Tropic Thunder's offense isn't simple, Jack

I don't usually agree with groups protesting Hollywood movies. Artistic freedom and all that. Most of the time molehills eclipse the mountains, providing good p.r. for advocacy groups that temporarily prove they're doing something, anything for their constituents.

The current hubbub over Tropic Thunder strikes me as a different affair. Protesters from the Special Olympics and American Association of People with Disabilities picketed the movie's premier Monday night in Los Angeles, angered by a running joke in Ben Stiller's movie that I have to agree goes too far.

Tropic Thunder is an inside-Hollywood joke; too inside I believe for moviegoers who aren't part of the movie industry. You can read my previous blog post on that situation here. The jokes that have folks up in arms are part of that inside-gag reflex.

I've recognized for years, even joked about it privately, that playing physically, emotionally or mentally challenged characters are a Sun Pass to Academy Award nominations. Just look at the list of past winners for proof: including performances in Rain Man, Forrest Gump, My Left Foot,  Shine, As Good As It Gets, Ryan's Daughter, and Ordinary People. Only alcoholics and hookers have more dependable track records.

"Civilians" don't usually think that way. Tropic Thunder forces them to do so, without any degree of tact. Stiller plays an action star whose nomination grab led to the title role in a fictional movie titled Simple Jack, complete with the stereotypical trappings: goofy haircut, garbled speech, spastic body movements, etc., like a junior high kid making fun of kids in special ed classes. The movie flops, with no nomination secured.

We see clips from that movie, and watch Stiller recreate the role on stage for jungle kidnappers whose home video collection consists only of that movie. But the part of Tropic Thunder that infuriates some folks occurs when Robert Downey Jr., playing another actor, explains to Stiller's character that his mistake was going "full retard." In a too-long monologue, Downey lists all the Oscar winning performances that held back a bit of "retard." I'm sure that conversation has existed in real-life. Making it public for embarrassment goes too far.

There's a big difference between the way Tropic Thunder approaches the subject of mentally and physically challenged people and the way the Farrelly brothers did in films such as There's Something About Mary, Stuck on You and (as producers of) The Ringer, which had Johnny Knoxville feigning being mentally challenged to fix a Special Olympics race.

The Farrellys don't talk behind the backs of mentally challenged people. They put them up on the screen to speak for themselves, usually  making more sense than the "normal" people in starring roles. If they're used as punching bags, the bags always punch back. We see them as objects of ridicule only for people whom we wouldn't wish to be. We see them rolling with the punches, and trading a few, too.

Sick humor is still evident but it's noteworthy that many of the same people now protesting Tropic Thunder also publicly praise the Farrellys for treating mentally challenged people with an odd dignity, sometimes casting them in roles that don't require someone mentally challenged. Many times they're given the funniest lines and most gratifying comebacks in the script. In other words, the Farrellys treat them as anyone else would be treated, which is what they want and most of us are usually too skittish or cruel to do.

DreamWorks flatly states that Tropic Thunder won't be edited or altered in any way to soothe protesters. (Although the studio yanked a promo Web site dedicated to Simple Jack when the first rumbles were heard.) That's fine; they have the right to put whatever they wish on screen. The boycott that advocacy groups are calling for won't dent this week's box office take for a wildly hyped comedy with big stars.

But when you're sitting in the theater watching Tropic Thunder and the topic of Simple Jack is raised, check yourself to see if you're laughing, and why. You may laugh, and you may not like it.

Comments

[grow up]

"Retarded" is a very hurtful term.

It is NOT Politically Correct to use that term in this day and age.

It is much better to say "Mentally Challenged."

[JBC]

Man, you went full retarder!

[Steve]

I think you are a retard yourself, you arrogant freak.

HAHAHA! This was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen!

[Michelle]

It is PC to be PC now. Enable everybody. No saying anything that can remotely be considered offensive. No wonder kids nowadays are such crybaby wimps.

[RS]

Steve you're clearly a terribly politically correct prudish and hugely patronising retard. The best bits in the movie were the Simple Jack sequence and Robert Downey Jr. It seems you don't much like having the mirror held up to show you the discussions you have in private but are too terrified to offend to voice publicly. When did the truth become offensive?

[John Lessnau]

Simple Jack needs to be made into a real move. It's a sure winner if Stiller can handle going "full retard".

....More stupid!!!

amazing movie!...find something new to bxtch about!!!!!!!

[SikWit]

Exactly, GETTA LIFE

amazing movie!...find something new to bxtch about!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

stop being a bunch of pussies. lol.

[Steve Persall]

That's a solid question, Mark.

I think the Booty Sweat and Fatties trailers aren't as much parodies of African-Americans and obesity as much as they parody pop culture (and especially stars trading on such stereotypes).

Booty Sweat is a Dave Chappelle skit gone wild, and The Fatties is a well-deserved jab at Eddie Murphy's penchant for donning fat suits to play multiple, fat characters. We haven't had a popular satire of mentally challenged people or of actors trading on handicaps for Oscars.

