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up-dazed_l
UP IN SMOKE (top), DAZED AND CONFUSED
Up in SMoke: Kobal Collection; Dazed and Confused: Everett Collection

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Speaking of generational divide, are the characters we find in Harold and Kumar, Knocked Up, and Pineapple ushering in a new era of stoners, and steering away from the archetypes of the Cheech and Chong days?
SCHLOSSBERG: The first Harold and Kumar script was discussed as a Cheech and Chong-type thing, like a new generation of the stoner comedy. We tried to make it feel commercial, but obviously the crux of the story involves smoking weed and having the munchies, so it's always gonna be a stoner comedy. Still, we reject the typical stoner stereotype — the notion of "We're high so we're not members of society...." Stoner and slacker are usually in the same sentence, but we liked the idea of guys who are motivated. With the stoners that we write, the fact that they smoke weed isn't a big negative in their lives. Harold has a great job; Kumar can be a top doctor in a second if he wants to. It's not marijuana that's holding them back.

ROGEN: I wouldn't say I'm consciously combating anything. I don't think it's [about] getting rid of the old images to put up a new one. For me, it's trying to show how people my age actually use it. Our whole reason for writing Superbad was, there's no guys like us in movies. And with 40 Year-Old Virgin, my impetus for pushing Judd [Apatow] to have us smoke weed was just that's what we do... That was almost like testing the waters to see if people would freak out that characters are nonchalantly passing joints back and forth in this mainstream romantic comedy. And no one did — people loved it! I remember the shot of Steve [Carrell] smoking out of an apple pipe, the first time we showed it in a theater, the audience exploded in applause. That's when we thought, Maybe we can make Pineapple Express.

CHONG: I'm very proud of the Cheech and Chong legacy and all the movies that have followed. We just made it acceptable, we plowed a new field that everybody else could come in and enjoy. I liked Harold and Kumar [Go to White Castle], and Seth Rogen, he reminds me of Albert Brooks. He's very, very funny and talented and really has captured that whole munchie, bong-loving, nerd kinda stoner.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What about movies where the lead character gives up pot at the end? Is there pressure in Hollywood to have that kind of messaging?
ROGEN: That was something we did not want [for Pineapple Express]. Half Baked, I liked that movie, but the ending drove me crazy! The whole movie is for potheads, clearly, then at the end he stops smoking weed — so what the f--- am I doing? A lot of these weed movies shoot their core audience in the foot when they do that. We wanted to acknowledge that it's not a great idea to be stoned 24 hours a day, especially when there's guys trying to kill you, but we didn't want the ''We should stop smoking weed'' moment. And the studio [Sony] implied it wouldn't be terrible if we did that, but they didn't really push it. It's something that had come up, but once we said, ''Look, the people who hate weed aren't gonna run and see this movie — this is not what we should be doing for our audience and for the story,'' they were totally cool with it. As crazy as it sounds, we really had to make zero creative concessions.

BENSON: It might have been easier to make Half Baked and Knocked Up because the characters sort of give up pot. I say sort of because Seth Rogen's character could start up again when the kid is older. I can totally see him down in his rec room or something. As far as Half Baked is concerned, having a message might have been the grease to start the wheels turning and get the movie made, but we know that Dave Chappelle didn't stop smoking.

JOHN CHO (Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay): Harold and Kumar's problems don't seem to stem from smoking too much weed. Kumar has a serious motivational problem, but it seems to be his father issues more than anything else. And Harold seems to be a fairly responsible weekend smoker, so I'm not sure if a repudiation of their habits would have played right. Maybe we're getting to a point where we can actually say, ''It's okay to have a good time, take it easy.''

HURWITZ: We try to root the Harold and Kumar movies in some form of a perspective on reality without judgments. We think there's nothing less funny in a movie than being preachy. At the end if they had to give up weed? No one wants to see that. The whole hallmark of the series is about pushing the envelope, so [New Line] didn't really put handcuffs on us in terms of messages or showing consequences. The consequence for Harold and Kumar is they get in more trouble as a result.

NEXT: ''With Pineapple, we honestly thought, No one will ever put out a weed action comedy — that's crazy! Literally every time I watch it, my jaw is on the floor and all I think is, 'I can't believe they let us make this movie.'''


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