Thoughts and Links on Harold & Kumar

I saw Harold & Kumar this weekend. I really enjoyed it. We laughed like crazy through most of the movie. It had some groaners as well, but the pace was quick enough so that they didn't bog down the movie.

To many Asian-Americans, H&K is not just a really filthy stoner movie. I'm not going to devote a long post to it, but here are some interesting analyses and commentary:

Racialicious: GQ Writer Compares Harold and Kumar to "The Happy Go Lucky Negro" Caricature

Poplicks: HAROLD AND KUMAR: UP IN SMOKE AGAIN

The movies are, yes, extremely sexist, and draw heavily on homophobic humor as well. I'm not going to deny that. I wish they weren't. But it's something I have to deal with in order to see actual, funny, non-racist racial humor.

As a parallel, I really thought about going to see "300". I like violent comic book movies, and I'm the kind of film geek that really appreciates good editing and cinematography. But I ultimately passed, because the movie was so racist. I think I would have been too disturbed. It doesn't matter that the director of the movie is Mexican-American and in many respects seems like a pretty cool, enlightened guy. By all accounts, the movie was racist as hell, and I didn't want to see the inhuman Eastern masses slaughtered by the heroic white dudes.

I don't blame anyone who didn't make my same decision, and went to see "300" and enjoyed it.

After all, I absolutely love "Lord of the Rings," which is also really racist. Again, I don't want to get into a long discussion of it, but Tolkien's world-building is based on the premise that West=civilized=noble=light versus South/East=barbaric=evil=dark. It's global colorism on a transcendental level. Not to mention the class issues. By the way, if you want to read an awesome Tolkien takedown, check out this essay by Michael Moorcock. I love that essay. I also still love Tolkien.

It's a lot easier to draw the line when a statement or movie or figure or essay or comedy (and so on) has no redeeming value and is just purely hateful or stupid.