Going "Full-Jew" in "Tropic Thunder?"

My colleague John Horn has a good story in our paper today about how the nation's film critics have come to the defense of "Tropic Thunder," Ben Stiller's new Hollywood satire, which has been under attack from various advocacy groups of its frequent use of the word "retard." Tim Shriver, head of the Special Olympics, has advocated a boycott of the picture. Stiller, among others, has said the film's mocking use of the word is poking fun at self-important actors, not the mentally disabled.

I have no dog in this fight. I wasn't awestruck by the satire in "Tropic Thunder," but nor was I offended. In general, satire should be defended, whether it provokes the ire of conservatives, liberals or any other thin-skinned interest groups. But it is important, if you're going to defend satire, to be sure that you're willing to defend it all the way. If you're a liberal, it's easy to stick up for most of today's satirists, because most satirists are, by nature, liberal and contrarian, so it's not your ox being gored.

What would happen, for example, if Ben Stiller were making fun of Jews instead of the disabled? Just as an exercise in the art of tolerance, let's change just one word in a couple of the excerpts that John Horn ran from the current "Tropic Thunder" reviews. Here goes:

1) "'Tropic Thunder' is drawing fire from special interest groups for its frequent use of the word 'Jew,' but discerning audiences will know where the humor is targeted. And they'll be laughing too hard to take offense." Christian Toto, whatwouldtotowatch.com

2) Comedy needs the right to be offensive, and Stiller at least has the courage of his convictions. When he uses the word 'Jew,' it's deliberate, not casual." Stepahanie Zacharek, Salon.com.

Do you feel differently about the unbridled freedom of satire now? Or not? It's intriguing to note that "Thunder" has a white actor in black face playing an African-American, yet no one has really made a fuss about that. In fact, only one critic that I read -- the New York Times' Manohla Dargis -- got around to criticizing the film for insulting Jews, describing Tom Cruise's portrayal of a noxious studio executive as a "grotesque" stereotype, "heavily and heavy-handedly coded as Jewish" from "his swollen fingers to the heavy gold dollar-sign nestled on his yeti-furred chest."

I raise these questions not to criticize the movie, but to remind us -- you as a moviegoer as well as me as a writer -- that there's always a thin line between inspiration and offensiveness. If you're a satirist, it's one thing to cross that line, another thing not to bother giving thought about whether you've made it clear enough whom you are really making fun of.

The model of a great satire, if you've never seen it, is Alexander Payne's debut film, "Citizen Ruth," which manages to make fun of everyone across the political spectrum. It stars Laura Dern as a drug-sniffing loser who finds herself in the middle of a hilarious tug of war between prissy pro-lifers and sanctimonious pro-choicers after she gets pregnant and is ordered by a judge to have an abortion. Everyone gets their ox gored, but Payne manages to be caustic without being cruel. It's an art that's not as easy as it looks.

Photo of Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black in "Tropic Thunder" by Merie Weismiller Wallace/DreamWorks.

Comments

[muman613]

Are you a self-hater? I cant believe a Jew would write something like this. This is typical of self-hating hollywood liberal Jews...

Shame...

muman613

[yo Yo yo]

Huh? What was the point of this?

[Pete Buccola]

Setting aside commentary on the execution of the "satire," were all of the F-bombs necessary? I felt like a cold shower when I walked out of the theater. It's a cheap way to incite laughter, and an unfortunate replacement of wit for vulgarity.

[Mark Rogers]

I saw the film, it's just plain boring. I mean really boring. I should have gone to Batman again.

[Ashtonian]

Just because you are called Goldstein, doesn't give you the right.
However, in trying to find out what the title of the article meant I Googled the term and came across this

If you recently used Google to search for the word "Jew," you may have seen results that were very disturbing. We assure you that the views expressed by the sites in your results are not in any way endorsed by Google. We'd like to explain why you're seeing these results when you conduct this search.

A site's ranking in Google's search results relies heavily on computer algorithms using thousands of factors to calculate a page's relevance to a given query. Sometimes subtleties of language cause anomalies to appear that cannot be predicted. A search for "Jew" brings up one such unexpected result.