Furthermore, as I posted, the average moviegoer doesn't notice that Oscars do often go to actors doing that. Therefore, to the masses it plays more like making fun of the mentally handicapped than the actors.

You raise a good point about a double standard but for that particular group it's a single standard that has been set.

I assure you, I've taken Murphy to task in reviews of The Klumps and Dagnabbit (or whatever that atrocity was called). And I've long complained about stereotyping African-Americans, all the way back to Menace II Society.

But a good, smart post. Thanks.

[Mark]

I'm not going to say whether you should, or shouldn't be offended by "Simple Jack", but I do have a question for everyone here:

Why is there no discussion over the portrayal of African American culture and marketing with the "Booty Sweat" ad in the movie, nor with "The Fatties" trailers?

Am I alone in thinking that there may be a slight double standard being played out here?

All three trailers-within-the-movie were extreme hyperboles of popular culture today. Why are people more up in arms over one than the other? I guess maybe people think it's okay to ridicule the morbidly obese but not the mentally challenged.

Funny how battles are picked, isn't it?

[Steve Persall]

Thanks for your insightful comments, Kimberly. Come back again, anytime.

[Kimberly]

I just ran across this and wanted to say thanks for the article. Like you, I can see why the advocacy groups had a problem with the footage. I can also understand that some people are not offended, and obviously that's a right as well, but I'll go ahead and say that the anti-PC or "I'm offended at others being offended" movement is ridiculous and perhaps even more played out than the PC movement itself.

Mental disability advocacy groups were using their free speech to voice their disapproval of something that personally offended them. If somebody is offended by something and actually articulates reasons for that, let that person be offended. If you don't feel the same way, that's fine, but you don't have to angrily ridicule the other person with charges of over-sensitivity. That's just blatant _in_sensitivity, which is far more damaging to modern culture and humanity as a whole than "political correctness."

[the enforcer]

i watched the movie and laughed at simple jack. stiller was ridiculing that film genre not certain people. i perceived it as that. making fun of a certain group is wrong, wrong, wrong. but that did not happen here and if you think that, then we see things differently.

[Steve Persall]

Today's lesson, kids: Never use the word "stupid" while posting three times with the same spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Always nice to hear from a Juice reader, though.

[Andrew]

Suck it this movie is frikin awesome and i luv seein Simple Jack its frikin hilarious your just jealous because this movie is makin more money then ur stupid company

[Andrew]

Suck it this movie is frikin awesome and i luv seein Simple Jack its frikin hilarious your just jealous because this movie is makin more money then ur stupid company

[Andrew]

Suck it this movie is frikin awesome and i luv seein Simple Jack its frikin hilarious your just jealous because this movie is makin more money then ur stupid company

[max]

this looks hilarious! i laughed so hard at the trailer, with the simple jack clips. planning on going friday night :)

[Steve Persall]

Thanks, Jane, but I'm really not on a mission as someone who is personally involved with the issue, even if some folks think so just because I thought and wrote about it and it isn't their angle.

The shortest way to anyone's heart is by getting under their skin. Tropic Thunder is only interested in getting to the hip pocket, where the wallet's kept. I'll post soon on what Tropic Thunder could've done -- as with Downey's bogus-black character -- to smooth the Simple Jack angle, avoid all this hubbub and come out with sick laughs AND a solid message/p.r.

I'm certainly not PC (ask the folks I hang around with). But I'd kind of like everyone and anyone to consider someone else, whenever it's appropriate to consider a choice one way or the other.

But that's just me. And Princess Di, of course.

[Jane]

Thank you for this awesome review!

I understand the intent of the parody, but I am over 40 and well educated. The target audience is not so worldly savy and do not even understand how this portrayal could even make a child or young adult cry!

THIS HORRID PORTRAYAL is how most people imagine the world of the mentally disabled is, and Mr. Stiller continues to promote this stereotype to teenagers and those most likely to do "physical or mental harm" while thinking it is ok to poke fun at my family member's expense.

I also feel that had I heard the "n word" or a racial slur for Jewish or polish as much as I heard and saw the word Retard in the trailer and on the parody movie site...... all heck would have been done and there would be no talk about not being able to take a joke or being to sensitive!

So again thank you Steve

[Bob H.]

Am I the only one who won't see the movie not because it might be offensive, but rather that it just looks incredibly stupid?

[Randy]

Oh yea, if you didn't find at least some shred of humor in my post, then you are part of the problem.
Get over it, go to the doctor, get the cure for your stickinbutt-itis quick! It's contagious!!It's just a movie people!

:-}

[Randy]

You have all offended me. No matter what your stance is or what your comment is, I am offended, it doesn't matter, my feelings are hurt and I need counseling now, which you all should pay for because I am responsible for nothing and society owes me for making me read your words.
Oh.. I'm sorry, I was having a nightmare that I was a pc liberal democrat.
My bad!
OK here's my real comment..
My sister is retarded. Oh did I offend anyone? Or am I supposed to say "special needs".. Lemme tell ya she's got more common sense than most of you (and even me sometimes) and is content with her disabilities.. She'd probably laugh at it! So.. Don't like the movie? Don't go see it. I haven't, probably won't, but who cares? I gotta go, my sis needs my help, which is more important...

