Seth Rogen is more than just an actor. His comedies comprise their own genre — think of it as a subset of Apatowism. The movies Rogen stars in, produces and sometimes co-writes and co-directs (“Knocked Up,” “Pineapple Express,” “Superbad” and “This Is the End,” among others) all have some very obvious common threads: bros being bros, drug use and juvenile behavior, plus the slightest whisper of sentimentality to balance out all the puking and penis jokes.

The movies also tend to focus exclusively on straight white dudes.

But that’s changing ever so slightly with his latest, “The Night Before,” even if the holiday comedy is still mainly concerned with a bunch of guys getting high. Rogen plays Isaac, part of a trio of long-time buddies, who spend every Christmas Eve hitting the town and drinking themselves into a stupor. But considering that Isaac’s wife is about to have a baby and his friend Chris’s (Anthony Mackie) NFL career is taking off, the two have convinced their less successful third amigo, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), that this year’s revelry will be the group’s grand finale.

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Sex, drugs and karaoke ensue along with shenanigans that include Isaac tossing his cookies during midnight mass, hanky-panky in a filthy bar bathroom and graphic text message photos you may never forget.

If none of that sounds particularly revolutionary, that’s because it’s Rogen’s standard operating procedure. However, the movie also takes a few steps forward in terms of its characters. We’re not talking “Master of None”-level progressive, here, but still, there’s a little credit due.

Note: A few minor spoilers follow.

The cast isn’t entirely white

It isn’t fair to say that every one of Rogen’s movies have had all-white casts. After all, black actress Erica Vittina Phillips starred in “Superbad” as “liquor store cashier.” And while 2005’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” had an uncommonly diverse set of actors, let’s not forget the way “The Interview” employed a lot of Asian actors to do little more than live up to stereotypes.

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So it’s slightly heartening to see that one of the three main characters in “The Night Before” is black. Mackie is probably best known for his dramatic roles and his superhero alter-ego (he plays Falcon in an ever-expanding number of Marvel movies), so it’s exciting to see him bring the funny while playing a part worthy of his talent. After all, Chris has an actual personality and a character arc. He’s not the token black friend that we often see in movies.

Meanwhile, his mother, played by Lorraine Toussaint, supplies one of the most sweet and genuine scenes in the whole ridiculous farce. On Christmas Eve, she asks her son to spend some time with her the next morning and, after he pushes her off, she touches his shoulder and tells him she loves him with a shattering look that’s perfectly maternal, conveying both adoration and heart-breaking disappointment. It’s enough to get you to call home after the credits roll.

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And while it’s hardly a major role, it’s also worth mentioning that, in the world of “The Night Before,” Santa Claus (who narrates the movie) is played by Tracy Morgan.

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The female characters aren’t solely love interests or nags

After “Knocked Up” took the box office by storm, its star Katherine Heigl came under fire for complaining that her character was a wet blanket. In a 2007 interview with Vanity Fair, she called the movie “a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. … I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy?”

Never mind that she also said that 98 percent of the movie-making process was a joy; fans of the comedy couldn’t get over her supposed ungratefulness and accused her of being the kind of humorless complainer she deemed her character to be.

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And yet, was she wrong?

In every other movie Rogen has produced, women are mainly sidelined or pigeonholed. If they aren’t the love interest, they have to be the scold. There’s the horrifyingly selfish cheating girlfriend in “50/50,” which was also directed by “Night Before” helmer Jonathan Levine, and the forgettable bit parts in “Pineapple Express.” Emma Stone was funny in “Superbad,” although she was onscreen for approximately five minutes, and her character was used more as a catalyst for change in the life of one of the male leads.

In “The Night Before,” the female characters are more interesting. They’re neither pushovers nor shrews. Aside from Toussaint’s memorable turn, Mindy Kaling makes an appearance, playing a sex-positive acquaintance of Ethan’s, and a woman who isn’t afraid to make a scene when a guy gets a nosebleed into her cocktail. (That’s as gross as it sounds, by the way.)

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There’s also Ilana Glazer as a self-proclaimed grinch, who sleeps with Chris just so she can steal his weed stash. Better yet, she’s a badass. When he tries to chase her down, she throws a handful of toy cars on the ground so that he slips and falls down, cartoon banana peel-style.

The love interests are similarly entertaining. Isaac’s pregnant wife, Betsy (Jillian Bell), gifts him a box of drugs she bought off Craigslist so that he can have one final crazy night before his life is dominated by diaper changes and late-night feedings. (This is, obviously, not a likely turn of events, but it’s still amusing.)

And then there’s Ethan’s quick-witted ex, Diana (Lizzy Caplan), the one who got away. She isn’t won over by Ethan’s adorable advances or grand gestures. When he runs into her at a karaoke bar and notices that they’re standing under mistletoe, he points to the ceiling suggestively, but she isn’t having it. “Come on, man,” she says before walking away.

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It’s blatantly homoerotic

Call it pandering to gay audiences. Call it penance for the  “you know how I know you’re gay?” bit in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” Whatever the reason, Rogen’s characters have graduated from homophobic taunts to bi-curiousness.

In one of the movie’s most hilarious scenes, Isaac accidentally swaps phones with a female acquaintance, so when he starts receiving text-messaged images of a well-endowed man’s impressive goods, he thinks the missives are meant for him. At first, he’s taken aback. But the more he thinks about it, the more interested he becomes. And that enthusiasm only grows once he meets the guy in real life. (You can probably guess who the actor is.)

In the end, “The Night Before” is not earth-shatteringly radical in the way it presents its characters and story. Compared to the strides on television, the movie is only slightly ahead of the rest of Hollywood, which often feels light years behind the times. Still, for a comedy that will no doubt get a lot of people to the theater for some laughs, it’s nice to see Rogen and his cohorts are taking their influence seriously and making some overdue changes.

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