Ben Preiss
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Pushing the ‘Politically Correct’ envelope, Robert Downey Jr. has transformed himself into a black man in Ben Stiller’s Vietnam war epic parody ‘Tropic Thunder’. Following up the huge success of Ironman, Downey is breaking one of the biggest taboos in Hollywood. Downey’s risk taking extends beyond snorting epic amounts of cocaine and popping pills. No white actor has appeared in film with a painted face since the 1930’s as it was subsequently considered racist; although Bugs Bunny got away with it in 1956 in “Southern Fried Rabbit.” Downey is, of course, a gifted actor but will this controversial choice of roles pay off, or will he get blackballed?  WHAT IS going on in the zeitgeist when an African American is poised to become president and Robert Downey Jr. is in blackface? In the new comedy " Tropic Thunder," Downey plays actor Kirk Lazarus, a Russell Crowe-ish Aussie who is cast as a black soldier in a blood-and-guts Vietnam War epic. Method Man that he is, Lazarus dyes his skin, mats his hair and revamps his voice into a guttural drawl that's equal parts plantation and blaxploitation.
(latimes)References: nytimes, latimes Filed In: |
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