The merry-go-round has come full circle and we're back to this argument again. Kudos to actor/director Ben Stiller for sticking to his guns, and defending his movie. Tropic Thunder is once again trending for its well-known usage of blackface. If it seems like the same song and dance, you're absolutely right. But for some reason we keep having this argument.



Advertisement

That was this week. February 2023. 



That was October 2018 after Olympian snowboarder, Shaun White dressed as Stiller's meta character 'Simple Jack' for Halloween. Remember how up in arms the internet got over that one? 


Stiller has made multiple statements about the film's characters and his story hasn't changed. He's not making fun of black people, he's not making fun of those with special needs. The film is, was, and always will be a commentary on how ridiculous actors are and the lines they'll cross to win an award.




In an interview with Joe Rogan, actor Jamie Foxx talked about Robert Downey Jr's use of blackface in the film.



Is there value to the argument about why there are only two black actors in the entire cast? Of course, there is. Is there validity to the argument that objectively, some of these jokes didn't land in 2008 and most certainly wouldn't land today? Absolutely. But the fact that we're still trying to cancel Tropic Thunder after all this time is really a stretch.


Props to Ben Stiller for standing by his film.