Ben Stiller Doubts TROPIC THUNDER Would Get Made Today and Credits Steven Spielberg for the Movie Getting Made

It’s pretty wild that a movie like Tropic Thunder actually exists. The movie is insanely funny but its also become a super controversial film due to its subject matter.

The edgy satirical action-comedy was looking to poke fun at those kinds of actors willing to do virtually anything to win an award and the result is one of the funniest comedies ever made.

Of course, it raised some eyebrows for a number of reasons due to its use of Blackface and offensive language regarding disabled people.

The film starred Ben Stiller, who also directed the film, and he has stood by the parody film, and while he has defended it, he also understands that a movie like this would not get made in today’s world.

During a recent interview with Collider, the actor shared his thoughts on if the film would get made today and also credits director Steven Spielberg for helping get the film made in the first place.

Stiller said: “I doubt it. Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do. Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business.

“I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. He read it and was like, ‘Alright, let's make this thing.’ It's a very inside movie when you think about it.”

Stiller also weighed in on the choice of Robert Downey Jr.'s character’s use of Blackface and how the angle was apparent enough that it wasn’t meant in any ill fashion:

“The idea of Robert playing that character who's playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too.

“The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on — actors trying to do anything to win awards.

“But now, in this environment, I don't even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I'm being honest.”

Yeah, if anyone in Hollywood tried to make a movie like this right now it would get shut down pretty quickly or at least the script would be rewritten to remove anything that anyone might find offensive.

Robert Downey Jr. previously defended his role saying: “I was looking back at All in the Family, and they had a little disclaimer that they were running at the beginning of the show.

“People should look it up, exactly what it is, because it is an antidote to this clickbait addiction to grievance that [people seem] to have with everything these days.”

He added: “The language was saying, ‘Hey, this is the reason that we’re doing these things that, in a vacuum, you could pick apart and say are wrong and bad.’

“There used to be an understanding with an audience, and I’m not saying that the audience is no longer understanding — I’m saying that things have gotten very muddied.

“The spirit that [Ben] Stiller directed and cast and shot Tropic Thunder in was, essentially, as a railing against all of these tropes that are not right and [that] had been perpetuated for too long.”

He went on to add: “[Ben Stiller] knew exactly what the vision for this was, he executed it, it was impossible to not have it be an offensive nightmare of a movie. And 90% of my Black friends were like, ‘Dude, that was great.’ 

“I can’t disagree with [the other 10%], but I know where my heart lies. 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.”

The movie follows a group of egotistical actors who embark on what they believe is the production of a high-budget Vietnam War movie, only to find themselves in real danger in the middle of the jungle.

The actors, unaware they've been abandoned in a live combat zone, must rely on their questionable acting skills and inflated egos to survive. The movie cleverly skewers Hollywood's vanity, method acting, and blockbuster culture while delivering outrageous humor and over-the-top action.