Ben Stiller promises “no apologies” for his most controversial movie

One Ben Stiller movie remains particularly notorious, even 15 years after its release – but the actor doesn’t care about the controversy and refuses to make any “apologies” for the film.

Movies generate controversy for different reasons. Violence is a common inciter; for example, Cannibal Holocaust’s gore was so authentic many believed it was a snuff film, and the killing of real animals was widely slammed. Faces of Death also interwove actual deaths, making it an especially grim video.

Other backlashes are more complex: Martin Scorsese was targeted with death threats over the supposed “blasphemy” of The Last Temptation of Christ, while Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ split opinion over its graphic adaptation of the Scourging at the Pillar and allegations of anti-Semitism.

In the case of one movie from Stiller, it’s the subject of two separate controversies – but don’t expect any apologies from its stars.

Ben Stiller refuses to apologize for Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder generated a bit of heat over two things: Robert Downey Jr. in Blackface as Kirk Lazarus, a white method actor playing a Black soldier; and Stiller’s portrayal of Simple Jack, an in-universe character who’s mentally disabled.

Stiller had been tagged in a tweet last year that claimed he was apologizing for the film, but the star (who also directed it) hasn’t done anything of the sort. “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,” he wrote.

In the initial backlash in 2008, DreamWorks removed its official Simple Jack website after criticism from the disability advocacy community. “We heard their concerns, and we understand that taken out of context, the site appeared to be insensitive to people with disabilities,” the studio wrote.

However, Stiller defended the movie in 2011, telling ABC News: “We screened the movie so many times and this didn’t come up until very late… in the context of the film I think it’s really clear, they were making fun of the actors and actors who try to use serious subjects to win awards.”

His co-writer Etan Coen holds a similar opinion, earlier explaining: “Some people have taken this as making fun of handicapped people, but we’re really trying to make fun of the actors who use this material as fodder for acclaim.”

Downey Jr’s role was sketched as a mockery of actors who’ve used Blackface or gone to other ridiculous lengths in their performances. During an interview with Joe Rogan, he admitted there was a brief time when he thought it was a “terrible idea”, but he quickly “got real.”

“My heart is a) I get to be Black for a summer in my mind, so there’s something in it for me. The other thing is I get to hold up to nature the insane, self-involved hypocrisy of artists and what they think they’re allowed to do on occasion,” he said.

He also told EW in 2008: “At the end of the day, it’s always about how well you commit to the character. I dove in with both feet. If I didn’t feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I’m just C. Thomas Howell in [the 1986-movie ‘Soul Man’], I would’ve stayed home.”