Harold and Kumar Go to White castle

Longest work ive eva dun in ma life

2007-02-06T08:35:00.000Z

Independent Study.

“Who’s looking after the Kwiky Mart while you gone” [1] How are stereotypes used in the media to shows Asians? Paying particular attention to ‘Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle’.

Statistics show that 3.5% of the U.K Population are Asians, this makes Asians ‘The largest single ethnic minority group in Britain - making up almost one quarter of the total ethnic minority population’. [2] Since the influx of Asians in the 1970’s we as an audience of the media have seen many representations, mostly being stereotypes. Whilst there are many varied representations in contemporary 21^st century, we still see Asians in roles which conform to the typical stereotypes which are rife in ‘Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.’ Comparing such a text with existing and historical texts, changes in representation, if any can be analysed using theorists such as Homi Bhaba, Stuart Hall and Laura Maulvey. Theorists such as Homi Bhaba and Laura Maulvey. The rise of the ‘brown pound’ combined with the political and social landscape has meant that Asians have become a more successful segment of society. Asians have become so successful they know rank amongst the elite names such as Lakshmi Mittal worth £14,881m have made there mark in the Asian Rich List in the UK. [3] This has inevitably led to the increase of power and status thus suggesting stereotypes are less commonly used. The British Asian genre broke through with the success of shows such as ‘Goodness Gracious Me (1998) and films such as ‘Bend it like Beckham’ (2002), with the break through of these the British Asian genre became a hit and helped with the success of Asians.

Ethnic minorities especially Asians have been subjects of stereotypes for several years now, despite gaining success within society, there are still outdated stereotypes that are present within contemporary society. ‘Stereotypes are seen by many as undesirable beliefs imposed to justify the acts of discrimination and oppression.’ Stereotyping is valid within many texts but rather than people being discriminated by it they know sees it as humour and a source of entertainment. Stereotypes are not always negative, texts do portray positive stereotypes. H&K shows the father and brother of Kumar as high positioned doctors this tie in with the stereotype that Asians are successful and hard workers.

Britain has now become more multicultural, this does not mean that British people are no longer racist. ‘Racism through representation has a long history.’[4] In H&K (Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle) we see one of the main protagonist being a subject of racism a white police officer says “What kind of name is that anyhow? Is that like five o’s or two u’s ” [5] this quote shows us that he is making fun of Kumar’s name thus inflicting a racial remarks towards him. Though this text may not be of an Asian British genre it still shows similar incidents that happen through the UK and America. Acts of racism are still valid in today’s date, evidence of this is shown through recent disruption in the media due to reality TV show Big Brother (2007). ‘Shilpa Shetty, a Bollywood actor and the alleged victim of racist abuse from several housemates, especially Goody.’ [6] Racism is still valid in contemporary society, Britain has become more multicultural over the years therefore racism is less mainstream but still evident.

H&K subverts the stereotype of Asians being hard workers, the character in role of Kumar is an Asian who is living out applying for a course in medicine, well that is what his parents think. ‘I am going to be honest, the only reason I’m applying is so my dad will keep paying for my apartment’ [7] we can see that the character of Kumar is challenging the stereotype that conforms to Asians being hard working. ‘The Asian Rich List is an annually published magazine and website, it list 300 most riches Asians within the UK’ [8]. This is a step forward which shows that Britain is accepting successful Asians, Britain has liberated over decades, successful Asians where not accepted as much in society as they are today.

Historical texts such as ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ (1985), ‘finding an identity in a country which is your home but which can never feel quite like your real home’ [9]

Was a text that looked at serious issues which were affecting the Asian society at the time, whereas H&K is shown in a more comical way rather than in a serious manner? The two texts differentiate in many ways mainly through the values they show and how they show them. My beautiful laundrette shows the struggle of a family going through a very racial time period and to make things worse the Asian protagonist is gay.

A more contemporary text that can be compared is ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ (2002) Gurinder Chada, this is a light hearted humour text which shows a typical Indian family trying to teach there daughter to not be interested in football but more in household works. ‘What family would want a daughter-in-law who can run around kicking football all day but can't make round chapattis?’ [10] Similarly to H&K this text show that Asian families always have expectations from their children and these two texts similarly challenge the expectations and reach out to do what they want. Gurinder Chada is an Asian director yet she has producing a text which conforms to stereotypical Asian roles, thus showing that Asian producers know that people want to see this type of humour, British Asian Genre directors know the peoples needs so therefore they are producing texts which Asians can relate to and laugh amongst the other ethnicities, without being offended.

Two further media text that can be looked at are ‘Mind your language’ (1977) Vince Pownell, this was a text that showed a class of immigrants that were wanting to learn English. The class consisted of several ethnical background people who didn’t always get on due to race relations. It could be said that light racism was used in the programme, the producer of the programme was a white person, but due to the comical nature and a passive audience these remarks may have been passed. ‘All Sikhs are VERY BIG LIARS.’ [11] Another sitcom well known, ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ (1998), apart from this sitcom being very successful it was also labelled as having the ‘racial clowns’ as the cast were using light hearted humour with references to stereotypes of Asians. Whereas in contrast H&K uses past representations towards the Asians by the white character, in Goodness Gracious Me it’s the Asian characters representing themselves. Characters in Goodness Gracious Me are conforming to the theory of the ‘Brown Clown’ [12] this is where the characters uses stereotypes which are outdated, these stereotypes usually make the audience laugh. This theory shows postmodernism is in affect as Asian characters follow stereotypical roles as on screen this type of representation caters for the viewers wants.

