A White Man Can’t Play A Black Man Better Than A Black Man (and other stuff).
It’s been a while. Life shit, that is all. I’ll detail all of that in a series of mini-post or all in one piece, I haven’t decided yet.
I will share my thoughts on a few things, both relating to Robert Downey Jr.’s role in Tropic Thunder. One side of my argument is my stance on the rehashed question of RDJ’s portrayal of Black face and how do I as a Black person feel about it and the other is me admittedly, possibly ranting (but with sense) about a comment that was told to me recently after being asked about my opinion on Robert Downey Jr.’s Black face performance in Tropic Thunder. I’ll begin with the discussion I had because there’s still emotional sparks there that need to be put out.
RDJ Blacker Than JB Smoove?
After giving my response to the internet age old question “What do you think about Robert Downey Jr. in Black Face in Tropic Thunder?” I followed up with the same question to the person who asked me. Their response, “it was funny. It was good. He acted just like a black man did in the 70s. He was better-” The pause while in the middle of their sentence was due to my bad interview skills by interrupting her in the middle of her response because I assumed she was going to say Robert Downey Jr. played a Black man better than a Black man could play a Black man. And you know what they say when you assume, you’re sometimes right, and in this case I was. My response, “I’ll admit that his character was funny. Fucked up, but funny, like the movie. But I’m damn sure not going to agree with Robert playing a Black man better than any Black man. No white man can ever play a Black man better than a Black man.” It was at that very moment I knew, I lucked up. What I just said was “hotep talk” from people who use Hotep as an insult. The trans-woman rolled her eyes at my response and at that moment I knew I had a great piece to write about.
Eraser.
All of this reminds me of wanting a white dude with a low-cut fade, tattoos, a deep voice, a couple of gold teeth or a full set grill but looking down on the Black men who naturally have that swagger. The same goes for those who want the white girl with the fat ass, long nails, lashes and “potty mouth” but looking down on Black women who naturally fit said description. You know, the “Black girl attitude” that is deemed unattractive but it’s sexy latin spice when a light skinned latina has one. It’s very simple to say something ridiculous like a white man played a black man better than a black man when you don’t see yourself as one with the Black man. You don’t have to be a black man to see the offense in Downey Jr.’s act just as you don’t have to be a Black man to see the problem with [name redacted] statement. This is a Black trans-woman who would be offended if a white cis-gendered woman played a BLACK trans-woman and some goofy negro told her that white woman played a Black trans-woman better than a Black trans-woman has ever done in her lifetime (Dominique Jackson would like to have a word), but I’m assuming, of course, and in this case, I just might be making an ass out of myself and the other person I had this conversation with.
Tropic Thunder.
Now here’s the part you’ve been waiting for (I’m assuming), my thoughts on Robert Downey Jr.’s Black face portrayal in Tropic Thunder. At the time I did not know it was Black face. Not because I was too young or too dumb to know what Black face was, but because I did not think (and still don’t think) he looks like a Black man. To be fair, no one who does Black actually looks Black. It’s all a mockery, if you didn’t know. Yes I heard the voice, I heard the “jive talk” and I heard the comments about him “being” Black in the movie, but I thought those comments at the time were the only “racist” thing about the movie and the voice and language was a mockery of old G.I. Joe/old army movie heroes. I’ve watched Tropic Thunder a couple of times since my first time viewing it (not recently) and even those times I didn’t take his [RDJ] role seriously because it was that damn ridiculous, commentary wise. What’s odd about RDJ’s character is I think he’d be very likable in a “seriously goof character who takes himself too seriously) way if he wasn’t an American white male playing an Australian white male playing an African American male. I hope you don’t think I’m beating around the bush. If it sounds like I am, the character, funny. I get why it is wrong and in any other case of Black face it wouldn’t be funny, but the movie, the character and the pushback were all funny. Unlike most cases of Black face that I’ve seen, there was no pushback from someone else in the movie, play or show. Not excusing Tropic Thunder but at least there was another Black character (a real Black man) who was constantly giving RDJ’s character shit for being a white man in “black makeup.” In conclusion, this movie is old and not as good as everyone believes it to be, but it is good. Not good enough to ignore Robert Downey Jr.’s Black face, but old enough to put this damn discussion to rest.