If you use Google to search for "Judaism," "Jewish" or "Jewish people," the results are informative and relevant. So why is a search for "Jew" different? One reason is that the word "Jew" is often used in an anti-Semitic context. Jewish organizations are more likely to use the word "Jewish" when talking about members of their faith. The word has become somewhat charged linguistically, as noted on websites devoted to Jewish topics such as these:

[bob]

Good grief. The movie ain't no "Blazing Saddles". But then again, could you even make "Blazing Saddles" today with all the thin skinned political correctees. Pogo, where are you when we need you.

[Peter]

THE GOP AND MCCAIN BETTER TAKE NOTICE, THEY ARE ABOUT TO LOSE THEYRE BASE. HUCKABEE SUPPORTERS HAVE STARTED A MOVEMENT TO TRY AND GET HUCKABEE TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE GOP. TO START A NEW PARTY. THE GOP AND MCCAIN BETTER BECAREFUL., THEY ARE ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR BASE. TAKE A LOOK FOR YOURSELVES.
http://www.mccanes.com/newparty.html

[Nameless Joe]

Bigfoot looks just like my ex-wife. However, the last time I had heard she was living in Burbank and not Georgia. Who knows maybe she did move to the former Soviet Union.

[dane]

Ben Stiller is jewish. people are 'retarded' :P

[Delmar Jackson]

It use to be there were only two groups left you could ridicule in the media- White southern men and the mentally challenged. Now it Looks like the only targets left are the rednecks, everybody else has an advocacy group ready to sue or they call in the NAACP or SPLc or La Raza.
Should make for a lot more banjo music in future movies though.

wish someone would make a movie about how diversity destroys the unity of a country or how "multicultutalism" is really a seven syllable code word for a seven syllable phrase- "getting rid of white people.

[Tom]

I'm not especially offended by his use of the word "retard." I'm offended by the stupidity of his humor. He's a not-quite-adolescent school boy, always has been, and what he finds amusing, I generally find trite and sophmoric. But, apparently it makes him a buck - but not from me.

[Noonan]

Gee...have you seen South Park lately? There is a nice satire that makes fun of Jews, Retards, African Americans, Gays, you name it....Been there done that...Good satire is supposed to make fun of people. Duh.

[Paul]

Actually, satire as an art form -- with roots in works like Gulliver's Travels and Tristram Shandy -- is defined as a form of humor that targets people in positions or power or influence. Simply making fun of someone isn't satire. Satire is presenting something or someone in a humorous way for the specific purpose of revealing some powerful person's or institution's foibles. In that sense, in my opinion, this movie use of the word "retard" can hardly be seen as a form of satire, given that mentally retarded folks are in many respects the least powerful group of people in our society.

[AG Hawthorne]

Thank you for substituting the word "Jew" for "retard." Thoughts become words, words become actions.

This is not comedy. Carol Burnett was comedy. Johnny Caron was comedy. George Carlin was genius. Lucille Ball was the queen of comedy of all brands of what is funny.

This type of "comedy" is a diluted and distorted version of satire designed, I believe, for an ever increasing intellectually dull and emotionally lazy audience. The purpose is to make money, period.

[Jeremy]

I haven't seen the movie and don't care tremendously either way, but there's a flaw in the analogy: as much as some people try to use it as such, the word 'Jew' isn't generally seen as a slur. The word 'retard' often is. I don't feel offended when I say 'I am a Jew,' but I can't remember the last time I heard someone say 'I'm a retard' without meaning 'I'm an idiot.'

I think it's fine to have the word in the film - and I think it's fine to make fun of Jews - but your argument here is a little off.

[ST POOCH]

BEN STILLER ------->Movie the "Tropic Thunder"
Director:Ben Stiller
Writers :Ben Stiller (screenplay) &Justin Theroux (screenplay) ...etc

Well, the name BEN STILLER ->>>> a.k.a $ BENJAMIN STILLER $
Name "BEN" has too many uses from Old to Modern Hebrew laungages.
Here is good magic spell for your all of your Jewish friend to break ice in every parties occasions...
tell them "You are Eze benzona!! " as loud as you can.
Tell all your Jewish friends! Share with it! You'll be accepted as a familly.

[mike morgan]

What's your point, retard?

[new_york_loner]

Give us a break.

Nobody in the entertainment business dares to criticize Jews, with the possible exception of Mel Brooks. The entertainment industry is dominated by people who just happen to be Jewish. It's OK to brag about that fact in the Jewish media, but any Gentile who mentions it is pounced upon as an anti-Semite, Holocaust denier etc.

