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Recently Released In Theaters Reviews
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 Much of what makes Harold and Kumar seemingly so unique is that it reflects around cultural identity and the feeling of having to adhering to both American and their ancestral cultures. We wondered whether Penn saw Kumar as a reflection of that. “With Kumar, I think he sees himself as an American, which he is, and I don’t think he has any identity struggle,” Kal believes, “The only time ethnicity is brought up is when people confront him with it. Otherwise, he just thinks he’s like everybody else, which he is, in behavior, stature, and all of that.” “Growing up in New Jersey, I saw myself as an American and that’s not mutually exclusive to have Indian and South Asian heritage,” he continues, “I’m bilingual, so I just saw that as part of being American. I don’t really put people into categories and I think a lot of people don’t put others into categories unless you’re questioned about it. Then, you’re like, ‘I have to put this into a category for you. That’s kind of strange to think of yourself that way.’” As much as it has traditionally been laid on an industry that adheres mostly to an traditionally American commercial culture, Penn believes that the blame for the lack of cultural diversity in Hollywood lays equally at the foot of minority families who are adverse to having their children pursue careers in arts and entertainment. “It’s interesting, specifically with the South Asian American community, a lot of folks don’t like the way we’re depicted in the media or don’t like the fact that we’re absent from a lot of media depiction,” Kal notes, “And yet, we don’t really encourage our own kids to go into these fields. And that’s not really going to change unless we encourage the community to become writers and producers and I hope they become all those things if they want to.” However, as the entertainment industry has taken a more politically correct bottom line in the past decade, Kal claims that minority actors benefit now more than ever in Hollywood today as a result of a more equal-level playing field that allows actors of all walks of life to be cast based on their talent rather than their ethnicity. “That’s definitely one of the treats of having worked on a couple of films is that you’re meeting people who are really talented from all walks of life, musicians, writers, and actors,” he believes, “It’s very inspiring to see and ... |
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