Tropic Thunder stars some of our favorite celebrity dads: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey, Jr., and Tom Cruise, and it opens on Friday. It is already pissing people off.
Apparently the film makes a lot of fun at issues that some find taboo. The majority of complaints are coming from the various groups that represent people with mental disabilities. Dozens of people from these organizations picketed the premiere of Tropic Thunder.
The movie is about a group of Hollywood actors that blur the lines between fiction and reality. The actors themselves are characterized as stereotypes and many of their actions are unthinkable- it's a comedy.
The uproar stems from a movie within the movie in which Stiller's character has portrayed a mentally disabled person in order to achieve Oscar consideration, spoofing the likes of Rain Man, I am Sam and Radio, to name a few. Their handling of the subject matter and the wordage used to describe the character isn't PC, and for better or worse, such things are no longer deemed acceptable, not even in a comedy.
A Dreamworks representative says,
"We have had productive discussions with representatives of disability
advocacy organizations and look forward to working with them closely in
the future. However no changes or cuts to the film will be made.
"Tropic Thunder is an R-rated comedy that
satirizes Hollywood and its excesses, and makes its point by featuring
inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations. The
film is in no way meant to disparage or harm the image of individuals
with disabilities."
I'm torn on such things. On a personal level, the one I teach my children, I am 100% against discrimination against anyone based on anything (within reason), but as a whole I'm sick of America being handled with PC gloves. I prefer a society with a backbone, not hurt feelings and lawsuits (the favorite pastime out here in CA).
I like a little offense in my comedy. I get what Stiller is doing and it sounds funny. I want to laugh at something because it is absurd and ridiculous- things I know better than. Unfortunately, not everyone does know better and often the result of such comedy is that it carries out of the theater and into the daily scheme of things. It's a catch-22.
What do you think?
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