[Dave]

If you're telling me that making fun of retards is wrong, what am I going to do at the mall every weekend?

Next you'll say that mocking teenagers isn't funny.

[Steve Persall]

Ronnie: Hey, nobody calls me that but my Mom!

RB: My goats don’t think so.

Kazz: Thanks.

cg: Read the post again and see how the Farrellys are different. And nobody calls me a fanboy (backwards, maybe).

Edward: check this post -- http://blogs.tampabay.com/movies/2007/12/mr-warmth-no-no.html

Kenneth, Jeff and Logan: You’re the wisest people here besides me.

Natty: Don’t speak for all audience members. I’ve met people who think Cloverfield was real, too.

Mary: Did you hear the one about…

Lynn: All I do is ask folks to judge for themselves. Sometimes you have to prod them to believe something other than what The Man wants them to think.

[Lynn]

Uh. Sounds like a parody? Like the kind of thing Stiller is known for? Sounds like we're meant to see these actors as idiots. They're the joke. Get it? Thanks, Steve, but I think I'll judge for myself.

[Mary]

The only show in Hollywood that ISN'T politically correct is "Mind of Mencia". Jeff is right, we've gotten too soft. Hey, lets just all get over ourselves already. Could you image the state of movies, TV, etc. if every blonde woman protested at how blondes are portrayed?

[Natty]

""Civilians" don't usually think that way. Tropic Thunder forces them to do so, without any degree of tact."

That's extremely elitist and condescending. You are nothing special; you possess the subtlety to recognize this trend and audiences do too.

[Jeff]

Kenneth, you're right on the money. I think language, violence, and sex are easy outs for script writers that refuse to try hard. I think it's a big problem in many aspects of society today. Plenty of comedians seem only capable of drawing laughs when they swear with every other words. It was funny when Carlin did it, but he had a point and was hilarious in making that point.

I like it when movies, TV shows, etc instead try to make insinuation. One of the many things I loved about The Dark Knight was how much of the terror occurred without the viewer witnessing it directly. Sure, we could have seen what Joker did to kill that mob boss, but it was more effective to see the look of horror on the cronies' faces as Joker asked, "Why so serious?".

Screenwriters, novelists, comedians, etc use sensationalism, sex, violence, and language often as a crutch to hide their own lack of creativity.

[Logan]

I respect Steve's opinion, but I think sensitivity nowadays is the new black. Some jokes CAN go too far, but they only go too far when we can't laugh at ourselves or others. South Park taught us this...hasn't anyone paid any attention!?! Anyway, it goes both ways. People can protest the movie, and people can make the movie. If it weren't for the protestors, the movie wouldn't shine so brightly(thanks associated media!), and if it wasn't for the movie, protestors would be really bored. It's like synergy!

[Jeff]

It'll ultimately be up to the general public if this has gone too far. Funny, I thought Robert Downey Jr. playing a black guy was going to be the most controversial bit.

I haven't seen the film so I can't comment at this point. I'm interested in seeing it and the controversy has just made me more interested. That's part of the problem when you decide to protest or even boycott something; sometimes you just make that thing even more popular.

I do think people are a bit too sensitive nowadays. At the same time, it is best not to always show the kind of private discussions that occur behind the scenes. It seems to me that most people are more crass when they are out of the public eyes, but they do try to put forth a better presentation when more people, especially those they don't know, are watching. I've seen it quite often with ethnic slurs, racially charged talk, gay bashing, etc. That doesn't mean that it needs to be shown on screen or presented for the world to see. Even so, I'm opposed to censoring it. Let the public decide if they want to pay to see this kind of stuff.

[Kenneth]

... and to back up that point, the only recent movie I've found "offensive" was Superbad. It's not that I disapprove of foul language - it's just that 100 or so F-bombs in the first 5 minutes offended my sense of what is and isn't good script writing.

[Kenneth]

I don't think people generally get offended at movies, songs, etc. etc. ... instead, I think that they feel like they should be offended.

I've had plenty of people tell me that they found something to be offensive, but when I asked it if they offended them specifically (and if so, why), it usually turned out that it didn't.

I'm no neo-con, but I do think the whole PC thing has gone too far. You can't even report race based crime statistics anymore without "offending" someone. If something is truly offensive to you, vote with your feet. I appreciate Steve's opinion about the movie - it's very fair and probably accurate. But it probably isn't so much offensive to the viewer as it is offensive to our over-sensitivity.

[Edward]

Where is Don Rickles when you need him...

[TC]

EVERYONE is just TOO sensitive these days....We have turned into a country of "oh my feelings are hurt" people!

[cg]

Um, this is a joke, right? I guess since the Farrellys provide 'them' some 'odd dignity' by presenting people as props, they are better?

Reads like backwards fanboy logic to me.

[Kazz]

How can you make fun of Steve if you haven't actually seen what he's talking about?

[RB]

What a prude.

[Ronnie Dobbs]

Steve is a moron!!