Ben Stiller reflects on making‘edgier’ comedy in today’s woke climate

Ben Stiller has recently shared why he’s afraid to make “edgier” comedy in today’s woke climate.

In a new interview with Collider, the Meet the Parents star revealed that the “edgier comedy is just harder to do now”.

When asked if a movie like Tropic Thunder, which has since been labelled racially offensive, could be made in the current environment, he responded, “I doubt it.”

Ben mentioned, “Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business.”

“I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. He read it and was like, ‘Alright, let's make this thing,’” explained the actor and creator.

Ben told the outlet, “It's a very inside movie when you think about it.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Ben talked about Robert Downey Jr.’s “dicey” role in the movie, who was slammed for using “blackface”.

“The idea of Robert playing that character who's playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey,” said the Locked Down star.

Ben mentioned, “Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too. The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on – actors trying to do anything to win awards.”

However, the actor noted, “Now, in this environment, I don't even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I'm being honest.”