Oy!

[John Hubers]

Good satire is a matter of timing. "Jew" as a satirical moniker would have been highly offensive in the aftermath of WW II when the consequences of denigrating a minority community became horrifyingly apparent. It's only because the worst forms of antisemitism have been largely eliminated in American society that such satire can be used without fearing the consequences. Mentally challenged people, however, are still fighting the battle to be treated with respect in our society. It has been and is, for them, a hard fought battle whose results are fragile enough to give legitimacy to their protests.

Of course, I doubt whether Ben Stiller cares what I or anyone else has to say about this, as he's laughing all the way to the bank. But I do hope that others who have access to this kind of culture-shaping power will, in the future, think twice about using damaging stereotypes to squeeze frat-boy humor out of someone else's flesh.

[Nils]

Come back Mel Brooks , Blazing Saddles and History of the World Pt 2. Its called humour people but it would appear that all the PC in the world will prevent us from using any words at all anyway Then again most teenagers today just grunt already , so maybe PC has finally arrived !

[johnny]

Tropic thunder was as awsome as Zoolander. Ben Stiller is a genius. And Jack Black had alot in him, he must have been holding it back all these years

[billy bouy]

I"ve never seen the whole Industry; print, television, radio, internet come together so fast and circle the wagons to protect Stiller over all of this. Watcing Nightline dedicate half their show the other night to this movie, as well as Charlie Rose and countless others is beyond belief. This wasnt the new Batman movie folks...what it is is a bunch of people protecting one of their own, when any other Director would have been left out there hanging.

Ben seems like a good guy but he screwed up on this one and should be getting his medicine handed to him just like any other director would have....but he's Ben Stiller, so his own rescue him.

[don hamel]

instead of using the word Jew, you should have used the word kike, since it is more offensive. that would have made your point.

[sharok]

There is nothing to be said about this. Nothing at all !

[snaxalot]

it's truly weird that you think people would be disconcerted by a jew making jokes about jews. you saw The Hebrew Hammer, right? maybe re-write the article with a better example

[Frankie]

What a stupid article. So what if they were making fun of Jews. That would probably be hilarious and with Stiller being Jewish, it might become a big blockbuster. Borat proved that making fun of Jews was hilarious and highly money-making.

This article had nothing to do with anything. Why do Jews have to constantly create a defense barrier around being Jewish? Jews are human too, and deserve to be chastised in satires by Hollywood as much as any other ethnicity or religion out there.

[Neal Kirklander]

I see what you're getting at, but "full Jew" is, in fact, much less offensive than "full retard." First of all, self-deprecating Jewish jokes are woven into the fabric of the American comedy tradition. Second, "retard" jokes are unilateral, making fun of developmentally-disabled folks who can't fight back, unlike, for example, Larry David.

[Alphonso Carponzo]

Controversy? We have a very serious election this fall and we must all get serious. There is no room for satire and humor in this challenging world we live in. Just Kidding!!!!!!!!! Check out who is painting the White House Pink at the seriously real time poll at http://www.bop-o-rama.com. She's hot! Maybe Ben Stiller should run for President!

[rationalone]

I also deliberate these things, wanting, as is my nature, not to be genuinely offensive, but also wanting to say funny things, which I won't even attempt here.

You try to draw us in, to show how offensive it would be if the word was Jew and not Retard.

But the people who produced and star in this are Jewish (or at least half), not 'retarded'.

I do believe that in this particular time in our American culture, it is OK to mock one's own.

So there reallly is no kinship.

That actors are mocked strikes me as fair game, and I am on the fence about whether mentally disabled people have a legit beef with this movie.

But I do think that using Jews as an analogy misses the whole shebang and cheapens legit uses of the analogy.

.

[Nude Bacon]

Sticks and stones,Meanings of words and terms change-But one MUST see the movie to judge for themselfs or that is per-judgeing.If one can`t be called names than they will bust.limit maybe like gun`s but mouths run full of sheilt everywhere.Before war there is cold war and it is a warning like a dogs bark.I could never call some that today but myself,a actor on egg shells can`t work-I DNK I would take some of the earnings and give them to a group as it is a rewritten movie anyway.If we can`t tame the tung,if you called someone that who was disabled for real that would be real COLD but they are acting and battleing in a war of words.race words are used all the time by the same race but if you use them on a other race lookout.Jessie jackson said what about who?.Talk is cheap sorry I said that crap back there doing is the real test

[gadfly]

Your comment is a little late.

