In fact, RDJ is asked about this role in just about every interview he sits down for these days. Jeffrey Lyles, a Black film critic, addressed this non-issue when he wrote a review of the movie, giving it 8/10.robert downey jr did blackface for an entire film but this app been so silent about it that i only just found out?? pic.twitter.com/9aYlPLILFJ
— anisa⁷ (@IydimpIe) November 6, 2019
“Kirk’s decision to make his character a black man complete with dark makeup would have been more than a tad controversial if not for Chino continually calling Kirk out for trying to act “black.” While Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson won’t be leading Thunder boycotts, the film has garnered a significant backlash from mental disability advocates” – Jeffrey Lyles, film critic
And that’s right; he even received an Oscar nomination for the role.Woke teenagers discovering Tropic Thunder is my favorite tweet genre pic.twitter.com/cyLsnpFnDg
— YOUTUBE.COM / VITO (@VitoGesualdi) April 30, 2020
As the quote suggested, his blackface character was far from the most politically incorrect aspect of the film, the film’s director Ben Stiller, who also stars in the movie as actor Tugg Speedman, who was trying to use “Tropic Thunder” as an opportunity to rebound after playing a disastrous role of a mentally challenged man named “Simple Jack,” a role that was an astonishing insulting caricature of someone with a mental disability. In the movie, RDJ’s character (while still in character) talks to Speedman about his choice to play “Simple Jack,” and says a line that had really got folks worked up. Those who’ve seen the movie know which one I’m talking about.Did…no one notice that Robert Downey Jr. did blackface in Tropic Thunder or something? I feel like people don't talk about that enough.
— Olé Joè (@JoeBidien) May 16, 2020
This newest non-controversy boils down to context; the truth is that art has a way of aging quite poorly, very quickly, especially comedies. Could anyone ever imagine Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles” coming out today? Or any of the host of movies made in the ’70s and ’80s touching on various stereotypes? As another Black film critic, Wesley Morris (who gave the movie 3/4) said when the movie first premiered:Robert Downey Jr played Kirk Lazarus, an Australian actor who was playing the role of Sgt. Lincoln Osiris, an African American Non-Commissioned Officer.
He did not play a character in blackface. He played a white guy who was ridiculously committed to being in character always. https://t.co/SSixi7dSN7 — Zima Guy aka Marcus Andretti: Rick Mears' Grandson (@ChapGebassi) April 30, 2020
“In some future time we may look back on ‘Tropic Thunder’ and ask, ‘What were we thinking?’ But a movie that asks Cruise to slap the air as part of a horse-riding dance popularized by the R&B singer Ginuwine takes some time to recover from. So does one in which Downey appears to be playing Jude Law playing Kirk Douglas playing the late Bernie Mac. “ – Wesley Morris, The Boston Globe
We’ll look like that critic had psychic powers because that’s just what’s happening today. Here’s a very candid interview Robert Downey Jr. did with Joe Rogan talking about his controversial role and if he would have played that role in today’s climate.I was today years old when I realized Robert Downey Jr. did blackface for a film. pic.twitter.com/KdZGCpY0Pl
— Blair Amadeus Imani (@BlairImani) November 12, 2019