Tropic Thunder--for an out-of-box comedy experience!

My suggestion for a film to watch is Tropic Thunder.


The plot centers around a group of spoiled actors who are lost in the jungle while making a war movie. Ben Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, an almost washed up hero who earlier failed in his bid to win an Oscar while portraying Simple Jack, a character with an intellectual disability. Speedman’s portrayal of Simple Jack is featured as a movie within a movie. There were even fake websites and a “mockumentary”--Rain of Madness (which parodied the documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse) for this movie, which was loosely based on the filming of Apocalypse Now, and how difficult the filming was for Francis Ford Coppola in 1979. 

The word “retard” is used 16 times in this movie. 

Also in the movie: 

• Mocking references to gay and fat people. 

• One character portrayed as a white man who has darkened his skin to play a black man. A black character criticizes him several times for impersonating a black man. 

• Extensive use of vulgar humor and profanity. 

• Many jokes about the shallowness, self-involvement and ignorance of actors and Hollywood executives in general.

I thought the film was hilarious, but I am sure many, many people might not like the film.

I was inspired to choose this movie after I saw an article on the news this week about people being outraged over Nick Cannon wearing white-face.

Nick Cannon on CBS

Seriously?!?!?

In the 1800s, play authors were ridiculing the government and the justice system, making fun of women and children being assaulted and potentially raped, and laughing at people dying, but there are still people in society today who make a big deal out of comedy and theater. Shakespeare performed plays dressed as women because females were not allowed on stage, and yet many people still criticize and alienate cross-dressers. How does that happen, when a society seems too go backward instead of progressing forward?

I think the lines are blurred as far as comedy and what is real for people. In today’s society, we mock people for everything. Our motto in comedy is pretty much ‘anything goes’, but there are always those 'political correctness' nazis who say, “The nerve of you people!” Needless to say, hypocrisy runs rampant in modern culture, and is widely acceptable, but a good comedy, created just to make people laugh is horrible! (insert sarcasm here).

Tropic Thunder breaks every ‘politically correct’ rule known in our culture, and I think this is an interesting movie to analyze for our class, because it gives us a hint of how viewing audiences may have felt during the eras many of our class plays were written.

I enjoy stepping out of my box, and I feel we have done that several times in this class. Keeping with the spirit of out-of-box experiences, I think this movie has all the awkwardness and uncomfortableness in the name of comedy that we can stand, and that many plays we have studied exemplified at the time they were performed.

My only concern is, this movie is quite vulgar. I wouldn’t want to offend anyone.

The Beaver Coat: Mrs. Wolff's Bad Attitude

Mrs. Wolff: Don’t talk to me about that slut!  If I could only get my hands on her!  I’d show the hussy!  Wouldn’t that be some fun for you?  To fool around with some fellow every night.  The very thought of it.  I’ll beat ya till ya can’t get up no more. (p 148)

            Although Mrs. Wolff’s actions give a clear description of her character, her attitude can also give us insight.  While this is not a central theme in The Beaver Coat, when I read this passage I instantly thought of our previous conversations in class about slut shaming.  In the play, Mrs. Wolff is talking about Emilie.  Leontine wants to follow in Emilie’s footsteps and travel to Berlin, but Mrs. Wolff is set against it because she does not want her daughter to fall in with the wrong crowd.

Later, when Adelheid mentions Filitz, Mrs. Wolff is once again outraged and calls him a pimp, a spy, and a reformer.  This made me think about Mrs. Wolff’s attitude and her dislike of several characters.  Is this slut shaming or misandry (a strong hatred of men)?  Perhaps it’s both.  Could Mrs. Wolff be classified as a misanthrope?  While she cares for her family and tries to make sure she can provide for them, she constantly talks down to her husband and berates him.  It seems like she would go to great lengths to protect her daughters, even if that means stealing and lying.  She asserts herself as the head of the household and has a superior mindset.  So maybe she is not a misanthrope so much as she thinks she is better than everyone around her.

Mrs. Wolff is the mastermind behind the thefts of the wood and the beaver coat.  She believes that she can get away with her crimes, and she is correct.  Mrs. Wolff thinks that she is above the law and has no faith that the justice system will ever come around to solving the thefts.  She has convinced others that she is a woman of strong morals and values and could never be suspected of committing a theft.  Her strong character gets what she wants.