Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle was way ahead of its time, according to lead star John Cho. As indicated by its title, the 2004 buddy comedy follows a relatively simple premise. After smoking marijuana and seeing advertisement for White Castle, investment banker Harold Lee (John Cho) and disillusioned college graduate Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) embark on an impromptu adventure to the titular fast food restaurant for hamburgers. In addition to Cho and Penn, the film also stars Neil Patrick Harris as a fictionalized version of himself and Ryan Reynolds as an OR nurse (the role which spawned the beloved “But Why?” meme).
Released theatrically in the summer of 2004, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle enjoyed a decent box office run for a low-budget comedy, grossing over $23 million worldwide against a $9 million budget. The film’s commercial success and positive critical reception were enough to launch a Harold and Kumar franchise that now includes two sequels, 2008’s Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay and 2011’s A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. While some view Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle as nothing more than a lighthearted stoner comedy, it has been praised for its tactful subversion of racial and comedic stereotypes.
During a recent interview with The Guardian, John Cho talked about how Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle was way ahead of its time. Cho briefly discussed the film’s attitude towards race in America and how it was able to subvert racial stereotypes with comedy, which he feels was ahead of its time. Read Cho’s full comments below:
Its posture towards race is to laugh at it. Instead of elevating it, it took the stereotypes and turned the sock inside out. Looking back, I think we were ahead of our time a little bit.
During the time of its release in 2004, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle was an under-the-radar watershed moment for Asian representation in film. The buddy comedy was lead by a Korean-American actor in Cho paired with an an Indian-American actor in Penn. This was unheard of at the time for a mainstream Hollywood movie, though it is obviously much more common today. However, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle went beyond merely casting Asian-American actors in lead roles.
With the first Harold and Kumar movie, director Danny Leiner and writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schossberg were able to shatter racial stereotypes with comedic subversion and a classic American road trip premise. The depiction of Harold and Kumar as regular middle-class Americans was far from the offensive Asian male stereotypes that had been proliferated on-screen for many years. This subversion of racial stereotypes elevated Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle beyond a typical stoner comedy and helped set the standard for Asian representation seen in Hollywood today.