H&K being the most contemporary text shows portrayal of characters different to all the other texts, ‘Gradually the shape of Britain's multi-culturalism is becoming clear - and nowhere is the outline more distinct than with the role Asians are playing.’ [14] This shows that society has become more multicultural as Asians are accepted within society whereas before it was hard for Asians to make a stand. The use of the accent within texts allows western viewer to feel less threatened as it gives them the satisfaction that the characters are still filling the ‘third space’ and that they are still ‘the other’ rather than one of them.

The father of Kumar conforms to the stereotypical profession of Asians of being doctors, the father carries an accent, this accent allows the western audience to feel safe as mentioned before, the father is known as ‘the other’. Whereas characters with American accents such as the police officer would be known as ‘one of us’. This shows that hegemonic values are existent within western culture, as they would define themselves as the ruling classes.

Asian and black characters are mostly seen in comedy genre texts which connotes that they are willing to entertain through comedy, thus labelling them ‘brown clown’. ‘One may or may not find something humorous because it is either too offensive or not offensive enough.’ [15] The comedy genre has to consist of offensive or stereotypical elements in order to make an appeal to audiences. ‘…Asians or race were usually the butt of the joke, these comedies tended to hit a racist note, but always in a well meaning, benevolent tone.’ Ethnic minorities have always been the joke it is just that they have always been portrayed this way in the least racist tone. Western audiences do not feel threatened by characters as they are making references in comical ways, whereas if this was not the case they would feel unsecured. H&K go through a night on a road trip adventure meeting many difficulties, the use of light-hearted humour makes the viewer laugh at the characters and situation, the seriousness of the scenes is not identify by the audience suggesting that the audience is ‘passive’.

Due to success of British Asian Genre texts has led to the genre growing dramatically, after the release of texts such as ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ the British Asian Genre has reached the mainstream market. Due to this it has led to American Asian films being successful such as ‘Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. H&K has been directed by ‘Danny Leiner’ who is middle class white producer, the representations shown in H&K maybe of a comical nature but it could be challenged that the producer has represented Kumar from his point of view, rather than how he should be in reality.

H&K are the protagonist throughout the text; they are represented as two potheads who love smoking weed and getting high all the time. This could be considered a misrepresentation as the director may have included this as his point of view. It could be used to raise awareness of how much there has been an increase of young adults and students taking drugs. ‘16-29 year olds were interviewed between January and April. They were asked about drug use (cannabis, heroin, methadone cocaine or crack) in the previous 12 months’ [16].

H&K is a light hearted humour text which appeals mainly to a male audience of age 16-29. This demographic is suitable as they can identify with characters and roles that they fulfil. This age group will also be going through a similar phase in life as the two characters are doing, as they either start work or they go to university. Apart from this audience there is also a bigger, mass audience; Hollywood and the British film industry have become more multicultural this is shown through the use of ethnic characters within films.

H&K has been produced by ‘New Line Cinema’ [17], this studio has created many big hit movies and trilogies such as ‘Lord of the rings: Trilogy’, ‘American History X’, ‘Austin Powers’ and other such big films. New Line Cinema is one of ten major Hollywood studios; founded in 1967 it has made its mark. New Line Cinema is a subsidiary of ‘Time Warner [18]’.

H&K follows an unusual narrative; the two protagonists are set out on a road trip in search of a specific burger bar named ‘White Castle’. H&K follows Todorov’s narrative structure as in the beginning of the film they are happy and smoking weed, this is the equilibrium. The hunger is the disruption, the advert then is the realisation of the disruption, the journey they embark on is the attempt to set it right and once they have reached there destination that is the restoration of the equilibrium. As the story ended on a cliff hanger this would be the new equilibrium.

The presence of females is shown as a negative stereotype, whenever we are introduced to a female character within the text, they are shown as sex object purely for the male gaze. This representation conforms to ‘Laura Maulvey’s’ theory, which states that women are shown as sex objects for the male gaze. Maulvey is also known for a text that she wrote, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ (1973).

The Asian society as a whole has gained a lot of success, over the decades Asian have built up empires that are worth millions: ‘Brown Pound’, ‘The combined disposable income of ethnic minorities in the UK is £32bn’ [19]. Due to population growth and an increase in a more multi-cultural and diverse society, ethnic groups have been accepted, thus the recognition in the rise of the brown pound.

