Ben Stiller refuses to apologise for Tropic Thunder amid 'cancel culture' row

Tropic Thunder was heavily criticised upon release both for its portrayal of disabled and minority groups but actor Ben Stiller refuses to apologise for the film, maintaining that he’s ‘proud’ of the comedy.

Released in 2008, Tropic Thunder is considered to be a satirical action-comedy. The film stars Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, and Jack Black as a group of actors creating a war film set in Vietnam. The trio are dropped into the centre of the jungle by their director and are suddenly forced to put their acting survival skills to the rest.

Upon release, the film was heavily criticised by disability advocacy groups for its repeated use of slurs and overall portrayal of intellectual disabilities. Those involved in creating the film explained that they were making fun of actors and not those with disabilities. For many though, that’s not an acceptable answer.

Downey Jr’s character also dons blackface within the film when the character he plays is tasked with portraying an African-American man. This, of course, is an incredibly harmful and insulting practice. Filmmakers have said that they were trying to make that point with having other characters within the film raising the offensive nature of the technique. Still though, many have argued that it shouldn’t have been included at all.

On Twitter, one user encouraged Stiller not to apologise. They wrote, “Please stop apologising 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. Y’all can get over it.” Stiller later replied to the tweet, saying, “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.”