Hey folks, Harry here -

I love comedy & satire - moreso I love how throughout history comedians and satirists are continually lined up against the walls, offered a last cigarette and then machine-gunned with the stupid demands of reactionary do-gooders without one iota of a sense of humor.

What has my ire up today?

Well, a series of Disability Advocacy Groups has decided to attack TROPIC THUNDER for the character of "Simple Jack" - a hilarious send up of - oddly not mentally handicapped citizens, but the actors that use those with mental handicaps to Oscar bait their way into getting their golden trophy. Well, Stiller's character is an action star that attempts to "get his Oscar" and gets nailed for it. The world turns on his character - and suddenly he finds his entire career at risk. The humor isn't so much at the sake of the mentally handicap, but at how bad Ben Stiller's Character is at bringing it to life.

Well about a week ago Paramount was assaulted by do-gooder groups that decided to meet with the head of PARAMOUNT to get SimpleJackMovie.com and all references to SIMPLE JACK on TuggSpeedman.Com removed. Now the problem was PARAMOUNT did something that they never should have done. They actually removed the references from the "offending" websites. If you give these bastards an inch, they'll take a mile.

Nevermind the fact that a lot of the very powerful families behind this movement are amongst the biggest and most powerful Liberal families that purport to support free speech. They're trying to target specifically Robert Downey Jr's brilliant "Full Retard" observation for removal from the film itself. They're trying to label the sequence as HATE SPEECH - nevermind that the monologue in question isn't about anyone with an actual handicap. Nevermind that it's about the technique that an actor must use in portraying those with mental handicaps and where the point is - where the actor ceases to be considered positively, and is just hated. The monologue is a brilliant observation and criticism on the history of modern film portrayals of the mentally handicap. It is a moment where one actor is advising another on why his character was hated, while others were loved and rewarded.

It actually has nothing to do with anyone that has ever actually had a mental disorder - unless you count acting as a mental disorder - which I think we can all agree actors are nothing but a breed of goofy bastards.

TROPIC THUNDER is a hilarious send up of Hollywood and its practices. Ok - now I'm trying to justify what Ben Stiller did in this film and in the writing of the film. Fact is - Ben Stiller doesn't need anybody's permission. Ben Stiller is a fucking American - and in this country - an artist, comedian and satirist has the ability to make fun of anything he or she bloody wants and YOU the audience has the right to laugh or not. The fact is - TROPIC THUNDER is fucking funny. It's real fucking funny.

Now the good news is this - I've spoken with Paramount and Dreamworks about this - and despite the bellyaching of these various do-gooders - they're not touching a frame of the film. What we screened here in Austin, what you folks at Comic Con saw.... that's the film that's getting released. And if you're a member of these groups and you're thinking of protesting this film, of going to Congress to tear at this film - you really should watch the entire film.

The mistake that PARAMOUNT / DREAMWORKS made was in clipping the scenes out of context. You found yourself reacting to something you haven't the context for. There is a plot twist where the character of SIMPLE JACK actually saves Ben Stiller's life. Because some people found the portrayal touching. Someone out there embraced the character - just as we've all understood and respected someone with a mental handicap.

There's a lot of groups out there that grotesquely overreact to situations because they react to a moment that they can't conceive of the context, much less care to see the context. These people have tried to shut any number of films down in the past. They've all seemed silly at the end of the day.

Personally - I was expecting the NAACP to get pissed at this film, but apparently they've grown a healthy sense of humor. Now - if only they'd cut that size-ist unfunny hate crime bullshit that Jack Black pulls in the film. He seems to portray us fatassed bastards as nothing but people that sit around stuffing our faces and farting at each other. It's not true... ok, well it is only mainly true. Dammit, it's true, that's all I do. Stuff my face and fart.

Here's a statement from Dreamworks on this whole affair...

STATEMENT FROM DREAMWORKS STUDIOS REGARDING ‘TROPIC THUNDER’ AND THE STUDIO’S ONGOING DISCUSSIONS WITH DISABILITY ADVOCACY GROUPS

“’Tropic Thunder’ is an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses, and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the top characters in ridiculous situations. The film is in no way meant to disparage or harm the image of individuals with disabilities.”

“We have had productive discussions with representatives of disability advocacy organizations and look forward to working with them closely in the future. However no changes or cuts to the film will be made.”

-Chip Sullivan DreamWorks Studios spokesperson