Bibliography

Books

Sarita, Malik(2002)Representing Black Britain:London, Sage Publications

.Jones,Marsha & Jones,Emma(1999),Mass Media.Basingstoke,Hampshire:Macmillan press Ltd

King,Geoff(2002):FILM COMEDY.London:Wallflower Press

References

[1] Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) Danny Liener

[2] http://www.bl.uk/collections/business/asiandemographics.html

[3] http://www.asianrichlist.co.uk/richlist_more.asp?rank=1&id=1

[4] Representation, Race and Youth Culture

[5] Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) Danny Liener

[6] http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1994833,00.html

[7] Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) Danny Liener

[8] http://www.asianrichlist.co.uk/aboutus.asp

[9] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091578/

[10] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286499/quotes

[11] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075537/quotes

[12]

[13]Representation, Race and Youth Culture

[14] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/442262.stm

[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy

[16] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=5938

[17] http://www.newline.com/movies/archive_h.shtml

[18] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner

[19] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3129178.stm

SELF EVALUATION

2007-01-28T23:17:00.000Z

Effort

3- i try n do my work do a good standard

Punctuality

2-on time to lesson most of the time apart from once or twice

Submission and quality of homework

3-most of my work has been on time and done to an exceptable standard

Ability to work independently

3-i can work independently sometimes i may get confused

Quality of writing

3-my quality of writing isnt the greatest but its not da worst. u unastand

Organisation of Media folder

2- i thinkmy media folder good i got nearly all da sheets

Oral contributions in class

4-i think i could contribute more in lessons

3 objectives

1.contribute more in lesson.
2.improve writing standard.
3.try not to get confused independently

Task 14- First Paragraph

2007-01-02T22:50:00.000Z

How are stereotypes used against asians? Paying particular attention to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

In the past we have seen many representations of asians and many stereotypes of asians, over decades representations have changed asians are not now seen how they where several years ago. We still see asians in roles which conform to the typicall stereotype of asian but why is this done?, using the text named above i will explore the text in depth whilst comparing it to other historical and contemporary texts to see the change over time periods and see what types of represenations and streotypes are shown. Over years asians have become more succesful meaning that representation of asians as a community has become more powerful in society, this change has also led to power and status of asians becoming higher. To help me put forth my arguments i will be using theorist/theories such as, Homi Bhaba, Laura Maluvey, brown pound and the brown clown, i will further talk in detail about these theorists/theories throughout my investigation.

Task 13- Detailed essay Plan

2007-01-02T22:48:00.001Z

i have chosen to do my independent study on the representation of Asians, in order to look at this subject in more detail i have chosen to use a text named 'Harold and Kumar go to White Castle'. i have chosen to use this text as it shows that certain stereotypes of asians are still present in contemporary society it also shows a different side to asians which may not be seen by everyone. throughout my study i will also look at how the asian society has gained recognition over the decades, looking back at society in the 70's we can see that hegemony does not somuch come in between asians and other cultural groups as society is becoming more multi-cultural. even though asians have made a mark within society you will still see that stereotypes and other forms of discrimination are still present within society.(S,R)

in order to gain full knowledge and to show my aruments i will compare my text to other asian texts and see how they differ and what similarities they consist of. i will be looking at text such as Bend it like beckham, Bhaji on the beach, My beuatiful laundrette and mind your laguage most of these texts are comedy genre texts. these texts will help me in comparing my text and see changes in society over time, these texts also show different types of stereotypes, certiain people will look at the stereotypes shown at luagh at the humour created but some people may look at the stereotyping in a different manner.(G,A)

kumar being from a successful and respectable family is expectated to do well in life go to university and obtain a degree, the character is shown to challenge the what is expected from his family.(N)
asians have a positive steroetype that they are successful and hard workers this is usualy led from gaining a degree or qualifications of some sort,within asian families getting a dgree is the most important thing if this doesnt happen they would think your a let down.(V&I)
on screen we the character of kumar challenging the typical stereotype set by society of asians being hard workers, kumar is a pot head who is living of his fathers money in actualfact he is ment to be studying for a doctors degree in university.(S,R)

the asian character in the text is shown to be very scruffy and not very presentable, kumar is shown to be a pot head who wants to smoke weed al the time. comparing this text to 'Bend it like beckham' we can see what typical asian parents expect of there kids and in my text we see all asian parental expectations being challenged.

in the past when asian people used to have an accent and where shown on television people would mock them and make fun of them this was leading to racism and conflict between cultural groups , whereas now society has changed, now society look at things from another prospective because asians have made a mark in society and have become amongst the elite now people still laugh at the accent but they laugh with the characters not at them and asian comedians know that people like watching things so they do things that would make people laugh which is the typical accent, corner shops a good example here would be the well known show 'Goodness Gracious Me'.(H,G,R)

asians have become successful worlwide but concentrating on britain we can see that britain has definaetly become multi-cultural not only on television but in the business world,music, politics and sports, asians now rank amongst britains super rich. looking at asians in the business world they have spread into everything from financial services, cosmetics to mining, if we were to combine all there wealth togther it would not come in millions but billionsand maybe even more. asian music has taken a turn into mainstream we see alot of people listening to asian music a well know artist would be Talvin Singh from the asain dub, in the sporting world we have seen teenagers taking part in the olympics, amir khan was boxing in the olympics he made his mark by wining silver medal for britain at a young age.(E,P)

the text harold and kumar appeals to a mass audience as it is produced by one of hollywoods ten major film producing studios, so the text doesnt aim purely at asian it is for a teenage audience. the director of text is a white director who has produced text such as 'Dude wheres my car?' from this we can interprit that are we getting the right readings of asians, or is the director just sending out his own views.(I,V&I)

Task 12 - HiStorical Text

2007-01-02T19:41:00.000Z

My Beautiful Laundrette-1985
Director-Stephen Frears
Drama/Romance
Synopsis-My Beuatiful Laudrette is set amongst the asian community within the London area, it shows an asian guy helping run his uncles laudrette with the help of a white friend who is an ex-NF supporter.
i could compare this text to my study as it challenges the usual stereotypes portrayed of asians within society at such a stage in time. at the time the text was produced it wasnt healthy for asians to be gay, this text caused a lot of controversy at the time it was released, the asian community found it very offensive that an asian character was acting as a gay man.

