Jazz Lindquist

Professor Dreisbach
Honors English 103
November 28, 2012
It's Humorous, Not Insulting
The movie Tropic Thunder, written by Etan Cohen, Ben Stiller, and Justin Theroux, is
intended to be a comedy. It slams the audience with humor from the very start, and the chuckles
increase rather than diminish as the movie goes on. Yet, like ninety-nine percent of all comedy,
most of the humor is offensive to individuals of one group or another. For the most part, these
"offensive" jokes are laughed at. But when Chris Speedman is told never to go "full retard" by
Kirk Lazarus, it was criticized for taking a joke too far (Stiller, Cohen, Theroux 29). This remark
greatly upset those involved in any way with the mentally disabled, and "led to picketing and
calls for a boycott" from the offended parties (Fairman 2). While commendable, these actions
are unmerited, for Tropic Thunder is fully justified in using the word "retard". Sign-holders
opposed to this have overlooked one very important fact: how the statement fits into the larger
joke spanning the movie in its' entirety. This notion follows along the lines of humor outlined in
The Philosophy of Humor, written by Adrian Bardon, and is supported by Bernard Beck in his
article "Don't Make Me Laugh: People Are Funny in WALL-E and Tropic Thunder."
Lazarus' iconic words are not a jab at the mentally disabled, but are instead a defining
part of a larger joke running all throughout Tropic Thunder: the comic nature of the actors
themselves. Lazarus and Speedman, as actors, are both considered to be successful. But whereas
Speedman is now on the decline, Lazarus is constantly rising up to new heights of acting
accomplishment. At the beginning of Tropic Thunder, two fake movie trailers highlight these

differences between them while laying the groundwork for mocking their individual
idiosyncrasies. Speedman, in the first trailer, stars in a set of action movies entitled "Scorcher".
In the first two movies of the series he is depicted shirtless while holding a baby in one-hand and
a flamethrower in the other. As he stands in the midst of a post-apocalyptic tundra, an announcer
says, "In a world where one man made a difference... The one man who made a difference... Is
about to make a difference... Again". Then the scene changes, and he is standing in the same
tundra holding a flamethrower and with ("surprise") a set of twin babies in the latest reiteration
of "Scorcher" ( Stiller, Cohen, Theroux 1). Due to the repetitive ridiculousness of his movies,
viewers can already tell that Speedman is not an actor to be taken seriously. He has had his day
of glory, and in the rest of the movie he is comically attempting to reattain the status he once
held. Following this, Lazarus is shown in a somber (yet funny) trailer about the forbidden love of
two male monks. Tortured by his beliefs, the monk "[Oscar Winning Movie Announcer] chose to
question his God..." saying (to God), "[Lazarus] why can't you... unmake me!" Towards the end
of the trailer, Lazarus is mentioned as the star of the movie, and his numerous awards -including two Oscars-- are presented in one lengthy run-on sentence (Stiller, Cohen, Theroux 3).
As the announcer goes on and on about Lazarus' accomplishments, it gives the impression that
he is a professionally-acclaimed actor (in the movie). In fact, it is revealed that he is a bit too
professional. Instead of just researching the peculiarities of a part he plays, Lazarus lives the part
on and off the set until he is finished acting it. This "extreme" acting is Lazarus' fatal, funny flaw,
and leads to many humorous scenes (including one where Lazarus goes so far as to get an
illegal, experimental surgery done to alter the pigmentation of his skin).
With such stark contrasts, when Lazarus critiques Speedmans' botched effort at an Oscar
--"you never go full retard" (Stiller, Cohen, Theroux 29)--, the humor we perceive is the result of

the theory concerning incongruity humor, not the off-hand joke about "full retards". Incongruity
theory explains humor as the reaction to the perception of sharp contrasts, with laughter being
the usual physical manifestation of the observation. As Bardon puts it, "...humor is found
primarily in an intellectual recognition of an absurd incongruity between conflicting ideas or
experiences" (465). We expect Lazarus to give relevant, intelligent advice to Speedman. When he
ignorantly says not to go "full retard", it is quite the opposite of said expectations, and is,
therefore, funny. Noticing the gravity of the misconception Lazarus holds (that "full retard"
performances are not as successful as "less retarded" performances) only deepens the
incongruity. Exploiting this by having Lazarus use the phrase "full-retard" further increases the
gap between the expected and unexpected, and the joke is made all the more humorous as a
result. And isn't that the point of this movie: to get the audience laughing as much as possible?
This insult is not designed to mock the mentally disabled. Instead, the satiric thrust of "full
retard" is strategically aimed towards mocking the actors as much as possible. As such, critics are
misguidedly taking offense where no offense is given.
Beck echoes and supports this sentiment in his article "Don't Make Me Laugh: People
Are Funny in WALL-E and Tropic Thunder." The whole point of Lazarus giving advice to
Speedman is Speedman's failed pursuit of the Oscar. His latest attempt was Simple Jack, a movie
featuring a mentally disable stable boy as the main character. Simple Jack was a huge failure, to
the unending disappointment of Speedman. As one actor to another, Speedman is trying to get
help from Lazarus. After giving some background on this and the rest of the content in Tropic
Thunder, Beck breaks down the logic behind the words "full retard". He says "the crudeness and
amorality of the discussion in contrast to the recognition of heightened awareness the stars aspire
to are the point of the joke. To make that point, actors are shown making offensive remarks about

such people" ( Beck 93). Striving for an Oscar through a sympathetic portrayal of the mentally
disabled, Speedman crudely and amorally objectifying his performance with Lazarus is the joke.
The offensive term Lazarus uses is to highlight his ignorance, and Speedman agreeing with
Lazarus highlights his ignorance, leading to a comic situation. The humor, again, is not towards
the mentally disabled, but towards Lazarus and Speedman.
The writers never intended their joke to be an insensitive jive towards the mentally
disabled. It is instead designed to make people laugh at the comic nature of the actors
personalities that are displayed in the entire movie. "Full retard" maximizes the difference
between the actors attempt at awareness and their actual feelings, following along the lines of the
incongruity theory of humor. This statement brings out the contrast excellently, and shows how
misguided the actors (in the movie) really are. As such, Tropic Thunder should not be criticized
for using "full retard" in its' humor. If objectors are still looking for a witch to burn, they should
tie Lazarus the character, not the actor who plays Lazarus, to the stake.

Tropic Thunder, Dir. Ben Stiller. Perf. Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black.
Dreamworks, 2008. Film.
Fairman, Christopher. "The Case Against Banning the Word 'Retard'." WashingtonPost. The
Washington Post Company. 14 Feb. 2010. 11 Nov. 2012.
Beck, Bernard, Don't Make Me Laugh: People Are Funny in WALL-E and Tropic Thunder,
Multicultural Perspectives, 11.2, (2009), 90-93, Academic Search Premier. Web
27 Nov.

2012

Bardon, Adrian. Comedy: A Geographical and Historical Guide. Ed. Maurice Charney. 2nd
volume of 2 volumes. London: Praegar Publishers, 2005. Print