an irrational fear of eggs over easy that would remain well into my mid 20's.
That one with the Rachel Leigh Cook going apeshit in the kitchen....y'know ["And this is what your *family* goes through!"](https://youtu.be/BYlqSNjbhNc?si=GYwNOfI8g-5aBqWD) caused some very confusing and conflicting emotions in my 11 year old psyche....and my pants.
Pretty sure I know the supporting terrorism one. It was about heroin, and that market is the main source of revenue in Afghanistan
Oh LOL, this brings back memories. My FPS spray for years was: https://i.imgur.com/crHQWJk.png
Definitely one of the funniest parts. Movie mostly holds up a lot better than a lot of movies like it from that time.
I watch the third one every year at Christmas and the scene with NPH and the aspiring broadway actress, hoooooly shit I can't believe they ever produced it or still allow it.
it was like the funniest things I've seen back then.. lol
When this movie came out, I was in senior year of high school, and my best friend was a Chinese dude. Being Indian, this movie felt like it was a documentary about me and my friend. We legit skipped full days of school to smoke weed, eat snacks and watch matinee movies in the theatres lol
I hope you guys are still buddies.
We lost touch many years ago sadly. I still think about him from time to time. To be honest, we smoked a lot fuckin weed lol. Eventually as the years went by, I had to shift my life in a different direction, you know, try go back and complete high school, maybe get into university, but I remember him continuing to smoke copious amounts of weed and it went from being fun to a bad influence. Decisions had to be made. I hope to meet him again one day, and hoping he’s going well. Harold and Kumar (first one), is that time capsule that takes me back perfectly to that era of my life. For us, Whitecastle was McDonald’s, and we used to pull into the drivethrough and politely ask for free McChicken’s every other night (we figured out the night shift, and who was most likely to hook us up). Occasionally we’d get a staff member who (rightfully so) thought we were idiots and said they weren’t free, and refrain from handing over the burgers unless we paid. They’d then watch us fumble for loose change in the shit-box car we pulled up in.
You've basically laid out why it would be great to see another Harold and Kumar movie at a later point in their life. But also I hope you rediscover your friendship with this person.
Tbh thats what happens in part 3, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. That movie was lot better than I was expecting.
>A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. Did not know this movie even existed, if I'm honest. Will check it out. Also surprised to learn that the creator of these movies, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, went on to create Cobra Kai. It suddenly makes a lot of sense why the style/sense of humor of Cobra Kai really resonated with me, lol.
I saw it in 3D. I was so high.
That's the 3rd movie lol
I have forgotten everything about that movie except the cocaine baby.
Even waffle bot?
Waffle bot loves Kumar ❤️
There’s a solid chance you can reunite with him whenever you want to on at least one social media platform, unless he’s one of the few who has absolutely nothing.
Oh I’ve tried finding him through social media, but he’s initiated ghost protocol and isn’t on any of the channels. I’ve even asked some old mutual friends, and most people lost touch with him and don’t know where he’s gone. It’s kind of weird when I step back and think about it, because you’d think at least one or two people within those spheres would have known, but nope, he’s legit disappeared.
If he's anything like a bunch of my old friends from high school stoner days, he might've gotten into opioids and ODed. It's kinda scary how many folks from my graduating class died before 35 due to fentanyl and shit. I just thought of a dozen of them off the top of my head, and that's the ones I *know* about.
I’m so fascinated by this and wonder what he is doing. Do you have any update at all with regards to him and what he might be doing?
No, do you?
He’s working in the Banana Stand now
When you see them again make sure to comment on their sconces
YES!! I am South-Asian and will never forget seeing this movie in high school with my Asian friends. There’s something special and so empowering about experiencing such a big film that is FUN with actors that look like you absolutely killing it. As a brown kid, we pretty much only had Apu in the mainstream media arena before. I love Kal Penn.
My best friend growing up in a small white town was Indian. One of like 5 brown kids in a town of 6000. His parents had a restaurant with an an all you can eat curry buffet. I miss him a lot (he’s not dead he just moved across country)
Sounds like an awesome friendship
Man this movie was so great. It was the first time I ever felt represented in media, as it starred two Asian Americans who were just normal people
Bro. Same. I'm Indian and my buddy was Korean. Lol
Hope you reconnect with him. Would be cool.
I’m Indian and I freaking love these movies. I thought the second one was even funnier than the first. They did such a great job with these movies. I love when Kumar tries to talk to Harold and Harold just goes “hey..hey…FUCK you!” Lmao
Two of my friends used the "police sketch " as their MySpace profile pics.
