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Anyone who has SEEN the movie knows that the whole Simple Jack element is poking fun at HOLLYWOOD, not people with disabilities. It's used as a device to skewer the movie industry in an accurate and often hilarious way. My own brother has disabilities and I wasn't even slightly offended by the movie. What offends me is when groups that are meant to protect people from actual harm, take up a cause that is completely unfounded and nonsensical, thereby giving themselves a fanatical reputation. If any of the group's leaders actually watched the film, they would know its harmless.
There is nothing amusing about blackface. It is a highly racist and offensive depiction of Africans. Its sole purpose is to demean us and to propagate the stereotype that Africans are on this Earth merely for the amusement.
http://truthfirstnow.blogspot.com
Even I agree that a list of demands is a but beyond the pale for the issue, but the fact remains that a certain portion of the population is rightfully offended by an element in the movie.
Neil, I love the fact that we keep highlighting the fact that these people haven't seen the movie, but they've seen the clip and read the dialog. If the argument is that within context the joke is non-offensive, what about all the people that are seeing the clip over and over again outside of context (and without getting checked for ID?)
Someone is always going to be offended by comedy. Where do we draw the line? If there were a group of people who were called "Rejects" in school or those who were Rejected from a film school and this website name offended them, should we change it? You can say that's stretching, but with a film that will probably sell 9 million tickets in its opening weekend, is the number of the offended outweighing the number of non-offended? This is a movie going democracy, and if by and large people are not offended by this and choose to go see the movie, then that's really that. That's how these things work. It takes a majority of people to make a change, not a minority. Should a vocal minority be able to dictate policy or should the silent majority be able to see the movie without being judged?
Overweight people surely don't enjoy being made the butt of the joke. I'm sure Preppy Jocks don't appreciate always being moronic douchebags. Give an inch of your comedy ground in the name of not offending someone and you'll lose a mile.
And can someone even be "wrongfully offended?" You're either offended or you're not. It's a personal thing. You're never going to please everyone.
You should also probably check out the movie before making your judgment. Robert Downey Jr. does not play the role of a black man in the movie. Robert Downey Jr's character is a white Australian male. His role lampoons method actors, not a race. Please check out our further coverage on Tropic Thunder to hear what Downey himself has to say about the issue. But see the movie and you'll hopefully come to the realization that Downey is not in black face, Kirk Lazarus is.
But perhaps I could illustrate it in a different way - publicity. I'd argue that this is not great publicity for the film (despite the usual aphorism of all press being good press). A film with controversy like Passion of the Christ caused more people to see it because the concept and the controversy surrounded something thought-provoking, something that people wanted to see for themselves. People complained about the depictions of Jews, the depiction of Christ, and audiences wanted to be aware of it so they could be part of the conversation.
In contrast, I feel its safe to assume no one is going to see Tropic Thunder that doesn't already plan on seeing it based on this controversy. Partly because they can see the clip online but mostly because the prospect of seeing Ben Stiller cartoonishly portray a mentally handicapped person isn't enough to stir someone who wasn't already psyched to see it.
I agree that the film shouldn't be changed, but I appreciate the sheer number of rhetorical questions in your second paragraph. That takes a lot of insight, and I salute that, as well as your beard-growing prowess.
That or they have balls the size of watermelons.
Awesome. I laughed.
And strange fact, the Maltese Falcon 3-Disc DVD is on sale at Best Buy for $9.99
Think about the children.
Man, people just take things way too seriously!
I agree that there should be some sensitivity toward their cause, but their "demands" are unrealistic. They're demanding these things without even having seen the film...
The movie is hilarious btw, its got a lot of funny moments and nice surprises. I would highly recommend it!
The demands are outrageous. Clearly they're hoping that the studio will actually feel shitty for this film and hand out freebies such as a campaign...which is just showing the fact that they're too lazy to fund it on thier own.
Now we just have to wait for some Black's right movement to get on Downy's ass and make a list of demands. Then this movie can really get the full attention it needs-really.