Mind your laguage-1977 till 1986
Created by-Vince Powell
Comedy
Synopsis-shows a class of immigrants being taught english, the class does not always learn english instead other mishaps happen throughout there lessons.
this text can be linked to my text as it shows several different ethnic minorities aswell as people from the asian community, Mind your language was a tv series which conforms to the stereotypes of certain ethnic minorities. as the series was created so long ago we cannot itendify the purpose of the text we cannot tell whether weare laughing at the sterotypes of the characters or if we are laughing at the jokes being made. the audience of the text need to take into consideration that the producers of the show where middle class white producers.

Bhaji on the beach-1992
Director-Gurinder Chada
Comedy/Drama
Synopsis-A group of indian women decide to go on a day trip to Blackpool, on there trip they come across many events that each woman as an indivdual faces and tackle.
bhaji on the beach is a more recent text, it shows asian women to be quite confused as they carry the asian woman stereotype but also at times they think, we are in britain should we be more western and liberated.

Sarita, Malik(2002)Representing Black Britain:London, Sage Publications

Some of her comments of the sitcom are as follows…

‘…Asians or race were usually the butt of the joke, these comedies tended to hit a racist note, but always in a well meaning, benevolent tone.’

‘…never before had so many diverse races been seen in the same television frame, but hey had also never clung so tightly to their popular crude national stereotypes. Conveniently set in an in an English-language teaching centre, Mind Your Language set up the perfect opportunity to show the differences between various ‘foreigners’. The source of humour was not just racial difference, but more specifically non-Englishness (denoted in their accents, customs, clothes and the situations they would find themselves in.’

‘At the time, Humphrey Barclay (then Head of Comedy at London Weekend Television, which produced the majority of these comedies about race) defended the programme on the grounds that seeing difference races on-screen would familiarize and naturalize them to a White majority viewing public. This standard defence based on an unpersuasive multi cultural philosophy, supposed that some representation was better than none, and that putting something on screen would necessarily ‘unshackle’ it. In fact, it is quite possible to flaunt a multi-racial society without displaying any multicultural sensibility or awareness, and laughter does not necessarily mean that we have ‘overcome’ racism, but that we can, in fact, be in the midst of reproducing racist ideologies.’

Maulvey essay ting

2006-11-27T18:58:00.000Z

My text is mainly male dominated as, the two main characters are male. Maulvey links in to the essay as females are objectified as sex objects throghout the text. Firstly we see twins that one of the characters is introduced to it could be said that he is seduced by the women. Nearer towrds the ending you see another character who reveals her breast to the characters we dont see any phallic objects of any type.(she uses her finger not sure bout dat) ("_)

The text doesnt show any type of patriarchy, the audience is positioned to see things the way the two main charcters like it, taking into account they are pot heads, the audience is made to see things there way.

In one scene the text shows two characters who gain erotic pleasure by watching a film, where they see the female breasts on screen this helps reinforece the theory that Maulvey puts forth.

Maulvey

2006-11-19T19:40:00.000Z

the mAle gaze was the theory which Laura Maulvey is behind, the male gaze is when fmales are used on screen for male pleasure and the male audience view the female characters through a sexual way. Maulvey is not only famous for her theory but she is also well knownfor her essay writing, ''Visual pleasure and Narrative cinema'' written in 1973 and published in a book in 1975.

Maulvey states that there are two ways of seeing this:
Voyeuristic- this is when the audience get pleasure seeing other people doing things.(sexual things!!!!!!!)

Fetishistic- this is when an object is used as a focus and is used to portray something or somenone in a sexual way

TV Commercials

2006-11-12T11:03:00.000Z

Traditional women role: Retromercial: Persil (1958)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6880aSkS08

Sexually objectified women: Herbal Essences - Rainforest Flowers - Loin Cloth
http://www.ephinx.com/tvadverts/89/herbal-essences-rainforest-flowers-loin-cloth-advert.html

Professional active women:

1. SELF EVALUATION

2006-11-12T08:38:00.000Z

Effort:3
i think that i have put in alot more effort in this year rather than last year. also i concentrate more in lessons.

Punctuality:2
i have been coming to all lessons on time i've just been late once or twice.

Submission and quality of homework:1
i have completed most of the homework tasks on time just the last couple of homeworks were late, and the quality of work is quite good so yeh.

Ability to work independently:2
i can work well independently but sometimes get onfused on what to do, but still i figure out what is needed to be done.

Quality of writing:3
i think i need to use more media terminology when writing things from my prospective, it will help in examinations and my independent study.

Otganisation of media folder:1
my media folder is sik.

Oral contributions in class:3
i think that i need to contribute more to lesson rather than just when i am asked a question.

