This is unexpected

[trinityvixen]

And yet, not?

Guess who's boycotting Tropic Thunder?

I guess it's all a matter of which actor you trust to satirize which material. Robert Downey Jr. can, apparently, do a literal blackface to poke fun at people who...do blackface. But ask Ben Stiller to skewer actors who play characters with disabilities by pretending to be an actor who does, and there'll be trouble. It's a question of talent, certainly--RDJ is the better actor by orders of magnitude between the two of them--but I wonder if the writing of the one set up isn't more sensitive than the other? Both are meant only to harsh on the people who would exploit minorities or the disabled for fame and glory. You'd think they'd be able to do as well for one group as another.

Comments

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

I'm all for boycotting Ben Stiller movies on general principle, except occasionally where he plays the straight man (e.g., Meet the Parents/Meet the Fockers.) But 2 of 3 good comedians are enough to convince me to see Tropic Thunder.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I'm technically waiting on reviews--just to be sure 'cause it's entirely possible that while not being offensive, this could still suck--but I'm about 99% sure I'm seeing this movie, Ben Stiller or no.

I have liked Ben Stiller movies--Zoolander and There's Something About Mary are great. Just not anything recently...

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

I remember the boycotting of The Last Temptation of Christ - I was rehearsing for a production of "A Christmas Carol" at the building next to where the movie was showing, and we used to get mobbed by angry protesters every time we walked outside (they were there all day).

The thing is, when people make this much noise about something like this, they actually don't prevent people from seeing it, because many people will go see just to know what the hype is about or to deliberately annoy the protesters. I am curious to know what these groups think of films where a disabled person is portrayed by a "normal" actor - one would think that would be more frustrating, but perhaps I am wrong.

I have certainly offended people by accident by suggesting that a show had been "dumbed down" so i might not be the best person to ask.

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

It's too bad. Stiller almost went with a real action star to play the title role. Stiller was thinking Keanu, but I think most qualified would have been Seagal, had he trimmed down a little, because Keanu's perpetually stoned act might not have worked with the rest of the film.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

For the role that he himself is playing? Interesting. I think there would be a nice laugh in that, but they're already talking layers within layers already with the premise. Any more meta and the thing might explode.

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

Any plans to go? Looks like it's getting good reviews.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I'd be up for that. Maybe next week? Monday?

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

Monday's currently the only night I'm free, so I could definitely do it then. No real hurry though if you're still embroiled in Olympics viewing.