Robert Downey Jr. defends ‘Tropic Thunder’ ‘blackface’ as “railing against tropes that were not right”
nme.comRobert Downey Jr. has defended the ‘blackface’ that his character uses in the 2008 film Tropic Thunder, saying it “railed against tropes that were not right”.
The 2008 comedy film was directed by Ben Stiller and stars Downey Jr alongside Jack Black, Jay Baruchel and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of actors making a Vietnam War film that are forced to survive in the jungle after being stranded.
Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor who undergoes ‘pigmentation alteration’ surgery to temporarily darken his skin for his portrayal of a black character.
Speaking on Rob Lowe’s Literally! podcast, Downey Jr. defended the decision to use ‘blackface’ makeup in the film, saying: “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.” “The spirit that [Ben] Stiller directed and cast and shot Tropic Thunder in was, essentially, as a railing against all of these tropes that are not right and [that] had been perpetuated for too long.” It is not the first time that Downey Jr.
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