Standard of module 5 blog:2
my blog is up to date and quite detailed so yeh i think is quite good.

Standard of module 6 blog:3
needs to be updated.

Book Research

2006-10-29T18:04:00.000Z

1. Mullard,Chris(1985):Race,Power & Resistance.Leicester Square, London:Routledge & Ledge Paul plc

This links to my study as it looks at how and when it was that ethnic minorities protested against there rights and post-colonialism was challenged, it also looks at the white ideologists and the black utopians.

2.Jones,Marsha & Jones,Emma(1999),Mass Media.Basingstoke,Hampshire:Macmillan press Ltd
This text links to my study as it focuses on representation of gender, ethnicity and stereotypes, it looks into these areas at a depth and it also gives previous examination questions from whih you can revise and extract info to add to my study.

3.Downes, Brenda (1998) : Media Studies. UK: Hodder Headline PLC.

This text is relavant to mine as it discusses sterotyping in detail and the differences between representation and its realities from its assumptions.

4.Burton, Graeme (1999) : Media & Popular Culture. UK: Hodder Headline PLC.

This text links to my study as it focuses upon the representation of races. It features a range of theorists that we have not yet covered which could relate to the views that I am expressing throuhgout my study.

5.Clark, Vivienne & Barker, James & Lewis, Eileen (2000) : Key Concepts & Skills for Media Studies. Malta: Gray Publishing.

This text was useful for me as it discusses representation and ideologies as a key comcept in more technical and academic detail.

6.King,Geoff(2002):FILM COMEDY.London:Wallflower Press

This text links into my study as it looks at the comedy genre in detail, my text is a comedy genre text meaning that the book will link to my study perfectly.

7.Branston,Gill & Stafford,Roy(1996):the media student's book.New York:Routledge

This book looks at various representations of people gender streotypical roles, i could use this as it links to my study as i am looking at representation and stereotypical roles.

SelF dIrEcTeD ResEArch.....

2006-10-10T08:19:00.000Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3859991.stm

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/trailer.html?v_id=288234

www.haroldandkumar.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_Asians

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/442262.stm

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/

http://www.newline.com/

2006-10-10T07:31:00.000Z

Stereotypes of Asians are oversimplified ethnic stereotypes of Asian people and are found in many Western societies. Stereotypes of Asians have been collectively internalized by societies, and are manifested by a society's media, literature, theatre and other creative expressions. However, these stereotypes have very real repercussions for Asians and Asian Americans in daily interactions, current events, and governmental legislation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_Asians

asians doing ok.

2006-10-10T07:28:00.000Z

UK Asians doing OK

BBC Two's Goodness Gracious Me

Gradually the shape of Britain's multi-culturalism is becoming clear - and nowhere is the outline more distinct than with the role Asians are playing.

This articles links to my study as it os a how asian representation has changed and the position of asians in the British society.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/442262.stm

KeYwOrDs...

2006-10-10T07:06:00.000Z

Culture
The social practices of a group of people, usually invovling shared language, history, values, beliefs e.t.c.

Iconography
The distinguishing elements in terms of props and visual details, which charactersised a genre.

Post Modernism...
literally meaning 'after the modern'. a Description of generic variation in media texts and as a definition of cultural attitudes. Postmodern texts do not follow traditional narrative or genre expectations.

Hybrid...
a cross between one film genre and another

Archetype
An often-repeated character type or representation which is instantly recognisable to an audience.

Attitude, beliefs and values
Terms commonly used when discussing the audience for media products and the factors influencing the reception of media messages.

mY bLoG BuDdiEs...

2006-10-09T14:15:00.000Z

One of my Blog Buddies is RaSpReEt..x from 13D...

Raspreet's Independent Study:
'How are Asians represented in film and television, with particular focus on Bride & Prejudice?'

I have chosen Raspreet as one of my blog buddies because her independent study also focuses on the representation of Asians in a film. Although the way that Asians are represented in both our texts may differ slightly there are still comparisons which can be made. Because my text focuses more on the way Asian males are percieved by the audience and their growing interest in issues such as drugs, there is an idea that he steers away from Asian stereotypes in this sense. Simarlarly, her text also challenges the typical Asian stereotypes because it focuses on certain Asian women and how they are in today's society - much more independent and in control of situations regarding issues such as marriage, in comparison to how they may have been in the past.

My other blog buddy is Parampreet from 13C...

Pip's Independent Study:
How accurately are Asians represented in "Life isn't all ha ha hee hee"?

I have chosen Parampreet as one of my blog buddies because her independent study also focuses on the representation of Asians. Although, her text is a television series and mine is a film. Her text focuses on the representation of British born Asians who appear to struggle living both lives of traditional Indian girls or their British side. The way that Asians are represented in both our texts may be slightly different there may be some comparisons. My text focuses more on the way Asian males are presented regarding certain issues so there is an idea that my text steers away from Asian stereotypes. Whereas her text seems as if though it more largely focuses on the way you would expect stereotypical young women to be presented within society.

