SquirkFun: Comedy, ‘Tropic Thunder’: If You’re Not Offended…then You’re Probably Not Getting Out Enough.
Comedy, ‘Tropic Thunder’: If You’re Not Offended…then You’re Probably Not Getting Out Enough.
posted at Johannas Corner
Yes, that is a picture of Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder, and yes he?s in blackface. In the movie, Downey plays an Oscar-winning actor named Kirk Lazarus whose character in the war movie they?re making was written as black. So Lazarus decides to play the character, er, as written. As EW rather wisely points out, this could either prove to be pretty funny? or wildly offensive. Of the role Robert Downey says, ?If it’s done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago. 2
Hey, actor Robert Downey Jr. is a hero! Yes, he’s Ironman but he’s also the hero of his own life story. Several years ago, the talented, popular actor was on the far downside due to trouble with drugs. Now, Robert is on a roll enjoying a second chance at fame in flicks! He’s appearing as an Oscar-winning method actor who dyes his skin darker to play an African-American soldier in the Ben Stiller-directed action comedy Tropic Thunder. The character might risk crossing over into being un-P.C. The guy is just funny! 1
If you don’t recognize that African-American actor standing between Jack Black and Ben Stiller, there’s a good reason: He’s white. In Tropic Thunder, an epic action comedy co-written and directed by Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, a very serious Oscar-winning actor cast in the most expensive Vietnam War film ever. Problem is, Lazarus’s character, Sgt. Osiris, was originally written as black. So Lazarus decides to dye his skin and play Osiris, um, authentically. If it’s done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago,” Downey says. 4
The problem seems to derive from the use of the word “retard” in reference to a spoof film portrayed by one of the characters in Tropic Thunder, a film that spoofs the film industry itself. The use of the word in the film comes as Ben Stiller’s character portrays an intellectually disabled person in a movie-within-the-movie called Simple Jack and a subsequent scene in which the phrase “nobody goes full retard” is used by Robert Downey Jr. playing Kirk Lazarus, an Australian Oscar-winner who goes through skin pigmentation alteration in order to play an African American in the film. 3
Aside from the 2001 semi-flop Zoolander, Stiller also directed Reality Bites and the vastly underrated Jim Carrey comedy The Cable Guy. Tropic Thunder hits theaters on August 15th 2008. 5
Unlike LAST TEMPTATION, TROPIC THUNDER doesn’t handle any of its subject matter gently: It’s a bold, in-your-face comedy that pushes every envelope it can. It is designed to shock and it does. But it also does so in a thoroughly ridiculous way. 6
There will doubtless be statements from studio executives who say the film is an equal opportunity offender. It pokes fun at racial stereotypes, with Robert Downey Jr. dressing in blackface and citing the theme song of ?The Jeffersons.? Jack Black does fart jokes. 7
The kids who Jack Black taught in the first film have grown up, their dreams and aspiration crushed by the cruel music industry. The Man has gotten them down. 8
Yes, taken out of context and without any reference points, the “Simple Jack” subplot might seem to be enormously objectionable. But it’s important to understand that everything in TROPIC THUNDER is exaggerated and over-the-top — the film is about as realistic as Stiller’s earlier ZOOLANDER, which ridiculed the modeling world. Like ZOOLANDER, TROPIC THUNDER is a satire; unlike ZOOLANDER, it’s edgy, R-rated and merciless. 9
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Tags: 'Tropic Thunder': If You're Not Offended...then You're , action comedy, actor robert, african american soldier, american actor, and african american soldier, ben stiller, blackface, Comedy, film, ironman, jack black, jack black and ben stiller, jr, lazarus, method actor, peter sellers, robert downey, robert downey jr, second chance, spoof, tropic thunder, vietnam war, vietnam war film, war movie
Tags: 'Tropic Thunder': If You're Not Offended...then You're , action comedy, actor robert, african american soldier, american actor, and african american soldier, ben stiller, blackface, Comedy, film, ironman, jack black, jack black and ben stiller, jr, lazarus, method actor, peter sellers, robert downey, robert downey jr, second chance, spoof, tropic thunder, vietnam war, vietnam war film, war movie