[Kill The Critic] The Independent Entertainment Blog [Film-Theatre-Comedy]

Newsflash to "Tropic Thunder" Director, DreamWorks and Hollywood: The "R" Word Can Be As Offensive As The "N" Word (And Blackface)


The trailer most of us have seen.

The movie some were afraid was racist is instead viewed as derogatory toward people with mental disabilities. Since all the controversy began, two days before the scheduled opening, Special Olympics chairman Timothy Shriver is calling for a ban of the action comedy "Tropic Thunder", even though he hasn't seen it.

"Special Olympics and Coalition of Disability Organizations Protest DreamWorks' 'Tropic Thunder'"

DreamWorks is marketing the movie as a satire of Hollywood actors and the industry, including Robert Downey, Jr. portraying a white Australian actor Kirk Lazarus portraying a black soldier in a movie. The premise? A group of actors (including director Ben Stiller as action star Tugg Speedman and Jack Black as comedy actor Jeff Portnoy) becomes involved in a real guerrilla battle, mistakingly believing they are being filmed. The word "retard" is used in the movie, and the Special Olympics, in a joint protest with a coalition of American disability organisations.

The picket signs are reading "Tropic Thunder = Tropic Blunder".

The groups protesting are taking offense to the words "retard" and "retarded" used in the trailer and poster promoting the now released movie. I have been unable to find the originally offensive clip and poster referring to the "Simple Jack" bits (which have been removed by DreamWorks marketing as a result of the alleged insensitivity). However, I was able to locate quotes from the movie that could almost make me forget that other DreamWorks blunder (also starring Stiller and Black) "Envy" (2004).

"Once upon a time … There was a retard." (On one of the promotional posters. It refers to Stiller's character, action star Tugg Speedman, who receives harsh reviews for his performance in a previous movie as a mentally disabled character.)

"Nobody goes full retard." (Clip featuring Downey's character Lazarus commenting on Speedman's performance as Simple Jack.)

One of the film's critics, a writer for BuzzFlash.com wrote an open letter to a DreamWorks spokesman. This article in letter format was forwarded to DIY Danna by a fellow film lover, and she forwarded it to me, stating "it could help the piece you're writing about the Tropic Thunder controversy". It does. Tony Peyser's letter to Chip Sullivan could add more heat to to the debate between the behemoth filmmakers and disability activists, and keep some revenue away from the box office. "The Dark Night" could remain the #1 draw in the U.S.

"Tony Peyser: Open Letter To DreamWorks About Ben Stiller's 'Tropic Thunder'"

I realise this is only part of the story, and we have not heard much from DreamWorks in response. And maybe that's a good thing.

For the record, I would like to include the definitions of retard according to the American Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Please note that the definition used in this context contains the asterisk (*):

Main Entry:

¹re·tard \ri-ˈtärd\

Function:

verb

Etymology:

Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French retarder, from Latin retardare, from re- + tardus slow

Date:

15th century

transitive verb 1 : to slow up especially by preventing or hindering advance or accomplishment : impede

2 : to delay academic progress by failure to promote

intransitive verb

: to undergo retardation

²re·tard*

Function:

noun

Date:

1788

1\ri-ˈtärd\: a holding back or slowing down : retardation2\ˈrē-ˌtärd\often offensive : a retarded person; also : a person held to resemble a retarded person in behavior

I am aware the word is used in slang, usually in a derogatorily humorous way, but even here the connotation seems limited. In or out of context, this reviewer and new blogger is curious to see the outcome of the protests, politically correct or not.

Elvis Hubert