Tropic ThunderIn the years since its 2008 debut, has been a topic of constant conversation. The movie has a notable cameo from Tom Cruise, a stacked cast, a lot of funny jokes… and a few more jokes that look particularly bad when taken out of context and put into meme form. Central to this is Robert Downey Jr.’s Kirk Lazarus, a character written to poke fun at Hollywood’s penchant for going too far to try and win Oscars. He plays an actor who undergoes a medical procedure to be able to portray a Black character.
This character’s behavior and obsession with prestige leads to one of the most notable jokes in the movie, in which Kirk Lazarus explains that it’s more advantageous from an awards perspective to play characters who have challenges but still succeed. He mentions Forrest GumpAnd Rain ManYou can use these examples as an example. “never go full r-word” like Sean Penn in Sam is my nameBecause people won’t vote in that category at the Oscars.
The joke wasn’t ad-libbed, and apparently, as it was being written into the script, Ben Stiller gave the Sammy is My NameCreatives: Give a heads-up A recent interview with THRJessie Nelson, director, recalls receiving the call from Ben Stiller. He produced with Stuart Cornfield and also directed and acted in. Tropic Thunder.
Sean had been called by Ben to warn him. I can understand the cynicism. ‘Oh, if you do a movie about a disabled character, you’re gonna win an Academy Award.’ But in truth, how many movies are actually about the disabled community? There are very few. However, there are so few. Once you do a movie, you’re kind of out in the world.
It is important to note that times have changed since the Oscars. I am SamAnd Tropic ThunderIt was released. Jessie Nelson stated in the same interview that she wouldn’t have made the movie. “without a lead being from the community”As if the film were being made right now. Nelson also said the point of this joke Tropic ThunderIt was almost seven years after it was first shown on the big-screen. Sam is my name came out didn’t offend either herself or the movie’s lead Sean Penn.
Insofar as Robert Downey Jr.’s character Kirk Lazarus taking thing too far, this has also become a topic of conversation in the Internet era. It’s one Downey Jr. addressed previously, noting that Ben Stiller “knew exactly what the vision”He was the comedian. “executed it.”The purpose of the role wasn’t to make Kirk Lazarus a permissible person, but to expose hypocrisy in this industry. Robert Downey Jr. eventually told the story. Joe RoganThe social commentary is the reason he said yes Tropic Thunder, recalling,
I get 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.
Strangely, Robert Downey Jr. mentioned this in the same interview. Sammy is My NameActor Sean Penn had already left the positionKirk Lazarus. I have no idea if the joke was written into the script before then, but that’s an interesting connection to touch on. Meanwhile, Sammy is My Name turned 20 back in December, if you haven’t revisited the film in a while, you can catch the Sean Penn starrer streaming on Netflix.