Boiling Point: Lighten Up

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 11, 2008

So who is it that decided that someone has to get upset? You know actually, let me hit you with some bullshit right off the bat. I was at a junket for Tropic Thunder and the first question someone hits Robert Downey with, before he even settles into his seat is “Who should be more upset - blacks or Australians?” RDJ responds:

Does somebody have to be mad?

Fucking perfect. Good question - anyone have an answer? I suspect it has something to do with these mysterious “lobbies” that have somehow turned getting upset and complaining into getting paid to be a pain in the ass. Hypocritical from the author of Boiling Point? No, my salary sucks and I’m not out to make you feel bad about yourself, stop laughing, and start hugging people. I’m giving you an opposite dose of that reality. Fuck political correctness, fucking compromise. Give it to me raw. Quit giggling.

What sparked this was a report last week of Patricia Bauer whining about a movie she hasn’t even seen. She was upset at the use of the word “retard” and the portrayal of of “Simple Jack” in the upcoming laugh riot and Hollywood satire “Tropic Thunder.” Is trying to make someone feel bad wrong? Sure. Is it unfortunate that handicaps exist? Yes. Does making a joke make you the worst person in the world? No. Do we laugh at the misfortune of others? All the time. I’ve been kicked in the nuts, yet when I see someone get kicked in the nuts, I laugh, I don’t start the league of “No Nut Kicks on Film.” Do I want to shit my pants in a hot tub? No. But if I see that on film will I laugh? Of course.

I don’t want anyone to think this is directed at just one person or over just one movie. Political Correctness and protests have mired many films and I think it’s all ridiculous, unfair, and unbalanced. Disney’s Aladdin was accused of being racist. Bonnie and Clyde was the most vile and violent film of all time. The Deer Hunter was called racist and accused of making things up - wait, wasn’t it a fictional movie? There were riots in France over The Last Temptation of Christ and for crying out loud, even The Love Guru was protested and people demanded an apology over its portrayal of, I don’t know, the Guru culture?! To borrow from Kevin Carr - WTF. To borrow from John Stossel - Give me a break!

The only way to survive this world and live a long healthy life is to be able to laugh at a situation. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re no fun and you’re going to live a crappy, unfunny life. If you take offense to every-fucking-thing out there, you’re lame, sucky to be around, and half your existence is making other people feel bad.

Why is this a big deal? Protest stifles artistic license. It leads to self-censorship. Let’s be real here, these films are not inciting people to riot, kill, loot, or murder. They’re fictional films. Where does this lead? Here, let me tell you a Politically Correct joke: Two gentlemen of different ethnicities go into an establishment that serves beverages. They each enjoy a non-offensive drink and share in each others companies, both celebrating their differences yet remarking about how much alike they are.

The end. Oh shit yeah thats hilarious. Oh wait, I only used two ethnicities. Did I just alienate 4 billion people? I apologize. There is a huge difference between making a joke and being malicious. I’m sure everyone here has called a friend a bad name, be it a curse word or otherwise and shared a laugh about it. A whole generation of males calls each other gay without meaning anything offensive by it. That has almost become a non-issue with “You know how I know your gay” jokes everywhere. Where was the protests over The Forty Year Old Virgin, from both Forty Year Old Virgins and Homosexuals? Maybe they all just have really good senses of humor. You know how I know whiny protesters are no fun? They don’t laugh at jokes.

What is off limits? Why is it off limits? Should it be off limits? In the Tropic Thunder example, it should be noted that Stiller isn’t making fun of anyone with an actual disability. He’s making fun of actors who portray them. The whole joke is based on the fact that this guy is so disconnected from reality and what’s appropriate that he goes too far in his portrayal and gets torn up over it. The reason he makes the new action flick is to make people forget how much of an idiot he was for making the other film. The film itself is even saying “Hey, if you do this, people respond poorly.” I don’t want to call it a morality tale, but ….

Do people really think that the jokes we tell inspire hatred? Because I laugh at a joke about a homosexual or a mentally handicapped person in fiction, that means in my real life I’m hate monger? When I watch an episode of Law & Order and someone is raped, am I condoning rape? Does watching Pineapple Express mean I support marijuana users? Where is the line? Fuck the line. A movie or show offends you? Turn it off. Done. Just because you don’t like Coke doesn’t mean I can’t drink it. Just because you have no sense of humor and can’t differentiate fiction from reality doesn’t mean I can’t have a laugh at a film. Do you think Ben Stiller or Robert Downey Jr. are walking down the street pointing at the disabled and laughing? No. They’re not. I met them, they seemed nice.

Yeah, it sucks for the people that deal with this in their real day to day lives. But no harm is meant and you have the ability to not watch. Movies aren’t the breeding grounds of hate. No one sits and watches a movie for 90 minutes laughing and having a good time and then walks out and says “Hahaha, man, it was so fun laughing at Simple Jack, the fictional retard, let’s go make fun of real handicapped people!” If you want to fight ignorance, thats a battle in the homes and schools, not the cineplex. Movies are escapism. They’re fake. It’s not real. No one is out to get you.

Movies let us laugh, they let us get away from the world. The last thing we want is to walk out of a theater and have someone call us a horrible person. Let me turn the tables for one second - It’s offensive that you think I’m so low-brow and ignorant that I can’t differentiate between a fictional movie and a real life affliction. I’m offended that you think I’m a horrible person. You know nothing about me. You know nothing about anyone in that theater. You assume that because someone can laugh at something, that’s their inner feelings? We can’t take in external stimulus without believing in it or making it our own? Keep your self-righteousness out of my experience. You don’t like something, don’t pay for it. But don’t try to take it away from someone else. Whether it’s poking fun at religion, making fat jokes, or poking fun at ugly people - someone is offended by something you’re not. You’re offended by something someone else is not. Can’t we let art be art and fiction be fiction and just let bygones be bygones? It is well within anyones rights not to see a film or not to interact with a certain type of person, like one who laughs at fat jokes, if that’s what they want. If my tastes offend you, we probably won’t be friends. And we should both be ok with that without trying to change one another.

Obviously I’m past my boiling point and I’m signing out with one final thought, and know I say this with the utmost respect and sympathy, but really - Lighten the fuck up, you’ll live longer.

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