Borat!

[louis]

you must not have heard of South Park.

[Busby SEO Challenge]

That was a nice blog..
great job...
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Busby SEO Challenge

[Stephen Cusack]

I cannot see why this movie is deemed offensive & Racist. Robert Downey Jnr playing a black man is no more offensive and racist than the Wayans Bothers playing teenage white girls in the movie White Chicks. I don’t remember any civil action protests at that movie. My black friends find the creative casting by Ben Stiller to cast Robert Downey Jnr in this roll inspiring. Ben Stiller should be offended by these do gooders trying to censor his genius creativity.

[calico]

As a counselor working with persons who struggle with addiction, I was deeply offended by the unabashed mockery they made of a person withdrawing from heroin. The idea that such a ...wait... just kidding... I thought I could seriously keep going with that but I can't stop laughing at myself. C'mon people. This is what makes America great! We SHOULD be allowed to offend other people and say whatever we want to say! If you don't like it, don't listen! Boycott the movie if you find it offensive! That just leaves more seats open for those of us who can take a joke and won't get upset when someone takes a jab at us. How overly sensitive can you possibly be if a completely obvious farce is offensive? If you tell a "A guy walks into a bar" joke, should I be offended as a male that you've stereotyped me? Should you instead say "A gender-neutral, pan-racial individual walked into a fine dining establishment...?" Of course not. Then the punch-line isn't funny. Grow up people and stop whining about every little thing that hurts your little tiger hearts. I promise you, the world has much worse things to offer than the "R" word.

[deshi gal]

Ben Stiller is creative?!?!?! Since when? If any actor in hollywood is really retarted, that's him. He's just a sad boring worst type of jewish who just doesnt know how to make laugh and so he thinks if he strangles his viewers with loser-case, moronic, low-life, cheap stories, that would probably make normal people like us laugh. NONE of his film ever made any sense (who reconfirms he's a sad case retarded again!) and dunno why he's still alive in this industry - may be the only reason is he's jewish!

ps. not all the jewish are bad people, remember that, not even in hollywood - remember goggenheim who made an inconvenient truth?

[Nomegusta]

Jews aren't offended by being called Jews any more than I am by being called a Paddy, though my great-grandparents certaintly would have been. People who aren't discriminated against and who have power in society usually don't care what jokes people make about them. Ben Stiller can do anything he likes, but I'd be willing to bet that if he had a mentally retarded son or daughter, he wouldn't have thought that this material was nearly so humorous. Yes, it's true that nearly everyone in the business rallied around Stiller, just as nearly everyone rallied around Don Imus - it's hard to have principles when there may be promotional appearances or a job in it for you. I like both Ben and Don, but they're not satirists or gifted comedians, and their material is more often juvenile than not.

[No Reason]

Have not seen the movie. The real question is "who cares"? You want to argue about something, turn on the nightly news. You want to make a change, run for congress and then get them to pass a law that holds congress and the senate members individually responsible for their actions. Charge them with treason if something they do doesn't pan out right and harms america. This article is an example of our inability to focus on important issues and consistently be distracted by non sense while China, India and our law makers drain american life blood.

[Jay]

The Wayans Brother's played undercover cops who impersonated 2 white chicks. They were playing themselves. The whole story was 2 "black" guys playing 2 white chicks. The audience knew it was them playing the girls; that was why there was no need for civil rights protest. In tropic thunder it is not a white dude playing black undercover. The character in tropic thunder is portrayed as black and Robert Downey jr is not black. So If anyone finds that offensive I can understand that. Using "White chicks" as a precedence does not help because it's not the same thing.

[Tara]

This movie made me laugh. A lot. At first it dragged a little bit, but in the end it was extremely entertaining. Jack Black is very funny as usual and Robert Downey Jr. continues to amaze me. Tom Cruise had me in stitches with his unique dancing skills. Matthew McConaughey's final scene was hysterical. I walked away from this movie smiling. The make up was so good I didn't even recognize Tom Cruise until he made a certain expression in a later scene in the film. Thanks Ben Stiller & Co. for giving me some great Saturday afternoon entertainment. The last thing on my mind when I left the theater were the jokes about jews or the mentally handicapped.

