5) Tropic Thunder (2008)
Robert Downey Jr. won an Oscar nomination for playing blackface in the comedy Tropic Thunder. This is baffling for a number of reasons. One: The Academy rarely acknowledges that comedies exist, let alone nominates them in acting categories. Two: Blackface hasn’t been funny for a while now slash ever. Three: Tropic Thunder isn’t nearly as clever or funny as it thinks it is.
The crew involved in Tropic Thunder justify the use of blackface in this movie by arguing that it’s not Downey Jr. himself who is choosing to wear blackface, just the ridiculous character he portrays. Although, Downey Jr. did choose to play this character, so….
The method actor that Downey plays takes his craft to huge extremes, highlighted best when he discusses the danger of going “full retard” in a bid to claim that elusive Oscar. On top of this, Stiller’s portrayal of a character known as Simple Jack ultimately sparked a number of boycotts and demonstrations across the US. Sure, Tropic Thunder is trying to lampoon actors who seek out these types of roles for awards buzz, but perhaps this would have worked better if the film contained actual jokes instead of lazy satire.
