I've a funny thing about watching movies. I seldom catch the popular conventional movies of the moment. Nor do I watch cartoons (except if I am bringing my niece and nephew). I prefer the arty-farty types with perhaps a lousy rating. Or those that are pretty slow moving, that a normal person would have fallen asleep during the movie. And when I am stressed or just needed a break, I usually pick a comedy, because you need not think and analyse about the plot (if there is one, so to speak). Recently I caught Hangover Part 2. Forget about the main stream ones like Pirates of the Carribean, Green Lantern or X-Men. I have not watched Hangover Part 1 before.
Ii is true that "Hangover 2" enjoyed one of the biggest opening weekend grosses ever in box-office history — over $150 million. It was about a bunch of guys having a bachelor party that was beyond their wildest dream. Here's the gist of the movie someone commented which I happened to find online:
"Major plot line revolves around guys being drugged having a wild night of partying and not remembering what happened, cocaine use depicted, overdose depicted, drug trafficking depicted, monkey smokes cigarettes; and, lying, blackmail, threats, kidnapping, and a lot of racial comments. Man commits fornication with transsexual, Buddhist monks depicted meditating and lighting candles in front of shrine, and one man proudly embraces his dark side by saying he “has a demon inside”; 122 obscenities, 18 profanities and photograph of someone giving a middle finger; strong violence includes punching, kicking, wrestling, car chases, motorcycle accidents, man cuts off his finger during a drunken dare, Buddhist monk beats up guys with a staff for speaking in the monastery, adult man recalls wild night while envisioning himself and his friends as teenagers experiencing all the crazy antics, vandalism, riot, man shot in arm, car slams into a pig and it explodes on the car, monkey is shot in chase, man gets tattoo on his face; men in strip club with transvestites...etc.."
Despite its absurd sickening plot and profanities used, I did have a good laugh, for it's overall, a silly comedy with tasteless humour. The only thing I found ridiculous was that the monks depicted in the movie which was filmed in Bangkok, were wearing Tibetan monks' robes. If they wanted to involve monks, at least get what they wear right. Thai monks wear yellow saffron robes, and not the maroon robes, which are worn by Tibetan monks, and which I am most familiar with... the maroon robes worn by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
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| Thai monks in yellow saffron robes. |
And also, the strange thing is the elderly Thai monk depicted in the movie has supposedly taken a Vow of Silence for decades, which means he could not talk nor help the bunch of lunatic guys (otherwise known as the wolfpack) who got drunk. Yet they disrespectfully managed to ridicule him with nonsensical acts.
The rowdy bunch nosily barged into a temple where a group of monks clad in maroon robes were supposedly in meditation. The leading monk was so enraged that he flogs the guys with a bamboo stick, for being insensitive and disrespectful to the monks and for disrupting the serene temple.
The funny thing is, Buddhists are encouraged/supposed to be non-violent, yet the monk's actions are so non-Buddhist. It shows a total lack of the movie maker's respect for privacy and religion. Most of the time, comedies are excused because they are supposed to be outlandish, so whether they are political correct or not, or if the racial stereotypes are wrong, it does not matter. However, I find Hangover Part 2 has stepped over the line, for no matter how mindless entertaining a comedy is, it should not insult people and encourage racial / religious prejudice. So it is not funny in the end. At least to me.
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