Med 5 Blog Task 6

2006-10-01T12:31:00.000Z

M
In this scene the characters are in a hospital. The cinematography has been done very precisely as it looks at two characters at a time, in a medium long shot. When Kumar is conversating with his father. The camera is at a medium close up. In this scene we see Kumar’s father and his brother. Here we see his father wearing a doctor’s coat with a stir cope around his neck. This is shown through a medium long shot. This reinforces the typical Indian profession. Whilst Kumar’s father is conversating with him about his future you can see the seriousness through his facial expression. Throughout this extract it uses cutaways it doesn’t use a variety of edits this is to make it more realistic.

I
This text has been produced by one of Hollywood’s well known Studios New Line Cinema this is one of the ten biggest production teams in Hollywood. As it was produced by such a well known and established institution it was promoted very well through all various methods of promotion merchandise was even sold.

G
this text is a comedy and road trip genre. The genric conventions this text carries a road trip style narrative flow, because of this the setting of the film changes throughout. This text is a broadcast fiction text as it falls into this generic category.

R
This text mostly represents at the male gender but looks at females’ repeatedly throughout the text. It doesn’t represent any specific ethnic group. Interpreting the text it dose give a fair representation of society as what is shown in the text is what happens in realty. The fest dose challenge stereotypes through Kumar’s character but at times you do see some character reinforce the typical Indian role.

A
Primary audience for my text is males 16-24. The secondary audience for my text would be females again 16-24 and males above 24. The target audience for this text would be 15 onwards as the text is a certificated film. The target gender is males it doesn’t appeal to any specific ethnic group in particular narrative pleasures that this text fulfils is simply entertainment.

I
This text challenges traditional Asian values. It glorifies the use of drugs.

N
This text has a closed narrative as the characters reach there goal of what they had set out for. The text follows a linear narrative as it all flows, the text follows conventions of Barthes theory in some aspects as after each encounter the audience is left thinking what will happen next.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3859991.stm

2006-09-29T08:48:00.000Z

Police search powers scrutinised

Stop-and-searches on Asian people have hugely increasedThe government is to look at police use of stop-and-search powers after a big rise in the number of Asians stopped.
The number of searches of Asians under terror laws rose by more than 300% to nearly 3,000 in 2002-03, the Home Office said.
Muslim leaders said the figures suggested their community had been targeted since 11 September 2001.

This articles looks at how all asians are getting stopped more due to the terrorist acts. This links in with my study as i can talk about how the representation of asians in the media has dramitically changed.

Article from BBC Asians progressing

2006-09-29T08:47:00.000Z

UKUK Asians doing OK BBC Two's Goodness Gracious Me Gradually the shape of Britain's multi-culturalism is becoming clear - and nowhere is the outline more distinct than with the role Asians are playing.
Talvin Singh's victory in the coveted Technics Mercury prize with his album OK has again highlighted Asian success stories in the UK. Receiving the award, he said: "The industry needs to accept music that's a bit colourful. I am not a minority anymore, I am a majority. This is celebrating that."
The impact of Asian music, including other acts such as Cornershop and Asian Dub Foundation, and its influence on Kula Shaker, shows Singh has got a point.
Talvin Singh: Did fine with his album OKThe world of the arts has seen several high profile Asian players, including the team behind the BBC comedy Goodness Gracious Me and actor Saeed Jaffrey.
Indian-born Salman Rushdie made his impact on the world of advertising, creating memorable slogans such as "Naughty, but nice" before writing his slightly more weighty and hugely controversial Satanic Verses.
But the impact of the Asian 3.5% of the UK population is not limited to the arts.
In business
Business is one area where Asians are seldom underestimated and many now rank among Britain's super-rich.
A list of the wealthiest Asians, published annually by Eastern Eye newspaper, revealed in April that the richest 200 Asians in the UK have a combined wealth of £7bn.
While they may not be household names, many have an obvious High Street presence.
Namita Panjabi, owner of the Chutney Mary restaurant group, is worth £5m, while married couple Meena and Kirit Pathak have amassed a £30m fortune through their popular Pathak food brand.
Salman Rushdie: Fatwah now liftedPerween Warsi, who named her company, S&A Foods, after her sons, has built a personal fortune of £35m. The firm supplies frozen and chilled foods to clients such as Asda, Safeway and Whitbread.
Topping the "rich list" were brothers Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja, who hit the headlines last year when they offered to underwrite the Millennium Dome's spirit zone.
Finance, industry, oil and telecommunications interests have generated a family fortune of £1.3bn.
Nearly 30,000 Ugandan Asians came to the UK when they were expelled by Idi Amin in the 1970s, and have proved to be some of the most enterprising and successful business leaders.
In the Midlands alone, studies indicate that they have created 30,000 jobs.
In politics
It's not just in business, either. There are more Asians in Parliament than ever before. In the Commons, there are on the Labour benches Piara Khabra, Ashok Kumar, Mohammad Sarwar and Marsha Singh. Jonathan Sayeed is a Conservative MP.
Earlier this year, Keith Vaz became the first Asian to be a member of the government, when he became a junior minister in the Lord Chancellor's department.
Mohammed Sarwar, one of the Commons' AsiansRepresenting a Leicester constituency with a large Asian population, he led a march against Rushdie's Satanic Verses, although he privately sympathised with the author.
There was another first last year when Waheed Alli became the first Asian in the House of Lords.
Having made a fortune in shrewd deals in the entertainment industry, Labour-supporting Alli was sent to the Lords by Tony Blair.
The company he set up with Bob Geldof, Planet 24, has become well- known for making Channel 4's morning show The Big Breakfast, and a range of other programmes.
In sport
Asians in sport are also making themselves felt, none more so than Sheffield's all-conquering featherweight Prince Naseem Hamed. Although from the Yemen, he is seen as a role-model by many young Asians.
Naseem Hamed: All conqueringAthletics, too, is represented, with Gowry Retchakan, a recently-retired member of the women's GB 400-metre hurdles team.
And in the recent Cricket World Cup, the passion with which UK followers of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh supported their teams was one of the tournament's highlights.
This has been allied to increasing influence in the domestic game. While Madras-born Nasser Hussain took over at the helm of the England team, Berkshire-born Aftab Habib won his first England cap, although did not impress the selectors.
England captain Nasser Hussain, born in MadrasHe has however been selected for the A tour of Bangladesh and New Zealand, as has Worcestershire's Alamgir Sheriyar. Min Patel and others are stalwarts of the county scene.
And elsewhere
The integration of Asians through society inevitably includes the prison community, and it was in recognition of the needs of Asian prisoners that Home Secretary Jack Straw announced the first Muslim prison adviser this week.
Maqsood Ahmed will advise on issues including notification of holy days and special diets affecting almost 4,500 Muslim prisoners in jails in England and Wales.
That number has almost doubled in the past five years, but one expert said because of Muslims' over-representation in deprived sectors of the community and a rise in the numbers of Asian men between 18 and 25, the figure was "extraordinarily low".

