Tropic Thunder
Let’s hop into the way back machine for a moment. I recently watched the movie Tropic Thunder again and saw something I had missed the first time around. It has changed my opinion of Ben Stiller entirely.
Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus as Black Vietnam Vet
Amid all of the quotable one-liners (G5 playa, Swing’in low…)I found some interesting social commentary. We’ll start with the obvious, Robert Downey,Jr’s Kirk Lazarus who plays a Black Vietnam Veteran. Many focused their bitter criticism on the fact he dared to be in blackface in this day and time with th e history of blackface in America. I found Downey’s performance hilarious. I received Downey’s performance as a comment on stereo-typical bad black acting through the years. Black pop acting, if you will, prevailing stereo types. He wasn’t in black face. He was professionally made up. His character chose to do this under his own volition as an artistic attempt, misguided, perhaps but an attempt non the less. It was never done in spite, as mockery. It was an Australian actors attempt at playing his impression of an African-American Vietnam Vet. That’s all there was.
Ben Stiller as "Simple Jack"
Conversely, Ben Stiller’s character – Tugg Speedman, is an action hero movie star. Tugg chose to play a mentally deficient character in a movie “Simple Jack”. An attempt an ignorant attempt at mockery. A failed attempt – it was panned. During the course of the film Tugg finds himself captive by an Asian Drug Gang. The leader of the gang forces Tugg to perform his character “Simple Jack” before his horde. Tugg is beaten, chained and is forced to perform in white face. After the performance Tugg is mentally scarred and changed. He was forced to personify extreme stereotypes of a group of people he knew nothing about for the entertainment of others.
So when Downey uttered the line about an actor approaching a role “…you don’t go full retard“, despite the humor, was he making a statement on humanity. Further, by de-humanizing assumptive stereo types we manifest ignorant mockery (which, more often than not, is perpetuated as fact).
Long live Les Grosmann. Discuss.
Tom Cruise as Les Grossman
