Movie Review Essay Sample: Cultural Interpretation of the Thai Culture in The Hangover Part 2

The Hangover II is an American comedy movie which was produced in 2011. The film tells a story about Doug, Alan, Stu, and Phil at the time they all traveled to Thailand to attend the wedding by Stu. After holding a bachelors party in the United States, Stu prefers not to take any chances and decides to have a safe and subdued pre-wedding that is alcohol-free. However, things fail to go as they were planned and this time things result in having yet another hangover. During this time, the hangover is much worse since the characters attending the wedding in Thailand do not have any memory of the previous night.

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The Hangover II film takes place in Thailand, a country that has its ways of life being different from that of United States. Thailand is known as a poverish country that has many of its citizens making their living through selling various goods on the street markets. This aspect of the way of life is unique in Thailand country. However, Stu, Doug, Alan and other characters in the film are seen visiting the markets while they are driving many times. While Stu and his friends were walking through the streets of Thailand, they observed that there were traditional houses that were raised on a wooden framework with posts as a way of giving protection from intruders and floods. It is by the culture of Thailand societies to have people sitting on mats that are laid on the veranda. There is one scene whereby the Wolfpack is found messing around when in a bus whereby a monkey is seen being with them and they place a bottle inside local pants which makes the monkey go to him. The local people interpreted the notion of sexual orientation that was behind the scene just like Wolfpack did which portrays that Thailand culture understood very well the theme of sexual orientation just like the United States and other countries across the world.

In the movie, Thailand locals were portrayed to be wearing lightweight clothes as a result of the extreme humidity and heat unlike characters from the United States who wore suits and jeans. Therefore, the Thailand culture remains unique regarding the people choice of outfit as most of the local people preferred lightweight outfits. In the film, there are several characters that are from Thailand who is represented as being superior to many of their peers. This serves an essential aspect of the way of life of people from Thailand as in Thailand; people frequently are used to the system whereby they take any form of authority from various individuals who are above them. According to Lawrence (12), many men in Thailand are seen to be in having trouble with this kind of system as they were in many cases rebelling against conforming to being subjects of the superiors. Many people in Thailand have adopted the way of life whereby they travel from one place to another through using buggies and bikes in most parts of the country. People usually prefer these forms because they are more convenient in navigating through Thailand's ever-busy streets. This aspect of the culture of people of Thailand differs from that of the characters in the movie that is from the United States as they prefer moving from one place to another through the use of cars.

After holding a crazy night, Stu felt unwell and required to visit any medical clinic. In the medical clinic that Stu gets present Thailand way of life as being characterized by health care system which is not much professional and it is laid-back. The healthcare system in Thailand has not yet embraced various medical technologies, and the providers seem to be not much knowledgeable in their profession (Welty 14). Furthermore, sanitation in Thailand is presented by the film to be not taken too much serious by the residents. People from Thailand have for a long period been relying on the herbal medicine as their form of healthcare. Since the central concern of their religion, Buddhism, is eliminating all forms of suffering from the humans, the principle adequately coincides with the medicinal practice values (Terwiel 180). The Thai's traditional medicine that was given to Stu with the aim of restoring his health through overcoming any imbalance he experienced in the body system. The individual who healed Stu believed that it was only through the process of overcoming the inequalities that both harmony and health would be restored to his body.

The majority of resources of healthcare were more concentrated in the urban regions which significantly illustrated the difference in the access to facilities of health relying on a wealth of Thai people. Many of the private health facilities sectors existed exclusively in the urban regions. In the small villages and towns, healthcare services were mainly provided by the health communicators and health volunteers in the village who are represented as having little knowledge in the field of healthcare. The health policy that was adopted in Thailand was a policy regarding self-reliance in which there was greater attention given to the classical, traditional drugs as well as herbal foll drugs.

The culture of Thailand about marriage is revealed when Stu's marriage took place. In many communities in Thailand, individuals are allowed to have the chance of finding their marriage partners (Cornwell-Smit and Goss 23). However, the choice of the marriage partner can be affected by a person's especially the wealthy families. In the film, Lauren, a woman from Thailand, chose her marriage partner, Stu who was a foreigner. Lauren's choice of a marriage partner was not opposed by anyone from her family as she was supported by her family members. However, as a result of Stu taking so long to come for their wedding in Thailand, Lauren's father is seen about to cancel the wedding of her daughter as he believes that he took long enough waiting for Stu to arrive. At the time of the wedding, Stu received several gifts from both his friends and the family members. In Thailand, the value of the gift that is given to the marriage partners is dependent on the amount of wealth that a given family of the couples has. Lauren's family was an average family hence they mostly received gifts with average values. At the day of the wedding, Stu made a defiant speech that made the wedding not to become boring, and he stated that he was quit wild.

Another aspect of the marriage culture of Thailand that is revealed in the film is that the parents of the groom especially the father must declare their blessing on the couple which is a way of accepting the new marriage and wishing them good luck (Mulder 17). The speech greatly impressed Lauren's father, and he responded by his blessing to the couple. Although in Thailand family is essential in the life of people from Thailand, the newly married couple of Stu was expected that it would set up its household since it is not common in Thailand to have an extended family that is living with them. Furthermore, the great respect that Lauren's father showed to Stu proves that the life of a given family is mostly male-donated. Stu and Lauren's wedding shows that a wedding party or reception begins typically around 6.pm. with the bridegroom and the groom greeting all guests while they arrive and the guest presents their gifts mostly money by use of an envelope. After the ceremony has ended, the after-party usually has a lot of dancing and drinking.

In conclusion, in the film industry, it is crucial to have right to expression. To some extent, The Hangover II movie help in presenting to the viewers across the globe a more positive image regarding the culture of people in Thailand that can result to influence erasing of certain cultural stereotypes in world discourse. Thai culture from the film is seen to be profoundly impacted by religion, Buddhism. The belief values and system of Buddhism are seen playing a significant role in the people's daily way of living. The family is portrayed as being essential in life and individuals are allowed to make their own choice of the marriage partner that they wish to get married to. Other aspects of Thai culture from the film include health care system, respect for elders and critical essential life values.

Works Cited

Cornwel-Smith, Philip, and John Goss. Very Thai: everyday popular culture. Bangkok: River books, 2005.

Lawrence, Brian. "Thai culture meets performance appraisal." (2015).

Mulder, Niels. "Inside Thai Society." Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books (2000).

Terwiel, Barend Jan. "Living Buddhism: Mind, Self, and Emotion in a Thai Community by Julia Cassaniti." Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia 32.1 (2017): 179-182.

Welty, Roger Clarke. The Thai and I: Thai culture and society. Published and distributed by Asia Books, 2004.