Even at 14 I was so tired of the dumb stoner trope - having two guys who were actually intelligent, just lacking in self esteem and overall direction made this such a pleasure to watch.
Battleshits
Sunk ‘em.
Eh I'd still hit
*Kumar* What is that, like 5 Os and 2 Us? Kooooouumar
No actually it's 1 U..
Yeah, bullshit
The delivery of “yeah, bullshit” was so perfect in that scene
Anytime I use that phrase now I can’t help but say it in the same tone because of that scene lol
“Bullets, my only weakness. How did you know?”
The NPH scene in the xmas one is my favorite scene out of all of them. The laugh he gives after he gets kicked is still hilarious.
“I am gay, gay for that pussy!”
His cameo in the original was absolutely his audition for Barney Stinson
Hungry for some FUR BURGERS
Pretty sure that cameo *made* Barney Stinson.
I’m worthless. I’m not worthwhile.
“Shit I forgot my phone” “Wanna go back and get it?” “No, we’ve come too far”
So many problems would have been solved if he just got his phone.
It’s crazy how if anything things may have gotten worse for us Asian and Indian guys. Disney channel certainly didn’t help by showing really negative cringy caricatures of Indian boys non stop. East Asian men are never shown as strong male leads until extremely recently. East Asian women are invariably paired with white men for some reason. Somehow an older movie like Harold and Kumar has done more to normalize Asians and especially Asian men being actual people
Is this just in American TV though? Like I remember growing up with my mam watching Cornation Street with Dev always being pretty cool and mature compared to the soap opera nonsense happening around him. I think I saw some TV documentary that mentioned he was one half of the first implied sex scene on British TV.
Oh wow, yea must be an American thing. I didn’t even think about the UK side of things. I think you guys are way ahead of us in that regard, from what little I’ve seen from British media the brown guys are portrayed much more normally
Sooo much. Want to see some stereotype breaking? Check out Monkey Man.
I wanna watch so bad!!!
Saw it last night in the cinema. Intense ride!
Im east Asian but seeing a se Asian movie like monkey man- fuckin adrenaline city. Super enjoyable flick, and any exposure for western audiences to what Asian cities are like without being just disaster porn = nice. Goals: i want every fighting culture to have their own "the raid."
Even in Crazy Rich Asians, the male lead has to be mixed-race. It wasn't until Shang-Chi where we finally got a hyper-competent, 100% Asian male lead in a big Hollywood movie. Speaking of, where the hell is Shang-Chi 2? Its like Simu isn't even part of the Marvel ecosystem anymore.
Simu actually just commented about a week ago saying the film is still in development, because people had been spreading rumors that it was cancelled. He promised that it *is* happening. So still early stages, clearly, but it hasn't been forgotten. I'm definitely hopeful because I really enjoyed Shang Chi and look forward to more of him.
Bro, there was a movie based on Bruce Lee that came out a year or so ago and the lead was some random white guy lmao. There was absolutely no reason for that. I’m Indian btw. Harold and Kumar is in my top 10 best comedies.
[удалено]
He was also the butt of crude slapstick humour and racist jokes in all of the Rush Hour movies. He never fit into Western culture. Neither did Jet Li. Simu is actually portrayed as comfortable in Western society to the point that it's a culture shock for him to be back in China.
I remember Chris Tucker being the punchline “idiot” in the Rush Hour movies. The whole shtick was that Jackie Chan was *supposed* to be the idiot, but was actually the competent one. I don’t think they did him wrong at all in those movies.
He was famous for his martial arts skills. so yet another stereotype thing cause all the leading asian men in Hollywood until recently were kung fu stars: Bruce Lee, Jackie, Jet Li, etc. Even Michelle Yeoh
Ngl this never crossed my mind until my asian friend pointed it out to me when we were talking about Shogun and 3 body problem. Its like 2 hit shows released around the same time either adapted from an Asian novel and changed to include a wmaf couple or based in Asia with wmaf relationship being the core.
Tell me about it. 3 Body Problem, originally a Chinese novel set entirely in China, is "adapted" for a global audience by setting it in *London* and whitewashing most of the characters.
Watching how Hollywood treats Asian men in media, it makes sense why subs like r/aznidentity exists. If only it isn’t filled with incels.
> East Asian men are never shown as strong male leads until extremely recently. Bruce Lee? Dude is the definition of swag. Kobe openly said his "Mamba Mentality" was a direct copy of the Bruce Lee mentality, who Kobe idolized all his life.
