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Geek Opinion: The ‘Tropic Thunder’ Controversy
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The Movie God   |  @   |  

Tropic ThunderThis story has been making the rounds lately and it seemed like time that the Geeks of Doom chimed in with some soft and chewy opinion of our own on the matter.

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, it goes a little something like this: Tropic Thunder comes out this week, and even though it’s a movie people have been aware of, read about, seen pictures and footage of, and there’s even been 250 test screenings; and only now have people found something to bitch about with the Ben Stiller-directed film — stating that it has insulting humor toward people with mental disabilities.

Seeing as how I’ve yet to see the film, I don’t know how much of this goes on, but apparently there’s a heavy dosage of humor that involves the touchy subject and this has angered a large group of people. From what I’ve read, this is all concentrated mainly at a small spoof within the movie about Stiller’s character — a high-paid action star named Tugg Speedman — takes on the role of mentally impaired farmhand in a movie called Simply Jack so that he could be taken more seriously as an actor. A few folks here at Geeks of Doom did attend a preview screening of Tropic Thunder and they told me that several times in movie, the Jack character is referred to as “retard,” but that the joke wasn’t aimed at the mentally handicapped, but at actors who portray mentally challenged people in an effort to obtain Oscar gold (say, like Sean Penn in I Am Sam).

That joke doesn’t seem to be so offensive that it should incite a boycott of the film.

Leading the charge against Tropic Thunder are Timothy Shriver (Chairman, Special Olympics) as well as David Tolleson and Peter Berns who are members of the National Down Syndrome Congress and were all pretty insulted by the movie. Mr. Tolleson and Berns said that they couldn’t recall any amount of groups forming against a film like this, that there was some concern over Napoleon Dynamite, but they’d never seen anything like this. On top of this all, Shriver feels they approached the racial humor cautiously while being completely ignorant of the mentally challenged.

Tolleson also said:

I came out feeling like I had been assaulted.

And Shriver added:

The most disappointing thing, the most incredible thing, is that nobody caught it.

OK, folks, here it is. The reason nobody caught this, was because there is NOTHING to catch. You think this is the first OR last time this will be the subject of some humor in a movie? Maybe most importantly is, what is the motivation for all of this really? I’m sure these guys do a lot of really great work for their organizations, but if you ask me, this looks a lot like some guys saying some shit that doesn’t need to be said to bring attention their way.

Stiller, who also wrote Tropic Thunder, explained his reasoning behind the parody to the
LA Times.

“I’ve never played a mentally impaired character,” said Stiller. “But I put myself out there. I’ve had flops. There is stuff I do that could easily become parody too. Again, it always comes back to what we are satirizing: the actors and the Hollywood system. What do you do to be taken seriously? How far do you go?”

This is a MOVIE and countless topics that could insult masses of people are touched on over and over and over and yes, they catch some controversy from it, but for this to be as big of a story as it is and to have people trying to form a small army to boycott the film is absurd. If you’re going to do something like this, have something solid to go on; don’t just randomly pick a movie that sorta-kinda-sometimes-lightly touches on a soft spot that just happens to have been used in much more insulting ways over the years. Hell, if I had to guess, the Warren character in Stiller’s There’s Something About Mary was probably even more insulting than this and where were the armies then? Oh, that’s right, they were anti-ejaculate armies that time. They’re taking turns.

In our world there will ALWAYS be something that insults someone somewhere. If you don’t like something, don’t watch it, don’t read it, don’t eat it, don’t kiss it, and don’t buy it. What’s even more disgusting about this is the fact that it doesn’t matter the group or the topic, if someone says it, the rest will follow without a clue in the world what they’re doing. If a soccer mom cries out that Grand Theft Auto is evil, 95% of the other soccer moms will stand behind her without even knowing what the shit a GTA is. What I see here is some dudes saying that this is the most insulting thing in the world towards the mentally challenged and everyone else just getting in line behind them.

The most controversial thing in all of this is one of the main names involved, the aforementioned Timothy Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics, who just happens to have been a co-producer on the DreamWorks picture Amistad. Maybe that’s just an interesting coincidence with Tropic Thunder being a DreamWorks picture, or maybe there was a little more to that relationship than we know of and this was his chance to cause some trouble.

More interesting to me is another project that Mr. Timothy Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics, was an executive producer on — The Ringer, which had Johnny Knoxville as a man trying to rig the Special Olympics by pretending to be a mentally challenged participant in an effort to win money to pay off his debts.

Yeah.

[Source: NY Times]

9 Comments »

  1. Mr. Shriver’s response makes me want to see this movie even more.

    Comment by Jim — August 12, 2008 @ 1:51 am

  2. TELL ’em, Steve-Dave!!!

    Comment by NeverWanderer — August 12, 2008 @ 2:03 am

  3. the zoolander character was even worse, nobody got bent out of shape then, just some doofs wanting their fifteen by sqauking.

    Comment by korollocke — August 12, 2008 @ 5:44 am

  4. I think Shriver is jealous because this film will be received better than The Ringer.
    I read his op-ed piece yesterday and thought it rang hollow.
    Great article, Movie God!!

    Comment by Jerry — August 12, 2008 @ 9:19 am

  5. I think Sean Penn in I Am Sam is more offensive than any of the other movies represented in this article.

    People need to lighten up.

    While they’re worrying, boycotting, pulling out their hair and getting ulcers…I’ll be in line to see Tropic Thunder!!!

    Comment by .sean — August 12, 2008 @ 2:01 pm

  6. With regard to Mr.Shriver’s (whom I do respect b/c of his work…well, most of the time) point of view I’d like to borrow from the “hair club for men ads”: Shriver, he’s not only the chair of the Special Olympics…he’s an athlete

    Comment by DrNecropolis — August 12, 2008 @ 6:01 pm

  7. I have not seen the movie but I believe what people are saying especially Mr shriver. WE are boycotting the movie in CT. I have friends that teach Special Education. This movie should not be shown anywhere. I am surprised at Ben Stiller. Shame on you

    Comment by Phyllis Carlo — August 13, 2008 @ 6:48 pm

  8. I just came from watching this movie. I did not leave or retain anything that would indicate that the mentally challenged were “the object of the jokes” in this picture. I took as as it was portrayed…satire of an actor (the Ben Stiller character Tugg Speedman) who will do anything to win an award—thus portraying Simple Jack.

    This has to be one of the best comedy films I have seen all summer… kudos to Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr., who actually stole the movie. Those two characters were the most memorable and hilarious.

    I believe the premise of the film was to make fun of the actors in characters….that’s what I took from it.—you get this premise from the very first few scenes when Robert Downey and Ben Stiller are “screwing up the buddy shot” frustrating the director who ends up jumping up and down in totally frustration — yelling “keep rolling, keep rolling as Robert Downey’s character walks off to use the port a potty—the Jack Black character off in the background yelling to the director while suspended from a inoperable helicopter.

    This movie is a hilarious portrayal of prima donna actors who think the know better than a director of the film.

    Comment by Geena — August 18, 2008 @ 8:43 pm

  9. I think that any offense towards any person is wrong! If these people make fun of the mentally disabled should have consequences! It’s not funny!

    Comment by Snowgirl545 — October 1, 2008 @ 8:31 am

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