Robert Downey Jr shares his views on divisive Tropic Thunder blackface role

Robert Downey Jr has recently shared his views on portraying a Black character in Tropic Thunder movie.

Speaking on latest edition of Rob Lowe’s Literally! podcast, the Iron Man actor recalled playing Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor who temporarily darkens his skin to represent a Black character in Ben Stiller-directed war comedy in 2008.

Robert considered both the Topic Thunder and 70s sitcom All in the Family, “shine a light on tropes that are not right and had been perpetuated for too long and faced criticism from those who weren’t seeing the bigger picture”.

The Due Date actor said, “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.”

The All in the Family disclaimer reads, “The program you are about to see... seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter, we hope to show – in a mature fashion – just how absurd they are.”

However, Robert continued, “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,” stated the actor.

Oppenheimer star added, “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.”

Meanwhile, Robert earned Critics Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Oppenheimer on January 14.