There has been so much advanced disapproval of Robert Downey Jr.’s turn as (see if you can follow me) a white actor who is playing a black soldier in the campfest movie-within-a-movie, Tropic Thunder, that I thought I should see it. And I kept waiting to be insulted. But I actually thought the movie was actually hilarious.
I guess I wasn’t insulted because Robert Downey Jr., wasn’t taking the role seriously but rather playing it for all the controversy it could spark. Why else would Ben Stiller cast a real brother, Brandon T. Jackson, in the movie as a rapper turned actor? Jackson was there calling Downey’s character on his ridiculousness over and over. With lines like, “Why are you talking like that, you’re not black, you’re Australian?” This premise wouldn’t have really worked if the actor were black.
With this is mind I tend to think that this movie is more a send-up of the movie business and the hierachy of actors than any kind of statement on race. There was the washed-up action hero (Stiller), the tacky comic (Black), the rapper turned actor (Jackson) and the serious, award-winning method actor (Downey,Jr.). And how can I forget the over-the-top studio boss. I am going to say see the movie just to see Tom Cruise act the fool.
Now I do understand the derogatory and painful history associated with blackface. But this is not Bamboozled, or another social commentary on race and identity. This is a stupid, comedy with no hidden agenda (or maybe I just can’t see it).
Anyway, if there was a real reason for me to be insulted it would have been the pseudo-trailer featuring Jackson’s character, rapper Alpa Chino, in the music video hawking his products called Booty Sweat, an energy drink, and Bust A Nut, a candy bar. Yes really. I actually wrote these names down because they were so hard to believe but I didn’t think to write down the rap lyrics. But let’s just say they were the most misogynistic phrases in the movie, you’d think that they would get more attention. (And I guess that would be funnier if it didn’t have a ring of truth. It wasn’t too far from how rappers demean women in real life.) But we’re more up in arms about a white actor who might be playing black that we missed the point.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Well said
August 19th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
***Spoiler Alert***
I think the over-the-top misogyny in Jackson’s character’s psuedo-trailer was there for the ironic effect it provided when he revealed his homosexuality later on in the movie. His persona as rapper - in general - was in direct contrast with what we learned about the character’s “real life”. He was intelligent, able to put together whole sentences, and able to identify and successfully point out Downey Jr’s absurdity. The money he made rapping created a, as he said “2 million dollar revenue stream” that he put back into his community. So, in a spoof movie, is the portrayal of an intelligent, philanthropic, homosexual african american male who makes a living rapping about his love for female genitalia while hawking an energy drink named for a round rear end misogynistic, ironic, or just too surreal to comprehend? I don’t know. I think it should be viewed through the same lens we viewed the other eterntainment industry absurdities Tropic Thunder (at times) hilariously points out. It was definitely jarring to see that, as the first image in the movie, but, in the grand scheme of things, I think it fit.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I’m just saying that if we are going to pick something to be up in arms about, that would be it. I totally understand it in the context of the movie but it was jarring all the same. I guess that was the point.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I loved the movie
August 21st, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I find it interesting that you can find offensiveness in the misogyny but not that of race. These notions do not have to be mutually exclusive. Misogyny and racism can be present at the same time. It is disconcerting that so many black folks these days cannot see the intersections. While the film may be a parody, it does not give them a pass. Downey Jr and company should be critiqued just as Spike Lee was critiqued when he did Girl 6 and She’s Got to Have It, although different genres. This has nothing to do with political correctness but with the perpetuation of stereotypes and the power relations therein. I am all for a good joke but does it have to come at the expense of others?
August 21st, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Have we all forgotten about “White Chicks”? The Wayne’s brother portrayed to white women. Why now are we so up in arms about Robert Downey Jr. The movie actually looks funny if you see it for what it is, a jab at Hollywood.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
For the record, “White Chicks” was offensive in many ways and not just regarding white women but how Shawn and Marlon Wayan’s on-screen personas tend to harken back to Amos and Andy antics. The long and short of it is that it is a beautiful thing that people can discuss and critique what they want. As with anything, conversations can swing to the extremes - from the absurd to over-analysis. I can argue my point of view passionately without dismissing perspectives or trying to shut down the voices of others when I disagree. The point I was making in my original post was that racism and misogyny can operate at the same time. Let us not forget the writings of bell hooks, Audre Lourde, Cornel West, Patricia Hill Collins, Michael Eric Dyson, Barbara Smith and others who remind us about the intersections of race, sex, class, and sexuality in the U.S.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Catherine, I do get your point that misogyny and racism can be in the same space. I went to the movie expected to be offended but I actually laughed. But I did wonder: Am I the only black person laughing? And should I be? I thought it the context of the plot it made sense but I was curious to hear everyone else’s reaction. I really wanted to know whether I was missing something.
We all look at entertainment differently. Some folks just want to have a good time, others want to be moved in some meaningful way and still others look at the deeper meanings of things. I do a bit of all of this depending on the genre and this time I all did was see it for pure entertainment value.
I really appreciate your comments as well as everyone else’s. Healthy discussions and a variety of points of views is what will make this site work.
August 26th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Robert Downey Jr. cracks me up… he’s got a knack for not taking himself too seriously
August 26th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I loved this film & RDJ’s part in it. I also like Al’s hypocrisy because he’s oblivious to the fact his no-acting-talent-rapping-self also taking a role from a black actor.