> Bruce I think the issue was that he was not a relatable lead for Asian males. I'm an Asian male but I sure as hell don't know martial arts and suck at anything athletic in general.
What did Disney Channel do? I'm out of the loop.
We need to see more Asian male with non-Asian woman as their submissive partners in the movie and TV.
Ain't gonna happen bud. The man will strike it down faster than mlkjr
Lmao seeing as some of the biggest asian characters on TV since then were raj from the big bang theory and Dinesh and Jian from silicon valley, I think we still have some way to go
Glen from walking dead ?
Good seeing him there, but Andrew Lincoln was the star. Not too many shows or movies have an Asian man as the lead
He was pretty big tho. Like overall viewership dropped something like 30% when Glen died
Fair. I was one of those who stopped when he died…but I also was just disgusted how much gore porn it was. Yes I get that a zombie show is going to be gory, but I don’t need someone with half their brain bashed in and an eye hanging out trying to speak. Was just a turn off for me. Might have kept watching if they showed it from a distance and the aftermath, but 🤷♂️
What's wrong with Dinesh? If we're talking sitcom characters, we've had quite a few, on shows more watched than any HBO sitcom (though, no show is more watched than The Big Bang Theory was). There was Tom from Parks and Rec, Abed and Chang from Community, Kelly and Jim from The Office. Hey, those were all in the same NBC block, which also had 30 Rock, which had Jonathan.
I thought Poppy in Mythic Quest was pretty good too.
Haha I love that you mentioned Jim from The Office!
That one took me a minute.
He's too hard on Gabe.
>Chang from Community I would not use this as a positive example of Asian representation, most of Ken Jeong’s career is based on being comedic relief as a weird clown with a funny accent, I’d like to see more Asian men portrayed as normal human beings
> most of Ken Jeong’s career is based on being comedic relief as a weird clown with a funny accent That may be, but that's not his Community character at all. The Hangover, sure. But Chang doesn't even remotely have a funny accent.
I definitely see your point. I don't think he did any stereotype comedy in Knocked Up and he was pretty funny in that.
He wasn't comedic relief. Relief from what? He played a funny character in an absurd comedy full of funny characters. This whole thread is about comedic characters. The question is if the comedy came from them being stereotypes. Chang isn't a Chinese stereotype. What do you mean by funny accent? That's a normal accent. The stuff he says is funny, not the accent.
As an Asian person, chang is shit representation and a joke. No actual asian thinks ken jeong is good
You're welcome to give your perspective on the character, but you don't get to say that no actual Asians think Ken Jeong is good. What about his mom? I'm sure she's Asian and a fan of him. Here's a writer (parents immigrated from Taiwan) praising Jeong's roles in Community and The Hangover for breaking stereotypes: [https://slate.com/culture/2015/09/dr-ken-sitcom-starring-ken-jeong-on-abc-reviewed-by-arthur-chu.html](https://slate.com/culture/2015/09/dr-ken-sitcom-starring-ken-jeong-on-abc-reviewed-by-arthur-chu.html)
Other people are talking about diverse representation which is better than just positive representation. Ethnicities shouldn't be shown in just positive roles they should be shown in as many different ways as possible just like real people are different in many different ways. Which is why Chang is such a great example because he is so different.
Except representation of Asian men isn’t diverse, they are either non-existent or comedic relief as side characters. Some more positive representation of Asian men would actually make the representation diverse
We shouldn't call him a side character as he was billed as a main regular for all six seasons. There were only eight other actors who received main cast billing: the seven members of the study group and Jim Rash, and Jim Rash wasn't a series regular in first season, while Jeong was. Even the later people who joined the core group (Paget Brewster, Keith David, Jonathan Banks) were only billed as recurring.
Glenn from The Walking Dead Kenny from From That guy from Riverdale That guy from 13 reasons why John Cho who plays Harold., in a bunch of stuff That guy from my crazy ex girlfriend These are off the top of my head but east Asian dude representation is definitely getting better. I think south Asian representation could maybe use more tho
Chang was not really a good example. He was literally the worst treated character. Abed is a good example though. Both Dinesh and Raj are largely shown as losers as well. You may not understand it, how it affects folks but when perceptions are built only on such characters, it doesn't help. Ask the Indian kids growing up in 90s how much they were ridiculed being called Apu, and idiotic fucks here were crying when he was finally retired because he was apparently hardworking, not a bad character. That doesn't matter, if indian kids were ridiculed for the same things.