HoMe work

2006-09-24T12:49:00.000Z

http://www.manaa.org/articles/stereo.html
talks aBout american asian stereotypes.

http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people5/Mahbubani/mahbubani-con1.html
This is an interview with an indian man who talks about the past. (historical)

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/1470
cHallenges The stereotypical asian roles, looks at lesbians.

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/advertising/1453
Bollywood team up with orange to encorage young bollywood talent.

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/radio/1451
Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq will make her debut in news presenting with Love 'Honour' and Obey - looking at horrifying instances of the practice within the British Asian community. It will debut on September 4th.

tRAILeR L1nK

2006-09-24T12:29:00.000Z

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/trailer.html?v_id=288234

dEfintions

2006-09-24T11:35:00.000Z

Ideology-a set of attitudes, beliefs and values held in common by a group of people culturally reproduced within that community to sustain its particular way of life. This term links to my text as my text challenges the ideologies of typical asian characters.

Male Gaze-term used by Laura Mulvey in her essay 'Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema'(1975) to describe what she saw as the male point of view adopted by the camera for the benefit of an assumed male audience. I will use this theory as women have been put in my text for the male pleasure.

Road Movie-a film genre in which the leading characters embark on a journey or quest, often in search of an ideal, and encounter a range of people and situations on their way. My text falls into this genre.

Stereotype-the social classification of a group of people by identifying common characteristics and universally applying them in an often oversimpleified and generalised way, such that the classification represents value judgements and assumptions about the group concerned. I will look at this term as i will at how asians are represented.

2006-09-17T19:36:00.000Z

Blogs 1'vE cOmmEnTeD ON

2006-09-17T17:26:00.000Z

Parampreet
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33858671&postID=115851318758677324

Raspreet....x
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33842838&postID=115801536442577556

Puja
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33648322&postID=115763193274785050

DeTAiLed MiGRAIN

2006-09-17T13:41:00.000Z

Media LaNguage-
The text is set out through one night this conotes the typical young live as you would expect young adults to be out all night, the text is not shot all in one particular location as the story moves on the location keeps changing, ths gives the sense of a type of road trip. The audience can idetify with the charcters as the two characters are young adults and also as alot of young adults travel alot.

When we are first shown the apartment where the two characters live. In the mise en scene we see that the apartment is not very presentable this again connotes the young lives of the characters.

Iconography of the two characters is very parallel as Harold who is an investment banker is shown to be dressed smart and casually thruogh the text, showing that he is a proffesional. Whereas in comparison Kumar who is unemployed, has a scruffy appearance from the first time we see him on screen.

Through the use of sound and visual techniques, we see the glorification of drugs. In one of the scenes the audience are shown a big bag of weed with a magical sound playing over the image the sound used is non-digietic. The sound makes you feel as if the doors of heaven have been opened, this conveys the meaning of drugs being magical and heavenly.

InsTItuTI0N-
This text has been produced by New Line Cinema. This institution is very big, they have produced big films that are well recognised. New line cinema is an independant film company, that have produced 'Lord of the rings trilogy', 'Gold member', 'The Mask' and many others.

This text had a production budget of $9 million. On the week box office text produced a total income of $5,480,378, on the foreign box office it made $5,456,143. in total this text produced a total income of $18,250,550.

gEnRE-
Harold and Kumar is a comedy genre text, we see the glorification of drugs through the eyes of the two characters which portrays the two characters to be comical as in reality drugs are a serious issue. In the scene where the big bag of weed is shown is an example of this.

