A coalition of disabilities groups are calling for a boycott of the spoof film Tropic Thunder at today’s premiere in Westwood, CA, the New York Times reports. But will PETA follow once they get wind of the scene where Ben Stiller kills a baby panda? What about what the NAACP thinks about Robert Downey Jr. being in blackface?
Groups representing the intellectually challenged are enraged at the film’s repeated use of the word “retard” to refer to a character named “Simple Jack.” The Dreamworks film does not however, limit its portrayal of stereotypes to the disabled. In addition to Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr.’s controversial scenes, Tom Cruise plays a parody of powerful Jewish producers in Hollywood.
“Not only might it happen, it will happen,” Timothy P. Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, said of the boycott of the film starring Stiller, Downey, Jr., Jack Black, and Cruise.
A rep for Dreamworks said, “We have had productive discussions with representatives of disability advocacy organizations and look forward to working with them closely in the future. However no changes or cuts to the film will be made.”
Stay tuned to see if the 22 groups representing the intellectually challenged are the only civil rights advocates picketing and flooding the streets surrounding the Mann Village theater this evening.
[Photo: Paramount Pictures]
