Tropic Thunder

[IlovemyAKA]

lol--I saw this w/ the bf last night--his choice. Why did I not realize that was Tom Cruise?! I kept trying to place the face. It was pretty funny. RDJ really did look African American. I was trying to see if 2 actors were actually playing the part.

[LttleMsPrEp]

I def didn't notice that it was Tom Cruise until one of my friends pointed it out to me..RDJ's makeup was soo convincing him and the other black guy were def.almost the same complexion

[DSTCHAOS]

It's good to see Cruise get back to being funny and back awaaaaaaaaay from the crazy table.

[LttleMsPrEp]

i completely agree

[pinksirfidel]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

It's good to see Cruise get back to being funny and back awaaaaaaaaay from the crazy table.

OMG! That was Tom Cruise? I had no idea! I feel like I should go and see it again! Lol. The preview commercial ads were such a brilliant idea...I'm glad I showed up "on time" for the movie!

[ree-Xi]

(I HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE SO NO SPOILERS pretty please!!)

About RDJ playing a black actor. I always wonder (thinking back to "Soul Man") when does it cross the line from being acceptable to not acceptable to change one's skin color to black. I remember reading about prohibition on Blackface from long ago - granted that was often done in mockery of the black race, was distasteful in the presentation (it looked like motor oil), etc. I had seen enough old movies with bad vaudeville in them.

I also remember Eddie Murphy's sketch on SNL where he played a "White man" - thanks to makeup.

What is the line between being offensive and doing it as comedy with the audience being in on the joke? I am probably not asking this correctly, but does anyone have any thoughts?

[DSTCHAOS]

I haven't seen the movie, either.

I don't mind spoilers because they don't spoil the movie for me. But to be fair to others, lets give it a week before people give spoilers. Kind of like we did for The Dark Knight.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

(I HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE SO NO SPOILERS pretty please!!)

About RDJ playing a black actor. I always wonder (thinking back to "Soul Man") when does it cross the line from being acceptable to not acceptable to change one's skin color to black. I remember reading about prohibition on Blackface from long ago - granted that was often done in mockery of the black race, was distasteful in the presentation (it looked like motor oil), etc. I had seen enough old movies with bad vaudeville in them.

I also remember Eddie Murphy's sketch on SNL where he played a "White man" - thanks to makeup.

What is the line between being offensive and doing it as comedy with the audience being in on the joke? I am probably not asking this correctly, but does anyone have any thoughts?

Long story short: It depends on the who, what, when, where, and why. You already addressed the historical and purpose context of blackface. If whites were an objectified group, there would've been more offense to the Wayans', Murphy's, and Martin Lawrence's "white face" comedy. That doesn't make the humor any less risque' (risky? ) because there actually were people who were like when they saw it. But that's a risk that some comedians have been allowed to take.
Even RDJ's cute self was playing on stereotypes in his portrayal of a black man. His role called for him to be a white actor pretending to be a black actor, so it isn't funny if he's not "trying too hard."

That isn't a fun discussion. Tropic Thunder is a fun movie.

[33girl]

As I understand - RDJ's character is a satire of actors that go over the top w/ getting into a role, like Robert DeNiro gaining tons of weight for Raging Bull and Jim Carrey talking like Andy Kaufman even when they weren't filming. This is just taking that to the next absurd level. His character is a white actor who had treatments to make his skin black.

Soul Man was a terribly done movie w/ a terrible story and terrible acting - it wasn't winking saying "how ridiculous this is", it didn't have that level of intelligence.

[DSTCHAOS]

I agree. The movie's intended to mock actors and Hollywood. And it's a Ben Stiller movie, which automatically makes it a silly spoof.