The “woke” mob is always on the prowl for something to “cancel.”
Movies and television shows that were once considered progressives are now labeled problematic.
But Ben Stiller told leftists he made “no apologies” for Tropic Thunder.
Actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller refused to condemn his 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder, which hit all sorts of triggers for the outrage mob.
Most notably, Robert Downey, Jr. lampooned method acting and blackface by playing a jive-talking black soldier.
But Stiller, who directed and starred in the film, said he made “no apologies” for the movie.
R&B singer Benny S. wrote to Stiller on Twitter, “Please stop apologizing for doing this movie. It was and still is funny AF…Even funnier now with cancel culture the way it is. It’s a MOVIE. Ya’ll can just get over it. I was DYING laughing when I first saw it back in the day and so was everyone else.”
@BenStiller Please stop apologizing for doing this movie. It was and still is funny AF… Even funnier now with cancel culture the way it is. It's a MOVIE. Ya'll can just get over it. I was DYING laughing when I first saw it back in the day and so was everyone else. pic.twitter.com/HEyR0ztQD4
— Benny S. (@BennySings) February 21, 2023
Stiller responded, “I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder. Don’t know who told you that. It’s always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work everyone did on it.”
I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder. Don’t know who told you that. It’s always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work everyone did on it. 🙏✊😊
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) February 21, 2023
The confusion came because Stiller apologized back in 2008 for his portrayal of a special needs character named Simple Jack.
Olympic snowboarder Shaun White caught flak for dressing as Simple Jack for Halloween, but Stiller stood by him.
Stiller tweeted in 2018, “Actually ‘Tropic Thunder’ was boycotted 10 years ago when it came out, and I apologized then…It was always meant to make fun of actors trying to do anything to win awards. I stand by my apology, the movie, Shaun White, And the great people and work of the [SpecialOlympics].”
Robert Downey, Jr. also addressed the backlash to the use of blackface in the film in an interview with podcast host Joe Rogan.
He told Rogan, “I think that it’s never an excuse to do something that’s out of place and out of its time, but to me it blasted the cap on [the issue]…I think having a moral psychology is job one. Sometimes, you just gotta go, ‘Yeah, I effed up.’ In my defense, ‘Tropic Thunder’ is about how wrong [blackface] is, so I take exception.”
Comedians are often the canaries in the coal mine for the state of the culture.
Jerry Seinfeld said years ago that he stopped performing at colleges because the kids had become so insufferably woke.
The comedian said in a 2015 interview with sports commentator Colin Cowherd, “They just want to use these words: ‘That’s racist;’ ‘That’s sexist;’ ‘That’s prejudice’…They don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.”
Seinfeld described a personal anecdote involving his daughter.
He said, “My wife says to her, ‘Well, you know, in the next couple years, I think maybe you’re going to want to be hanging around the city more on the weekends, so you can see boys’…You know what my daughter says? She says, ‘That’s sexist.’”
There’s no way a movie like Tropic Thunder could be made today by a major studio.