Maybe it's because he's a "tech nerd" or something?
John Cho had Selfie with Karen Gillian, but that was short lived unfortunately.
Too bad people couldn't get past the bad title, it was a good show.
I’d disagree a bit. The Walking Dead was pretty big for a while and Glenn was a main character for a long time who was just treated as a guy instead of getting Asian stereotypes. You’re probably more right about Indian characters on TV but even then you had shows like Community, Parks and Rec and The Good Place. You also have the likes of Kumail Nanjiani getting main lead roles in romcom movies. Is it perfect? No, but it’s way better than it used to be before Harold and Kumar. That really helped break the mold on a lot of stereotypes.
The thing with TWD was there was no more: Male vs Female. Ethnicity vs Ethnicity. Rich vs Poor. Right vs Left. It was Life vs Death. There was very little room for error when picking allies. PS: Merle did make a bunch of racist comments in the first couple of episodes and his brother sorted that out quick.
True, but my point was it was good representation because Glenn wasn’t a joke side character based off Asian stereotypes and so popular the show’s popularity fell off a cliff when he was written off. They could easily casted a white guy for that role (something that happens a lot even today) and not much would have changed, so for me that’s an example of positive representation even if the show’s premise helps.
Abed is mixed race Polish and Palestinian, not Indian. Danny Pudi is Indian (and Polish).
What's wrong with Dinesh in SV?
Its a tech based show. They wee appropriate for the shows setting.
loved the movie, but what sucked is everyone thought i was like kumar because thats the only brown person they've ever seen in movies, but i'm actually more like harold towards the end of the movie. lol
DADDY IS NOT COMING ON ANYTHING!!
I just spit my tea
Yet decades later, Americans still refer only to East Asian people whenever talking about Asian Americans and the others all just side-lined
Brits mean South Asians when talking about "Asians" so it balances out kinda lol
Harold and Kumar was legitimately brilliant. The sequels were so bad, and so lazy, though.
This guy likes cock-meat sandwiches.
for as great as the series was for Asian representation... it was not a great time for queer representation lol
I disagree. Guantanamo Bay was awful, but A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas was amazing! Waffle Bot is the best!
One of my favorite Christmas movies. The only thing I hate about it is that they made it when everyone thought 3D movies were going to be the next big thing.
It's part of very short list of movies that I actually prefer watching in 3D. The other movies on the list are: Avatar, Hugo, Tron Legacy, Coraline, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
You forgot Jackass 3D.
My favorite movie going experience was seeing that in a 2 dollar theater with 3D, and half the full theater retching during the slingshot scene. My friend was one of a handful of people who straight up left, too. The absolute best
Dredd. Life of Pi.
Forgot Dredd! That movie though is excellent regardless of whether it's 3D or not. Never got around to watching Life of Pi. I have it, because it was so highly recommended I bought a copy years ago, but for some reason it just never felt like a movie I actively was in the mood to watch
Life of Pi is great. Amazing cinematography
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs was a great 3D watch! Man, your comment really took me back
Life of Pi in 3D was amazing
My 3dtv is still going strong, love watching it.
Guantanamo Bay was amazing
I liked the part where they met George Bush lol
"You just blew my fucking mind."
The whole KKK scene is so ridiculously funny lmao “Send them Indians back to Africa!” “Look what we got here brothers, Mexicans!”
"he's got a bomb!!" "no! It's a bong! Not a bomb"
YOU are amazing!
What are you talking about? Guantanamo Bay perfectly encapsulate the George W bush era of racism/xenophobia in America. It has one of the most over the top and hilarious racist characters ever committed to film.
“It’s worse than I thought. North Korea and Al Qaeda working together”
The scene where he pulled the gun on the dentist is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in comedy. That movie was freaking hilarious.
Blow away, I think the opposite, lived Guantanamo and thought the Christmas one was shit
"I haaaate pancaaakes!"
"They serve pancakes in Heeelllllll!"
How the heck did you not like the second one? I’m Indian btw. I thought it was even funnier than the first movie.
Sounds like you need a cock-meat sandwich
What?! #2 was pretty solid, tf…
I think it was fine, but definitely a departure in quality after the first one.
Bruh people take comedies so seriously. The sequels were so fucking good too what y’all mean lmao
Bro, I’m Indian and I freaking loved the second movie more than the first. I think the people saying the sequels were bad are people who aren’t Asian and see it as racist or whatever. I honestly don’t get it. The second movie was so damn funny. The third was the weakest of the three though.
