Stoner Cinema

Lili’s Pick: Smiley Face

Lanie’s Pick: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

My sister and I are professional writing professionals, who would simply never admit to dabbling in the Devil’s Lettuce—we do believe, though, that marijuana should be legalized and de-stigmatized, because it’s 2020 and people deserve to relax and medicate in safe and fulfilling ways. Plus, alcoholism is the cause of 95,000 deaths per year, whereas marijuana never harms anyone—except for maybe in the form of oddly stressful films that are dedicated to its use. For whatever reason, the peaceful plant has inspired so many anxiety-inducing movies: Pineapple Express, Dude, Where’s My Car?, and the latest film to be viewed by this particular Peanut Gallery, Smiley Face. I understand that conflict is necessary for a film that intends to tell a story with a rising action and a climax, however, in stoner cinema, there seems to be an excess of stress and a double-dose of worst-case-scenarios that just don’t seem ideal to watch under the influence. On the surface, Smiley Face seems like a far-less involved story than Harold & Kumar, but this was proven to be an incorrect assumption, as I felt nothing but uneasiness watching Anna Faris navigate her way through a particularly stressful day. I won’t even mention how weird and unfair the ending felt, but I’ll just say that it ultimately came across as a condemnation of stoners, as opposed to Harold & Kumar’s joyous celebration. While Smiley Face represents an archaic view of stoners—unambitious, lazy, no-account—Harold & Kumar offers a more modern and realistic perspective of stoners—wherein those who partake are also gainfully employed and highly ambitious. Our very first watch of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle was so enjoyable that it sparked a weekend-long marathon of every film in the franchise, causing us to fall in love with Kal Penn and John Cho and making us question why it took us so long to see these cinematic gems. The original will always be the best, but every one of these movies is unexpectedly clever, ridiculous, and fun. As stoner movies go, this series has some of the best, and as comedic movies as a whole go, I’d put them up there with The Hangover or 21 Jump Street or Superbad or Role Models or This is the End (the top-tier of bro-down farces, in my humble opinion). To me, Harold and Kumar has the perfect balance of good times and high-stakes (get it), each with perfect payoffs that make all of the hijinks worth it. During these unimaginably tumultuous times, I really needed a feel-good movie fest, and all of these just exceeded my expectations.