It's no secret that standards for media and comedy have evolved significantly in recent years. Much of the change has been for the better, as film and television have slowly embraced more meaningful diversity and worked to avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes. The current landscape has also sparked plenty of discussions over what classic boundary-pushing projects couldn't be made today because of their content for one reason or another. For Ben Stiller, that project is Tropic Thunder, his 2008 satirical action-comedy also starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black that was a hotbed for controversy even at the time. In an interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub for Escape at Dannemora, Stiller explained why the film would've been doomed, or, at the very least, much smaller, if not made at that specific time and with the support of some heavy hitters in the industry.
Penned by Stiller, Etan Cohen, and Justin Theroux, Tropic Thunder takes place on the set of a war movie where an inexperienced director (Steve Coogan) takes the drastic move of dropping his problematic cast in an actual jungle rigged with hidden cameras and pyrotechnics. The fake warfare suddenly becomes all too real when they stumble into the territory of the drug-smuggling Flaming Dragon gang. Stiller plays washed-up action icon Tugg Speedman, with Black playing the crude and insecure comedian Jeff Portnoy and Downey Jr. embodying method actor Kirk Lazarus, who undergoes an experimental procedure to change the very pigmentation of his skin to play a Black soldier. Naturally, such a group is a lightning rod for controversy both in-universe and out. Although Stiller intended the movie as a comedic criticism of Hollywood's worst practices, including whitewashing and egregious method acting, it earned fair criticism for its use of blackface for Kirk and Tugg's portrayal of intellectual disability in the faux film-within-a-film Simple Jack.
When asked if Tropic Thunder could be made in today's Hollywood, he said "I doubt it," citing the edgy humor as a big hurdle. He further attested that the prospect of using blackface at all was enough to jeopardize the film in 2008, and believes Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks were vital to getting it into theaters. That said, he still defends the joke given his intentions, even if he wouldn't attempt such a thing today:
"Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do. Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business. I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. He read it and was like, 'Alright, let's make this thing.' It's a very inside movie when you think about it. But yeah, the idea of Robert playing that character who's playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too. The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on — actors trying to do anything to win awards. But now, in this environment, I don't even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I'm being honest."
'Tropic Thunder' Keeps the Conversation Going to This Day
Stiller has been steadfast in defending his controversial comedy since its release. Last year, he once again took to social media to say he makes "no apologies for Tropic Thunder" and still takes pride in the film given that it came from a place of criticism of Hollywood and actors. Downey Jr., too, has been protective of the project for everything it targets. For all its faults, the movie has become a prime topic of discussion as social norms change, asking viewers to question what line is too far to cross in making fun of practices that are clearly wrong and what responsibilities a filmmaker has when addressing sensitive subjects like racism.
Tropic Thunder couldn't have picked a much better time to release, as 2008 marked a peak of sorts for R-rated comedy, particularly from fellow members of the "Frat Pack." In a year marked by the debut of other boundary-pushing films like Step Brothers, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and more, Stiller's action comedy raked in $195 million worldwide against a budget of $92 million. Downey Jr. even earned an Oscar nomination for his role. At the very least, it remains one of Stiller's most ambitious earlier directorial efforts before moving on to bigger and better things like Apple TV+'s sci-fi drama Severance.
Tropic Thunder can currently be streamed on Paramount+ and you can read the rest of our conversation with Stiller now.
Tropic Thunder
- Release Date
- August 13, 2008
- Runtime
- 107 minutes
- Director
- Ben Stiller
Cast
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Robert Downey Jr. -
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