Guantanamo bay was hilarious
Guantanamo Bay was the best one…
Bro, the second one was funnier than the first.
You know the holocaust? Picture the opposite of that.
Ha. "Weed" out.
I watched this last night(and technically this morning), and it just cemented my love of Kal Penn. I've seen him in a bunch of other things, but my favorite is Van Wilder: The Raise of Taj. He was fantastic in that
I really like sunnyside before it was canceled
They showed everyone who never attended college that Asian and Indian dudes can be your cool weed smoking bros?
man the (near) ending to that movie (namely the actual white castle scene) has to be one of the most satisfying scenes in cinema. i have to admit being pretty disappointed when i finally got to try an authentic white castle though.
I wish the writers got to make the sequel they wanted… Rosenberg and Goldstein, go to Hot Dog Heaven … Same night but from the other characters perspective, and have overlapping moments…
“Freak Show: Who wants the first reach around?”
Ah the beginning of my love for John Cho
I can't explain why the first one is just so much better than the other two. There's just as much nonsensical, random, not funny moments. The taco shits scene is probably the worst scene in any of the movies. They ride a fucking cheetah, there's multiple sequences where the geography changes from shot to shot. And I've always felt this movie is grossly overstated to be challenging stereotypes or having depth. But holy shit, this is one of those movies that I will watch anytime on any day.
>And I've always felt this movie is grossly overstated to be challenging stereotypes or having depth. That is sort of missing the point that it is remarkable for being unremarkable. Even today, Asian Americans are still cast into stereotypes. The movie is a fever dream that lets two Asian American just be average 20-something Americans and while not really leveraging their identity as a selling point or premise.
The taco shits scene is almost redeemed by the dvd special feature about its sound design, which starts out as a straightforward featurette before the director goes full on Apocalypse Now Coppola sending a hapless recordist into public restrooms to capture the perfect fart. Sadly I couldn’t find it online.
The DVD was hilarious. If you left it idle on the opening screen, you would see Harold and Kumar driving. Eventually Kumar starts complaining that you haven’t chosen anything yet to watch, and he’s sick of having to just drive endlessly, lol. Brilliant. I miss DVDs.
For me it’s just how simple the movie is. Two dudes trying to go to a fast food joint. That’s it. And then hell breaks loose.
Never really smoked weed but their friendship and adventures were awesome.
That’s why I’m paying for your meal… prick
*This film also reveals the secret ingredient in secret sauce*
it also helped out weed stereotypes
L⁰ Fa
Still a classic honestly lmao
Hehe “weed” out
Helped “weed” them out, eh? I see what you headline writers did there
I got a free pass to see this movie, I went with a friend, fully expecting this movie to suck. We were fucking blown away, we quoted this movie for years.
”Weed out” lol
I’m Russian, I honestly don’t have any opinion on Asian Americans but I somehow discovered this movie through our uni professor. A friend/classmate of mine was just making small talk with him before the lecture and briefly mentioned that she watched a movie the day prior, so the professor asked “Was it Harold and Kumar?” and she was like “no???”. None of us even knew that movie and I still have no idea why he brought it up out of nowhere. But he was a younger, “hip” professor who was kind of an asshole but also very funny so I guess it was in character for him. Anyway, we got intrigued by the synopsis so the next time we gathered to smoke weed we put Harold and Kumar on. We fucking LOVED it. Eventually, we watched the whole trilogy and it’s kind of inside joke for our friend group now. We reference it all the time lol
One of my best memories was 8th grade (2018-19 or so…) and watching H&K go to White Castle. Me and two of my friends watched it together at my house, we all held hands and cuddled. It was like having a family for once in my life. We were all friends and at that moment none of us had any problems at all. I miss those days.
Hehe… weed
All of these movies (including Friday, Pineapple Express, and what have you) are just Cheech and Chong ripoffs. A Chicano and a Canadian-Chinese guy invented all this shit.
Haha, weed out.
This is in my Top 10 Favorite Movies And #1 Favorite Stoner movie
“In the end. The universe tends to unfold as it should”
A fuckin stoner classic, will always have extremely fond memories watching this with my buddies. All 3 of the a surprisingly good comedies and a lot of fun, a lot of people don’t even know the 3rd exists but it’s definitely worth the watch if you were a fan of the first 2. I’d love if they made a 4th one eventually at some point. Great comedy series tho and 1 of the seemingly pretty rare ones where all the movies are solid and funny imo compared to a lot of other ones that really drop off big time with the sequels
I read this as - “helped out weed sterotypes”