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I can't take it anymore. Tropic Thunder Rant!
- Thread starter benlee
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YOU CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!! You MUST be joking!!!! I can't take the ignorance of people just like YOU!!!! I mean really think about it...Do you have kids? What if you child was born and something happened that resulted in them having some form or Mental Retardation...or maybe the are 6yrs old and get hit by a car which leave them Mentally retarded.... I HOPE and pray NEVER experience the pain of WATCHING and LISTENING to people just like YOU make fun of YOUR child!!!!!!!!!!!!
And for those others on the boards...The medical term "retardation" has been used and abused in society for SOOO long that medical staff use it far and few between. Society has DISGRACED the word so much that anytime its used..its hurtful and degrading!
IT'S A MOVIE! Get over it. If you can't stand to hear the word "retarded" that's fine, but keep quiet and let those of us who have a sense of humor enjoy our movies
cleanup
macrumors 68030
It's much more difficult to eliminate a social meme like the liberal use of the word "retarded" than it is to simply change the original term. How does "mentally handicapped" grab you?
When the actors onscreen use the word, they are not making fun of every mentally handicapped person out there. That's the mistake you're making. In the screenwriters' eyes, the word "retarded," has nothing to do with retarded people, and only has everything to do with its social meaning. It's gotten to the point where we no longer use the word "retard" to describe a mentally handicapped person, because that word has taken on a different meaning.
What if Ben Stiller said to you, "Your son is retarded"?
What if he said to you, "Your son is mentally handicapped"?
Although both are technically equivalent, one is clearly offensive, the other clearly innocuous. Different meanings nowadays. There isn't much of a parallel anymore.
Melrose
Suspended
I don't see what sets this movie apart from a hundred others out there...
The context will determine whether someone is using the word 'retarded' in a derogatory way; I personally have no qualms with it's use in general - and would take issue with how someone treated anyone who was retarded, regardless of the word they use. That being the case, simply using a word that originated in the medical field in the first place is no big deal. It's the attitude that some people take towards those that have such difficulties.
I mean to say, saying 'retarded' is not a problem. If you treat someone who is in a derogatory way it's wrong, whatever word you you use.
I really don't understand folks who take it such an extreme they say 'handi-capable' or get all up in arms about stuff like this - when the real issue is something else. Politically correct is okay to an extent, but some take it the extreme.
...and after all, if you're so hungry for media attention that you'll grasp at a Ben Stiller movie. I somethings think people just want something to be riled about.
The context will determine whether someone is using the word 'retarded' in a derogatory way; I personally have no qualms with it's use in general - and would take issue with how someone treated anyone who was retarded, regardless of the word they use. That being the case, simply using a word that originated in the medical field in the first place is no big deal. It's the attitude that some people take towards those that have such difficulties.
I mean to say, saying 'retarded' is not a problem. If you treat someone who is in a derogatory way it's wrong, whatever word you you use.
I really don't understand folks who take it such an extreme they say 'handi-capable' or get all up in arms about stuff like this - when the real issue is something else. Politically correct is okay to an extent, but some take it the extreme.
...and after all, if you're so hungry for media attention that you'll grasp at a Ben Stiller movie. I somethings think people just want something to be riled about.
I believe the phrase you're looking for is few and far between.mom2myby said:
In her defense, isn't saying "I have apples and oranges" the same as saying "I have oranges and apples"? 😉
philbeeney
macrumors 6502
The movie company must be laughing so hard in their offices with all this free publicity.
Think about it. How many people had never heard of this movie only to find it's a major news story because some dialogue spoken is deemed offensive to certain sections of society.
Now these people will consider going to see this movie just to see what all the fuss is about.
Think about it. How many people had never heard of this movie only to find it's a major news story because some dialogue spoken is deemed offensive to certain sections of society.
Now these people will consider going to see this movie just to see what all the fuss is about.
So, It's wrong to make a white guy black just for the purposes of a movie?
Is it wrong to make a black guy white for the purposes of a movie?
I havent seen the movie obviously, but if that was the best actor for the role, even though it was intended to be a black role, whats the problem. I would only have a problem with it if it was intended to be a jab at black people.
