Storm of Controversy Surrounds ‘Tropic Thunder’

Aug 12, 2008 at 7:00pm

The premiere of Tropic Thunder starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black was plagued with a protest of the film’s use of the term retard throughout the movie. Lending his support to the demonstration was none other than SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2  star Jon Voight. It’s now clear where Angelina Jolie gets her humanitarian tendencies.

What was overlooked seemed to be the fact that Robert Downey Jr.’s character spends the entire film in blackface. The Iron Man star defends that choice: “It’s entertainment that’s set up by people who are high-minded enough to not be racist or offensive.”

Hmm, this defense certainly does sound like it was concocted by a couple of pretty “high-minded” individuals.

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