Dude, Where’s My Reference Point?

sammi:

just a quick welcome for now

lve

t

Tbhai,

Hmmm. I guess I`ve been uncloseted good and well. (blush)

Thanks for the welcome. Always nice to see a friendly face!

-Samina

Thank you to Chowk for putting this on the front page. I am glad to have contributed to a website that does what Chowk does.

This para was left out-and I think it is important. My point is not to sound anti semitic-but discerning about immigrant identifications vis a vis gender, class and political affiliation:



There are so many scenes like this, you begin to suspect that Harold and Kumar is less a film about racism and more about regenerating our own Asian American prejudices. After I checked the website for this movie, I found out that the film was written by a bunch of Jewish American guys, alumni of Rutgers University. On one hand, while the possibilities of such leaps of imagination and idenitification are exciting, the subtext could very well spell out the notion that Indian and Asian Americans are the “new Jewish” class-well educated, fiscally Republican and persecuted in suburbia. But I never much bought into that particular myth as representative of all Jewish Americans. And what interests me more is who doesn’t “belong” to these identifications

Entertaing stuff but I have a feeling you can write better, but maybe it`s just me and my jufgment of what is has content and what is light fun.

Why on earth would you aim your laser of boredom on an awesome movie like Harold and Kumar?
Regardless, your high school paper is utterly incomprehensible and pointless, not to mention unreadable.

``Why on earth would you aim your laser of boredom on an awesome movie like Harold and Kumar?
``

HAHA!! Touche. I loved that movie. Everyone else in the audience did too as well, judging from the roaring laughter amongst the theatre audience.

``touche``?

Was that a comeback? Based on what scale of Wit?

Stuka, is it the rep politics or the chronic? Or maybe a bit of both?

oh jeezus ...

This isn`t about asian dudes any more than ``dude where`s my car`` was about white trash....

Stop taking movies so personally...and seriously...

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Dude, Where’s My Reference Point?

Dude, in the fact that sometimes entertainment should be taken as pure entertainment. Yes, it is possible that a movie doesn`t have any underlying meanings, pointy fingures, or social issues! I guess this one qualifies for that!

besides that, good writing!

A good article saminasha a pretty decent effort. Sure there are the usual targets, you set them up but there is really nothing to surprise us. Any new insight in there is lost in all the verbiage. For example

There are so many scenes like this, you begin to suspect that Harold and Kumar is less a film about racism and more about regenerating our own Asian American prejudices.

Now if you really want to see racism and its impact on people why go to a movie. You should be able to see it where you are. Infact you could get people to kae holidays to see racism at work. Forget it not in this kind of movie. Pompous verbosity is a waste here, similarly your cry

Hence we are left with less than noble choices: is Harold and Kumar standing up for all affluent Asians? Not quite-if you are Muslim, an Asian woman or progressive, you’ve been left out of Brotherhood Nexus of Kindly Weed.

is pretty weak and makes out to be a little frog in the well at best at worst a psuedo-intellectual raging against strawmen.

You cold have really done betteer to have tackled the other movie Bride and Bodice with Ash Rai in it. Now that is one movie which would deserve your laser sharp wit.

Samina:

Those who have seen the movie would enjoy reading it more than me since I have not seen it yet. This is an essay or in Arabic, Tafseer al-Harold and Kumar go to White Castle and certainly much more than a review about a movie. Readers should not read it as a review at all.

What else can I say? The essay reveals broad and in-depth understanding of racism in multiculture environment through the experiences of two characters and streotypes. What is missing is disapproval and strong challenge to such racism in the essay which is more frequently observed everywhere and everyday than racism. Nonetheless, this essay is very well composed with a shade of temporalism in challenging the readers to pay more attention than usual while reading, in order to grasp the flow of thoughts. well, if the topic requires convincing and/ or converting, getting extra attention certainly helps. In casual reading for entertainment it works just the opposite. One starts skipping sentences just to get over it as I used to do during quran khawanis and always appreciated for reading more siparas than the rest in the same time because I would skipp more than half of it without making it look like skipping whole page...

Anyway, good to see you writing for the front page.

usual typos in 11

``Infact you could get people to kae holidays to see racism at work``
should read

Infact you could get people to take holidays in NYC or the deep south to see racism at work.

again

``makes out to be a little frog in the well at best at worst a psuedo-intellectual raging against strawmen.``

should be ``makes you out...``
and ``cold`` should be could....

I havent seen the movie, after reading this piece I am looking forward to seeing it. After a long time there has been a decent read on chowk. But I dont see the boquets nor do I see the brickbats. Maybe its time to visit UP.

Thanks for the write up though. I am still waiting for your opinion on the stuff I asked you about.

I think this `review` tells us more about you than the movie. Sometimes, as Freud said, ;-), a cigar is just a smoke. So, chill out, take a deep drag or six, take the chip off your shoulder, forget that the AntiChrist is President of the US, womyn and sexo-ethnic minorities are being oppressed everywher and just enjoy the damn movie. For me, I can`t wait for the sequel!

Harold and Kumar go to Amsterdam!

Arjun, Fuzair,

Dude...its just a movie review...chillax...

Dotty, Sameer, Bharat,

Thanks for your comments.

Sameer,

I was pissed off...but in an understated, getting the joke way....

Dotty, Bharat,

There are a lot of good pieces on Chowk on a daily basis. I`m happy to finally contribute something.