[Mike B]

I'm really, really old, and very easily offended. Movies and television frighten me. Don't go outside!!

[Shaun]

As other's may have pointed out Jews were also being poked - how else to understand Cruise's hodgepodge of Jewish cliche? It's every bit as lazy as 15 uses of "retard". I'm not complaining I'm just saying it's an equal opportunity satire. And of course retards * are * entertaining; to be clear, I was talking about Mr. Cruise.

[Victoria]

My GOSH!!! Those of you who are saying that people should not be offended using the "R" word should be ashmed of your selfs. I can guantee that those of you who say it is being made way to big of a deal that people are offended obviously you do not have or are connected with people of disabilites or special needs. I from this day forward will never see a movie ever againg with any of the cast members that are saying that people are making way to big of a deal of this and are bodly and defensively defending keeping this word in the movie. This includes obviously Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Tom Cruise and most importantly Robert Downey JR. I have stayed a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE fan of his all these years thru all his struggles and this is how he repays his fans??? It is clear all they care about is the fortune and fame this movie brings and they are sacrificing their careers just to prove a point. I can say all of this because I have twin girls, one who is extremely special needs and one who is extremely typical. My special needs child has been thru more in her 5 years than any of them have in their entire life. She has had to have brain surgery when she was 8 months old, and was only 10 pounds, surgeons had to disconnect the left hemisphere from the right because of debilating seizures, she is paralized on her left, she can not talk, or eat by mouth and started to walk at 4 1/2 years old. She still has seizures every single day of her life...but yet she shows us in her own way how super smart she is. She is aware of soo much around her. She is loving, funny, very strong and stubborn. We as her parents have sacrified so much to the point of looing our home due to bankruptcy. A home that we worked for over 10 years of our lives to own. We have been thru many, many sleepless nights, nights in the ER, going to doctors, all the while trying to survive off of one income... and then my husband loosing his job in this horrible economy. All the while wondering what we are going to do to prepare for her future if we are not around. She will always need some one to care for her. I know the difference betewen a typical child and a special needs child because I have both and they are twins. I know the heart break of seeing one suffer while the other is progressing typically.
So for those of you who think it is JUST A WORD and to GET OVER IT need to spend a few days with some one like our family and if that does not change your mind...then I feel very sorry for you and I would not consider you a human being.
Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey JR and Tom Cruise.... I pity you and feel sorry for you. You all have lost a life long fan due to your selfishness, insensitiveness and if that is how you are in real life.... then THANK GOD, your not a neighbor or a friend. Any one who disrespects people of special needs, disrrepects me and I do not have time to waste on people like you. I would post her website so you can see visually the pain she has suffered... but at this moment, I a hoping this is good enought and will bring some awareness.

[Brant]

I saw it and thought it was funny. I work with retarded people and dont think they would be offended. It is not nearly as offensive as Forest Gump. Which inspired alot of taunts and name calling to the retarded. I am afraid there was nothing here that would do that as it was clear he was not actually retarded in the movie

[Maxwell Demon]

The protests are misguided. Tropic Thunder is excellent. Advocates for the mentally retarded should object to I Am Sam, Riding the Bus with my Sister and every other work involving an actor trying to show what a master thespian they are by playing a stereotype.

[Bob]

Tom Cruises character was a mockery of corporate jews. Hairy chest, bald head, freckled, fat, driven by money and self important. Jews took it ok. Tell the retards to chill.

[Joe Nobody]

Just saw Tropic Thunder tonight. Not a Ben Stiller fan nor a fan of that type of humor, but wanted to see it. I suppose the controversy piqued my interest. It killed. Could be the funniest movie I have ever seen.

[Virginia Abreu de Paula]

"The character in tropic thunder is portrayed as black and Robert Downey jr is not black. So If anyone finds that offensive I can understand that." That's what Jay wrote. Obviously, she didn't see the movie and didn't even read any review about it. Robert Downey Jr's plays a white actor who plays an Afro American in a film inside the film. If they had chosen an Afro actor for that role, it would be another story! It had to be white, get it? See the movie before writing about it. As for the retard controversy, just read again what Ben Stiller's said. He said it all. He is playing with the actors, not with mentally handicapped people. I am surprised to see so many people who can't understand something that simple. Are they ...retarded? It seems so. Victoria, I pity you.