Almost two decades after its release, Robert Downey Jr. continues to defend his wearing of Blackface in the movie “Tropic Thunder.” In his opinion, the film actually turned racist tropes on their ears and mocked the bigoted imagery by exploiting them on screen.
While appearing on Rob Lowe’s “Literally” podcast this week, he likened the execution of his Kirk Lazarus character in the 2008 film to Norman Lear’s hit 1970s sitcom, “All in the Family.”
In “Tropic Thunder,” Downey Jr. sported a short afro and brown skin makeup as he played a fictional white method actor who used Blackface to become a role. His performance was considered satire and not done like the minstrel of the early 20th century, where white actors corked their faces with black soot to mock Black people.
The character Lazarus is also seen using derogatory slurs throughout the film, playing up the thin line between provocativeness and offensiveness.
When he and Ben Stiller discussed the character, they aimed to highlight “tropes that are not right and had been perpetuated for too long.” They believed that the way the character behaved, including how he shucked and jived, was just as significant as how Lear’s writers portrayed Archie Bunker as racist.
“I was looking back at ‘All in the Family,’ and they had a little disclaimer that they were running at the beginning of the show,” Downey said to Lowe, adding, “People should look it up, exactly what it is, because it is an antidote to this clickbait addiction to grievance that [people seem] to have with everything these days.”
The disclaimer for the sitcom reads: “The program you are about to see is All in the Family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter, we hope to show — in a mature fashion — just how absurd they are.”
For Downey, the disclaimer clearly shows the viewer that the storytellers are not promoting racism but rejecting it by having Carroll O’Connor mimic some of the attitudes toward Blacks, Jews, and other minorities at the time.
“The language was saying, ‘Hey, this is the reason that we’re doing these things that, in a vacuum, you could pick apart and say are wrong and bad,’” Downey stated. “There used to be an understanding with an audience, and I’m not saying that the audience is no longer understanding — I’m saying that things have gotten very muddied.”
Social media was split on how they felt about his portrayal of Lazarus and his explanation of why he did it.
“The media and politics have attempted to destroy nuance and satire,” one X user wrote, adding, “Comedy is meant to make fun of things that are uncomfortable, so we all get some stress relief.”
Another person joined the conversation, saying, “RDJ is the only that gets a pass, none of yall other colonizers try it. RDJ handled the character the right way. There’s a big difference when someone is laughing w/ you, laughing at you. Chapelle has explained this already. RDJ was hilarious s/o Ben Stiller, too.”
But not everyone thought it was a clever commentary on race, and/or method acting. For some, it just opened wounds left by America’s ugly past.
One person explained, “Blackface when done by whites was never funny no matter who tries to justify it.”
“Or when they explain it away as ‘satire’ to satisfy their desire to mock a certain group,” the X user added, “and get away with it because they hope certain people are naive enough to fall for such a risible explanation.”
Despite all of the controversy surrounding the film, “Tropic Thunder” was an epic flop at the box office.
According to Box Office Mojo, the movie’s production cost was $92 million. However, during its theatrical run, it generated only $110.5 million domestically and $195.7 million worldwide. Despite the modest box office performance, many, including Lowe, who mentioned it as one of his favorite movies, consider it a classic.
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