Cross Media Case Study

‘Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay’ is a 2008 action adventure comedy film that serves as a sequel to its predecessor ‘Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle’. It primarily targets audiences that are infatuated by cannabis and/or those who are of an ethnic minority (in particular of Asian origin) living a western lifestyle. This is because Harold and Kumar are clearly from an ethnic minority living in a foreign land and therefore audience members who are too, would find it easier to relate to some of the predicaments the twosome find their selves in (Such as smoking marijuana). The trailer brings a sense of catharsis to the viewers as it depicts the sub-conscious feelings of many United States citizens towards the Asian community. This is portrayed by the constant use of labelling and stereotypical behaviour demonstrated by the American people to their Asian counterparts in the film presuming that all of them are terrorists. One example of this occurring in the film is in the second scene that we are shown. An elderly lady sees Kumar and pictures him with a turban and long beard, obviously assuming that he is a terrorist. She then proceeds to scream out “Terrorist!” which has a massive effect on the rest of the travellers who then break out in a frenzy hoping to escape from an expected explosion. Harold’s character is not protected either from the conventional American views towards those of any ethnic minority. As Harold is of East Asian decent, he resembles the visual of a Korean, and is therefore labelled as one by the airport security. Consequently, he too with Kumar is taken into custody and it is thought that “North Korea and Al-Qaeda are working together” to destroy the United States as they were/are both enemies of the patriotic nation. Vicarious living is also addressed in the trailer and is illustrated by Harold and Kumar’s wild and exaggerated behaviour leaving the viewer contemplating on how astounding it would be if they were in a similar position! An example of this is when Harold and Kumar break out of jail and find themselves at a nude “bottomless” party that they somehow ended up in.

There are a number of camera shots and techniques used throughout the trailer. The most common of these camera shots would have to be the “slide shot”. The “slide shots” are used to introduce a variety of different scenes from the film. They are used in conjunction with the background music as they are both fast paced and racy. This matches the mood of the film, as there never seems to be a dull moment in it. The first scene of the film that we are introduced to in the trailer is the potential turning point in the narrative. Harold and Kumar are on their way to Amsterdam, but at the airport, Kumar is stopped and searched for a random security check. He finds this offensive as he feels that because of his brown coloured skin and Indian origin, he is being labelled as a possible terrorist by airport security. This demonstrates alleged racial profiling by the American people in their own country towards those of a South Asian decent, as they supposedly portray all of them as terrorists. Around half a minute in to the trailer, we are then made aware of the distributers, publishers and producers of the film which in this case happen to be New Line Cinema and Warner Bros.

The film appears to explore a number of settings from the jungle prison land of Guantanamo Bay to the carefree party land of Miami, Florida. It also gives a comical insight in to how prisoners situated at Guantanamo Bay are really treated. This is given exposure when one of the guards asks the troublesome pair if they “like to spoon?” Once the main plot of the film is touched upon in the trailer, a slight insight is given in to what the main characters are like. Harold is depicted as the typical Asian student, clever and cautious ensuring that he does not find himself in troubling situations. Kumar appears to be the opposite of what stereotypes would label Asian students as. He is not that bright, and seems to always land the duo in to dangerous yet exciting adventures that they both have to find a way of escaping from.