DreamWorks backtracks on “Tropic Thunder” promotion
DreamWorks has dropped some of its promotional efforts tied to the release of Tropic Thunder after advocacy groups protested the film’s references to the mentally disabled, the Associated Press reports. This includes a Web site promoting a fictional film within the film featuring Ben Stiller’s character, a faux ‘80s-era actor portraying a “retard,” as he calls it.
DreamWorks and Stiller argue the insensitive language is meant to mock Hollywood portrayals of the mentally disabled, not the mentally disabled themselves, and that no cuts will be made to the film as requested. Representatives of Special Olympics and other groups say it goes too far and are calling for a nationwide boycott.
The flap comes as something of a surprise as in the lead up to the release of the film much of the discussion about it had centered on anticipated controversy over Robert Downey Jr.’s character, an especially self-important actor who does his role in blackface.
