Calder, Harold and Kumar

I think the film Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay does have a political message, however clumsy it may be. In the film the agent in charge of their case at Homeland Security is depicted as a racist idiot, and is generally inept at his job. The two leads, one East Asian the other Indian, and the people they encounter that are not white, are frequently stereotyped by the Homeland Security agent, and these stereotypes are played for

laughs. At the end of the movie Harold and Kumar smoke marijuana with George W. Bush, and he unapologetically comments on the failings within the system. The two leads are the victims of the incompetence and hypocrisy of government. While I do believe the film has a political message I do not think the film is, or even trying, to say anything new. I think the political nature of the film is simply a by-product of its plot, and the time in which it was produced. At the

time when the film was made, the topic of Guantanamo Bay was in the news constantly, and was talked about by everyone. Including the issue was just to make the movie more topical, and was just saying what people were thinking. The racial issues brought up in the film are mostly just for laughs. You do not often see lead roles go to non-whites, especially in teen comedies. I think simply by having two characters that are of different ethnicities, the issue of race is going to be brought up.