Tropic Thunder: Racist or Not Racist?
There have been hundreds of motion pictures throughout the past century that have been openly racist. Thousands of people not only view these movies, but come to thoroughly enjoy them. Why is it that if the statements in these motion pictures were used in most realistic situations it would be offensive and disturbing, yet places like Hollywood can display the same racism and it is seen as humorous? In 2008 the movie Tropic Thunder hit theatres and captivated many people’s attention. One of the main characters in the movie is a white male portraying a black male using stereotypical behavior. It is a film that displays overt racism throughout the entire showing. It displays overt attitudes towards blacks, Asians, and Australians.
In the movie Tropic Thunder (2008) five actors believe they are involved in the making of a Vietnam War movie. The director becomes frustrated with the actors, because they cannot shoot some scenes realistically. They are dropped off spontaneously in the jungle due to the lack of realism displayed by these actors. When dropped off in the jungle, the actors are under the impression that they are on set and filming will occur. As a result, they get themselves in situations they think are staged but actually are real. They mistakenly travel outside of Vietnam into Laos and get mixed up with Laotian drug lords. In the end they ultimately escape and turn their experience into a motion picture.
In the movie Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) undergoes a controversial pigment surgery to fit his role in Topic Thunder as a black Sergeant. Throughout the majority of the film Lazarus stays completely in character. Whether the cameras on set of the internal movie were running or whether they were not, he still portrayed himself as a black male. He speaks with a stereotypical older black accent, like that portrayed by Hollywood in films of the past. The emphasis on different syllables and the...