Like most of you, when I first saw Kal Penn as Gogol in the movie, I started cracking up because I kept waiting for him to go to White Castle. It is absolutely hilarious to see a twenty-nine year old guy with long hair play the role of a high school student. I really question the director and producer of The Namesake who chose Kal Penn to play the role of a very serious character. Some of Penn’s previous movies include Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, Epic Movie, and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. I think the choice to have Kal Penn act as Gogol really affects the movie as a whole. It is very difficult to keep a straight face and focus on some of the more saddening or intense moments from the film when one looks at Gogol’s face and can only think of the actor’s absurd and ridiculous roles in other movies. However, while finding some information for my blog post I realized that maybe Kal Penn actually was not such a bad choice. First of all, he truly is an Indian American; he recalls stories from his grandparents about marching with Mahatma Ghandi and trying to earn independence for India. At birth his parents gave him the name, Kalpen Modi. Also, although his acting roles give him the perception of being unintelligent and oblivious, in reality he is a well-educated and informed citizen. As a college student, he graduated from the University of California Los Angeles where he majored in both film and sociology. In 2008, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Asian American Studies department. Even more impressive is that he is currently working on a graduate certificate in international security at Stanford University. The most surprising thing about Kal Penn is that President Obama appointed him to a public office. Soon after Barack Obama’s innaguration in 2009, the president gave Kal Penn the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Despite my previous misconceptions, Kal Penn actually seems like the best actor for Gogol. Like Gogol he is Indian American, he is very intelligent and motivated to work hard, and he changed his name from his given name. This new information about Kal Penn will allow me to concentrate more on the rest of the movie, but still they could have at least cut his hair.
Thomas, I completely agree with you that it is troublesome to watch the movie while keeping a straight face but I believe the director of The Namesake purposefully chose Kal Penn for the roll. I believe an actor like Penn allows the audience to see a distinct change in the character throughout the movie which we know occurs in the novel. Because of his comical portrayal of Gogol at the commencement of the movie we will also easily be able to see the change in attitude toward a confused and lonely Gogol when he enters troubled relationships.
ReplyDeleteI liked the selection of Penn. His sense of humor and the comical air about him helped "spice" up the movie a bit. If the actor playing Gogol was actually like Gogol in the book (depressed, unhappy, shy, etc.) then I think the movie would have been quite dull and unappealing. Sometimes I think directors need to make some changes in order to make their films more entertaining.
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