GSMiller
macrumors 68000
I couldn't agree more with this comment. Society needs to stop trying to boost others up by using terms that do not in the least little bit apply to them.
nbs2
macrumors 68030
I thought they referred to what was over 50%, but below 90%. That is, if it is more sunny than cloudy, but not totally sunny, it is partly sunny and vice versa if more cloudy than sunny.
It just goes to show how vile a person I am.
Unspeaked
macrumors 68020
Gray-Wolf
macrumors 68030
The question wasn't the actor doing blackface, but the character within the movie, staying in blackface, pretending he's black.
Chundles
macrumors G5
And he's an "Aussie" - it's hilarious!!
I could get all angry over the stuff about Crocodile Dundee and Dingoes eating babies but I won't because it's funny.
Well, I somehow missed this post. Which was directed at me and insulted me. Now I am going to boycott this forum because someone called me ignorant. Actually, that makes more sense than the people boycotting the film because this insult is directed at me personally.
I have not seen the movie either and do not know the exact context of the use of the word some 14 times. However, I assume(d) it was not directed at a 6 year old mentally retarded child or adult and just a stupid person.
However, even if my assumption is wrong and they are pointing at a 6 year old child with severe mental problems and incapacities...Why boycott the movie? It is a MOVIE!!!! I don't think people should call mentally disabled people "retards" at all and would probably say something to someone who was doing so in an offensive way. However, the point is... our society is becoming so sensitive and PC that eventually no one will be able to speak a word because someone will be offensive. If we couldn't poke fun of people and especially groups of people there would be no comedy. Lighten up and realize that the 6 year old child that got hit by a car has worse problems than the utterances of a word in a movie that he will likely never see or understand. Protesting the movie is going to do nothing for this child except illustrate how retarded YOU are!
Oh...and what ever happened to "sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me"
Can we go back to teaching kids that?
lolz.
I agree that people are being oversensitive with this whole thing. Most of you pretty much summed up my thoughts.
Macaddicttt
macrumors 6502a
The movie is not making fun of mentally handicapped children. If it were, that would be a completely different story.
To me this is like the debate about Huckleberry Finn and the N-word. People get so upset that the book uses it and claims that any mention of it makes the book racist, but if you actually read the book, it is anti-racism. It makes fun of racism. Tropic Thunder does the same thing.
(Just to cover my ass: No, Tropic Thunder is not a work of art like Huckleberry Finn is and I am not comparing quality, but content and intent. Of course Huckleberry Finn is way different than Tropic Thunder.)
Chundles
macrumors G5
Tropic Thunder is way better than Huckleberry Finn. I mean who wants to read about some kid on a raft anyway? Tropic Thunder has explosions and stuff.
dukebound85
macrumors Core
i dont remember an outcry when black guys pretended to be white girls in the movie "white chicks"
i dont think its wrong as long as the movie is good
as for me, il say retarded to mean "stupid"
same with "gay"
for example, "that's so gay/retarded"
is it politcally correct? no but then again i dont care really
obeygiant
macrumors 601
I laughed so hard at that movie. Especially when the guys girlfriend found his friend dressed up as a girl thinking he was having an affair. And he says "But baby! He's a MAN!" and she says "you're sick!" I spit out my drink at that point.
Melrose
Suspended
I missed this post. Point well made... for some magical reason is never works in reverse.
I just got back from Tropic Thunder, awesome movie. And having seen it, I have to say: WHAT'S THE BIG @#$%^ DEAL? I have seen far more offensive things in other movies. I think if there's anything in this movie to make a big deal about, it's a white guy playing a black guy (which I don't even think is something to make a big deal about). In the end, it's a freaking movie, and if you don't like it, don't watch it.
dmr727
macrumors G4
LOL!
The Onion is good at slightly stepping over that line into bad taste, but I can't help but laugh:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29257
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/50102
cycocelica
macrumors 68000
People will complain for the rest of time. Everything you do is potentially offensive to someone else. I wouldnt worry about it. These people have nothing better to do.