Robert Downey Jr. Defends Tropic Thunder After Receiving Criticism For Wearing Blackface In Movie

In the movie, Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, a method actor who dons blackface to portray Sgt Lincoln Osiris. 

The film, which also stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Tom Cruise, is about a movie crew shooting a war film that gets attacked by local drug dealers.

The movie did great at the box office, earning a whopping $195.7 million. 

Downey Jr.'s character is often criticized within the movie itself by Alpa Chino, played by Brandon T Jackson. 

Credit: Dreamworks

Despite the criticism, Downey Jr. has repeatedly defended the film over the years.

In February 2023, he mentioned he didn't regret the role, though he sometimes had doubts about it. 

More recently, on Rob Lowe’s Literally! podcast, Downey Jr. drew parallels between "Tropic Thunder" and Norman Lear’s "All in the Family," another show that dealt with racism. 

"I was looking back at All in the Family, and they had a little disclaimer that they were running at the beginning of the show," he. said.

"People should look it up, exactly what it is, because it is an antidote to this clickbait addiction to grievance that [people seem] to have with everything these days."

Credit: Dreamworks

He talked about "All in the Family’s" disclaimer, which reads: "The program you are about to see is All in the Family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns."

"By making them a source of laughter, we hope to show — in a mature fashion — just how absurd they are."

"The language was saying, ‘Hey, this is the reason that we’re doing these things that, in a vacuum, you could pick apart and say are wrong and bad," Downey Jr. added.

"There used to be an understanding with an audience, and I’m not saying that the audience is no longer understanding — I’m saying that things have gotten very muddied."

"The spirit that [Ben] Stiller directed and cast and shot ‘Tropic Thunder’ in was, essentially, as a railing against all of these tropes that are not right and [that] had been perpetuated for too long."

Credit: Getty Images

Downey Jr. pointed out that this kind of language explained the purpose behind seemingly controversial content.

He feels that there used to be a better understanding with audiences about the intentions behind such content, but things are less clear now. 

He believes "Tropic Thunder" was made to challenge and criticize wrong and outdated tropes in movies.

Ben Stiller, the director of "Tropic Thunder," has also defended the movie, saying he makes 'no apologies' for it and is proud of the work everyone did.