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