In some scenes trough the film we see characters being funny through a suttle way, this is done to make theytext enmor-e compleig towards the comdy genre.

rEpreSENTATIOn-
the representation of asians is challenged in my text but then at the same time it is also re-enforced as in certain parts of the text you see the characters doing things that you would not se in a asian text but then the speach of the characters at time reinforces the stereo typical image of an asian.

Aud13NCE-
The audience for my text is 16-24 males as this age group can relate to the characters. This would be the primary target audience, then there would be a secondary target audience of whom would be older and also would consist of females.

iDE0lOgie5 4nD vAlueS-
ThE ideology presented in this text is to fullfil what you have set out to do, and to smoke eat and have fun. This text challenges the conventions that you would see in a film with an indian character in it.

nARRAt1vE sTrUcTue-
This text has been structured over one night, the audience is drawn in through the use of on screen props, in one of the opening scenes the audience are shown an advert for White Castle this draws in the audience as they will fell hungry. Once the audince are engaged from the begging they stay interested as each forthecoming event gets mysterious.

the audience are kept in an enigma, the structure follows Barthes theory.

ReV1ews

2006-09-11T19:02:00.000Z

In those rare instances when it's not being a dumb comedy, Harold and Kumar is a rather crafty satire of racial stereotypes (which, it must be said, traffics in a few stereotypes of its own) .In this review the viewer says that the the text cleverly challenges stereotypes, and at the same time showing the portrayal of reality in its own ways.

The rare funny scenes are dominated by predictable sex or drug jokes. In this review you can see that they talk about sex and drugs, this challenges the normal stereotype of asian movies as you would not see them talking about sex and drugs so openly. This quote demonstrates the way times are changing and how the younger generation are becoming more westernised.

Nearly every gut-wrenching turn is somehow derived from an ethnic slur, juvenile sight gag, or the glorification of an illegal substance and its side effects. In this review it talks about the glorification of drugs and how it doesnt think of the ethnicity.

Wider context

2006-09-10T14:33:00.001Z

Social ~ I will be looking at how asians have built up there reputation from how it used to be years ago and how it is today. i will look at how asians have climbed the wealth ladder and are now breaking into professions that are very well paying.

Historical ~ This context will look at previous events that have occured towards the asian soiety or from the asian society. I will talk about events like 9/11 and how that has impacted upon the asian society.

Economical ~

Political~For this context i will be looking at how drugs are a growing problem within the asian and other ethic societies.

Theories & Theorist

2006-09-10T13:34:00.000Z

Laura Maulvi- females used on screenfor the pleasure of males, the male gaze. In my text they have used a women that one of the protagnist finds very attractive, the audience can also seek pleasure as they see the women from the eyes of the protagnist.

Propp- identifies the hero ,villain other important character of the text. In my text the two main characters are victims of racism in parts of the text, here we can put propps theory into study as if seen from the characters point of view, the characters that are abusing the main characters can be seen as the villains.

Levi Strauss- binary opposition, in the text one of the main characters confronts another character showing that he is not frightened of him here we see victory for the character, this triumph shows victory over the stronger character.

Brown Clown- the asian character us#ed to make the audience laugh. In the text we see that the two characters make the audience laugh.

Brown Pound- shows the status of asians and how wealthy they are.

Proposed study.

2006-08-06T14:44:00.000Z

How are stereotypes used against Asians? Paying particular attention to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle ‘04’.

Throughout my independent study I will be focusing on the representation of Asians, I will be concentrating on a contemporary text which is called ‘Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle’. Throughout the course of my independent study I will use various resources and texts from which I will be extracting data and information which will assist my independent study to progress. When looking at other texts I will be paying particular attention on the representation of Asians, looking at how texts challenge the typical Asian role and how they re-enforce stereotypes. I will also look at the wider context concerning the Asian society and how people look at Asians today compared to several years ago, the Asian society has grown rapidly over the years and so has the reputation.

M-When looking at media language I will be paying particular attention towards how the characters are shown, I will be looking at the mise en scene as this will signify the standard of the character and the type of clothing and the way in which the character is speaking. These aspects and other aspects will be very important as it will be these elements that portray the character in a certain way.

I-The institution which supports Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is New Line Cinema.

G-the text that I will be studying is of a comedy genre with the hint of drama element within the text, when looking at other texts they will be mostly of the comedy genre.

R-I will be looking at the representation of Asians, concentrating on whether they are stereotypes are challenged or re-enforced. Looking at the wider context I will also look at how Asians used to be represented and how they are represented now.

A- The target audience for my main text is mostly males 18-25, I have used this age range as the two main characters are young adults, also due to the use of females for the male gaze. The secondary audience is women the same age range again.

I-The values and ideology that my main text portrays is that people should have fun, they have shown fun from there point of view, through smoking weed and having food is a good time for them.

N-My main text goes through a night in the lives of two friends while they go on a wild road trip in search of a burger place named White Castle.

Social context-I will be looking at Asian and how they are represented in society and the reputation of Asians. I will also be looking at how the Asian ethnicity has grown popular amongst other ethnic groups.

Theory/Theorist- ~Black Clown (Stuart Hall)

~Laura Maulvi

~Homi Bhahba

Other text- Goodness gracious me

Bend it like Beckham

Bhaji on the Beach

American Desi

Bibliography:

Harold and Kumar official site
Bbc.co.uk
Rottentomatoes.com