Sign in or register
for additional privileges

Birth of An Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation

Nicholas Sammond, Author

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

Conclusion, Page 275

In Tropic Thunder (2008), Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus/Lincoln Osiris tries to calm Ben Stiller as a lost Tugg  Speedman (a la Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now [1979]), then loses himself in a mirror.

In an earlier scene, Stiller as the failing action star Speedman witness his failure as an actor while playing the mentally disabled Jack in Simple Jack, one of the movies-within-a-movie in Tropic Thunder (2008).

Tropic Thunder plays with notions of racial authenticity in transgressive ways, yet the primary backlash against the film was not for its use of blackface; it came from disability advocacy communities over the repeated use of "retard" and the portrayal of Simple Jack.

Tropic Thunder attempts to deflect criticism of its portrayal of race by mounting an internal self-critique. Brandon T. Jackson's character, Alpa Chino, repeatedly calls out Lazarus for his minstrel performance—what New York Times film critic Manhola Dargis has described as "the filmmakers' way of having their chocolate cake and eating it too."
Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "Conclusion, Page 275"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path Conclusion, page 6 of 19 Next page on path

Related:  Space, Page 177Race, Page 232Conclusion, Page 271Space, Page 188Space, Page 190Race, Page 206Introduction, Page 23Labor, Page 112Labor, Page 98Performance, Page 41Conclusion, Page 290Space, Page 141Performance, Page 60Performance, Page 82Space, Page 183Conclusion, Page 278Introduction, Page 29Performance, Page 72Race, Page 254Race, Page 231Race, Page 213Conclusion, Page 303Space, Page 181Performance, Page 52Performance, Page 42Labor, Page 128Performance, Page 46Introduction, Page 16Conclusion, Page 289Space, Page 138Performance, Page 74Space, Page 182Conclusion, Page 284Introduction, Page 21Space, Page 155Performance, Page 45Performance, Page 43Race, Page 225Race, Page 258Conclusion, Page 300Race, Page 220Space, Page 163Introduction, Page 6Race, Page 235Introduction, Page 4Performance, Page 77Space, Page 197Introduction, Page 14Conclusion, Page 273Labor, Page 109Space, Page 170Race, Page 224Race, Page 248Labor, Page 133Labor, Page 113Space, Page 150Performance, Page 35Space, Page 143Introduction, Page 2Conclusion, Page 291Performance, Page 54Labor, Page 132Labor, Page 122Conclusion, Page 304Performance, Page 47Conclusion, Page 286Performance, Page 50Space, Page 178Space, Page 148Space, Page 175Race, Page 229Space, Page 146Introduction, Page 30Space, Page 187Space, Page 191Race, Page 261Race, Page 239Race, Page 221Race, Page 251Conclusion, Page 298Race, Page 253Introduction, Page 1Race, Page 247Space, Page 162Space, Page 194Space, Page 172Conclusion, Page 292Introduction, Page 15Space, Page 165Performance, Page 34Space, Page 189Race, Page 204Labor, Page 110Space, Page 193Performance, Page 44Performance, Page 84Labor, Page 88Conclusion, Page 302Conclusion, Page 296Race, Page 230Labor, Page 123Race, Page 252