I read Roger Ebert's review of the film Tropic Thunder today, and I was disappointed that he glides so easily over the question of Robert Downey Jr. in blackface. I'm a big fan of Ebert's reviews and his opinion is really one of the few that I care about before going to see any movie (Ed Gonzales's are the others that I put stake into). The review is not that good in comparison to his other ones, generally speaking, but I was expecting some kind of thoughtful criticism of race in the movie, and none was offered. This is disconcerting because the movie is so highly anticipated and will make boatloads of money and influence huge numbers of people in its representations.
But more so than simply not confronting the use of stereotypes in the movie, Ebert seemingly contradicts himself when you compare this review to his review of Spike Lee's Bamboozled, where he heavily criticizes Lee's use of blackface and stereotypical imagery precisely because he believes the imagery is too powerful and controversial in its own right to be successful. Frankly, he seems to give white Hollywood a pass where he wouldn't give a black filmmaker.
After the fold I've copied the e-mail that I sent to feedback@rogerebert.com, and I've included links to the two reviews.
Hi Mr. Ebert,
I've always been a great fan of yours and have read more of your reviews than I would care to admit in a conversation. However, I was disconcerted with your review of Tropic Thunder today since it does not seem to critically examine the film's use of "blackface" on Downey Jr. or the way in which Lazarus's and Alpa Chino's stereotypical roles function. I only say that I am disappointed because, in your review of Bamboozled, you took Spike Lee to task for his satirical use of black face and stereotypes, mostly because you found the very use of blackface too controversial to be used in any constructive satirical sense due to the visceral power of its imagery. In your Tropic Thunder review, you hardly mention it.
Here are some choice quotes from the Bamboozled review:
'"Bamboozled" shows black actors in boldly exaggerated blackface for a cable production named "Mantan--The New Millennium Minstrel Show." Can we see beyond the blackface to its purpose? I had a struggle.'
"To satirize black shows on TV, Lee should have stayed closer to what really offends him; I think his fundamental miscalculation was to use blackface itself. He overshoots the mark. Blackface is so blatant, so wounding, so highly charged, that it obscures any point being made by the person wearing it. The makeup is the message.
"Consider the most infamous public use of blackface in recent years. Ted Danson appeared in blackface at a Friar's Club roast for his then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg. The audience sat in stunned silence. I was there, and I could feel the tension and discomfort in the room. In his defense, Danson said the skit had been dreamed up and written by Whoopi. One of his lines was about how he'd invited Whoopi home to dinner and his parents had asked her to clean up the kitchen after the meal. Not funny when Danson said it. If Whoopi had said it about herself, it would have been funny, with an edge. "But if Whoopi had said it while wearing blackface? Not funny. After Danson's flop, comedian Bobcat Goldthwait summed up the mood: "Jesus Christ, Ted, what were you thinking of? Do you think black people think blackface is funny in 1993?" No, and white people don't, either. Blacks in blackface eating watermelon and playing characters named Eat 'n Sleep, Rufus and Aunt Jemima fail as satire and simply become--well, what they seem to be. Crude racist caricatures."
And the most important one:
"Blackface is over the top in the same way--people's feelings run too strongly and deeply for any satirical use to be effective. The power of the racist image tramples over the material and asserts only itself."
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Because you still gave the film two stars, it seems that your opinion on Lee's use of blackface is somewhat divided. You do ask, "Is Spike Lee making his point? I think he makes his point intellectually; it's quite possible to see the film and understand his feelings." And at the end of the film, you mention The Producers and its caricature of the Nazis, which "makes Hitler look like a ridiculous buffoon. But what if the musical number had centered on Jews being marched into gas chambers? Not funny."
My question is about what you think of Tropic Thunder's use of blackface. Is it closer to Bamboozled's or The Producers's use of caricature, what are the differences between those two types of representation, and why is Tropic Thunder similar to one more than the other? Again, I am disconcerted only because I respect your opinion so much, but it seems, on the face of it, that you have given white Hollywood filmmakers a pass where you did not allow it for a black filmmaker.
I know that this a longer question than is usually answered in the "Answer Man" section and is probably not appropriate there, but perhaps you could answer my question on your journal, or just by a personal response?
Thank you,
Sean Nelson, Los Angeles
Right now in downtown Los Angeles is a gigantic advertisement for the film on the Hotel Figueroa, just north of The Staples Center, that shows Robert Downey Jr.'s caricature of Lazarus grinning, glaring, and gazing out over South LA, with the contrast between his black lips and face and his white teeth the main focus of the image. I drive by this picture everyday after work and it disgusts me to think that South Los Angeles residents have to be confronted with and everyday deal with these types of imagery, which are supposed to make us laugh.
As simply as Ebert put it in his Bamboozled review, it's not funny.
Ebert's Tropic Thunder Review
Ebert's Bamboozled Review
If you'd also like an answer, you can send your e-mails to feedback@rogerebert.com I'll update the diary if/when I get a response.
In any case, what does everyone think of the movie?
PS: I understand Ebert's health conditions and I'm partially chalking up the lack of effort in this review to that, since he does say that Tropic Thunder is a rather throw-away movie, even though he gives it 3 1/2 stars (he's been generally nice recently, too, to films). However, he's written some great stuff recently, too, so I can't completely excuse the review.
Update: I'm neither calling Roger Ebert nor the film intentionally racist (I've yet to see the film). However, racism does not have to be intentional to be manifest, and this diary is more about thinking about Ebert's apparent contradiction and what it means, and to discuss more generally how blackface can or should be used.
Update 2: I posted this in a comment below in a response to dlh77489: "Part of the reason I don't like the blackface is because it seems mostly like a marketing shock-tactic for what otherwise would be an unremarkable film." Whether Downey Jr. makes it into something more is a different point, imo.