OK, seriously - I just saw another anti-RDJ post calling him a âracistâ because of Tropic Thunder. What people - especially younger people - donât seem to understand is that Tropic Thunder is a SATIRE that searingly mocks Hollywoodâs intrinsic racism and entitled white actors and whitewashing and about a million other things. âSatireâ -- for those who may not know -- is âa genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in societyâ (Wikipedia).
As Rolling Stone noted in its review, the entire point of Tropic Thunder is that it mocks and jeers at Hollywood as âa microcosm for a world that has swallowed its own marketing strategy. Every character in Tropic Thunder is delusional.â RDJâs portrayal of a sadly delusional white Australian Method actor who goes so far as to dye his skin to get âinsideâ the black character heâs playing is actually the ANTI-blackface. Itâs both making fun of AND making a pointed, morose commentary on Hollywood whitewashing and the lengths the industry has gone to put white actors in roles that should have gone to people of color.
Tropic Thunder is not listed in ANY of the major books or websites that examine the topic of blackface, because itâs well understood that the movie was mocking and speaking out AGAINST blackface and AGAINST racial prejudice in the entertainment industry. Because thatâs what satire does. Salon has a good examination of the whole thing here, and explains why Downeyâs portrayal is ultimately a more searing, jeering commentary on white people than it is on black people. Also, for a black criticâs very positive view, see Film Critics United. (If you want more, I have PLENTY more links and criticsâ positive views of RDJâs performance in this movie, but this post would start to get ungodly long...)
The film actually generated more controversy -- rightfully so -- for the line âfull retardâ than it did for anything related to the blackface issue -- because there WAS no âblackface issue.â Downeyâs portrayal of Kirk Lazarus-playing-Lincoln- Osiris was universally praised by all the top critics, it was approved by the NAACP and other organizations -- and Downeyâs role landed him nominations for (among other honors) the BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, Criticsâ Choice Award, and the Academy Award. Rest assured that NO ONE would receive those nominations for a racist portrayal. Downeyâs was perhaps the most daring, counterintuitive tightrope-walk of a NON-racist portrayal that one could possibly imagine, which is what garnered him the critical and audience praise and the many award nominations.
