Kirk Lazarus/Tropic Thunder

Kirk Lazarus: I know who I am! I'm the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude!

I have to say that I am really looking forward to Tropic Thunder.

Kirk Lazarus is the reason I want to see this movie. The makeup is freaking great, so great my mother didn’t even know. Here’s the conversation I had with her about the character.

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I said, “Hey, mom, are you going to see Tropic Thunder?”

My mother shook her head. “Nope, it looks silly.” (But, my mother is a Ben Stiller fan.)

“What do you think about Downey playing a black man?” I asked

“What are you talking about?” she asked back.

“He’s playing the older black dude in the movie.”

A shocked expression appeared on her face as she realized it. “Really? I kept looking at the commercials and asking myself if I recognized the actor.”

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Yes, my mother had no idea it was Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. looks great playing “a dude playing a black dude.” Some people might be offended by Downey playing a white guy playing a black guy, but really it’s parodying all the movies where white actors have played minority (Black, Asian, and Native American) parts in movies, when minority actors could have easily played the parts.

Remember all those Charlie Chan movies? Or the Native American characters from F-Troop? Even though their intention probably wasn’t to come across as racist, it ended up that way. Then there were the blackface performers in old Hollywood that still cause a stir today.

I see Downey playing a character that doesn’t understand what he’s doing is offensive. Lazarus thinks this will get him even more critical acclaim for playing a black man. But, his co-star Brandon T. Jackson (Alpa Chino) isn’t too happy about it.

“What do you mean ‘you people’?”

Btw, his character seems a lot like the character from Full Metal Jacket. You know the black guy that exposes himself to the hooker to prove he’s not ‘too big’.