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Robert Downey Jr. is facing backlash today for a comedy role he played over a decade ago. The actor has come under fire on Twitter from users who have recently discovered his role in Ben Stiller’s 2008 satire Tropic Thunder… but didn’t seem to do their research before criticizing the film.
Tropic Thunder, written by Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, and Etan Cohen, is one of the more memorable comedies of the century so far for the way it rolled its eyes at the more pretentious and vain denizens of Hollywood, as portrayed in the film by Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. The film revolves around the making of a Vietnam War movie, with Downey Jr. playing Kirk Lazarus, an Australian actor who is so committed to Method acting that he gets “pigmentation alteration” surgery in order to authentically portray a Black sergeant.
Today, though, a Twitter mob that did not recognize the satirical tone of Tropic Thunder jumped to accuse Downey Jr. of intentionally and non-ironically darkening his skin in the film.
“Remember that time Robert Downey jr did full blackface and nobody said ANYTHING,” tweeted one user, with others piling on to criticize Downey Jr. for the role and question why he never apologized.
There was swift backlash to the tweets from Tropic Thunder fans, who defended Downey Jr. and reminded critics about the story behind the character he played. “I see we’re at that magical time of the year again when someone on here clearly doesn’t understand the jokes in Tropic Thunder, so now we all have to take time out of our day to explain it to them. Don’t worry, we can all get through it together,” one user tweeted.
Downey Jr. has defended the role previously, telling Joe Rogan on his podcast this year why he chose to play Kirk Lazarus. Per IndieWire: “I [got] to hold up to nature the insane self-involved hypocrisy of artists and what they think they’re allowed to do on occasion, just my opinion,” he said. “And 90 per cent of my Black friends were like, ‘Dude, that was great.’ I can’t disagree with [the other 10 per cent], but I know where my heart lies…In my defense, Tropic Thunder is about how wrong [blackface] is, so I take exception.”
See the controversy for yourself below:
