Three Things to Think About

1. Three Things to Think About • Use of Satire: • Where the film’s humor is directed • Layers of Performance: • The acting, and the idea of “performing” • Form/Production: • How the film looks, and how it was produced

2. The Satire • Satire: Use of ridicule, mockery and pointed humor to challenge a person (usually a powerful one) or a belief system (usually a mainstream one) • “Comedy evokes laughter mainly as an end in itself, while satire . . . uses laughter as a weapon” (M.H. Abrams, Glossary of Literary Terms) • Who are the targets of satire in this film? • Is this film trying to have it both ways, by making you laugh at people with disabilities and laugh at Hollywood’s treatment of people with disabilities at the same time? • Does the film assert its own set of values, or is it just attacking other systems of belief? • Does satire ever build up, or can it only tear down?

3. The Performances • Tropic Thunder conveys the idea that race, masculinity, soldierliness, etc. are, at some level, performances. • For example, how does Robert Downey Jr.’s character “perform” blackness? How does Brandon T. Jackson’s character? • How do the performances mesh with these (“real” and “fictional”) actors’ celebrity personas? • Star Text: “A celebrity image that combines the star’s acting ability, and prior record of acting performances with their offscreen lifestyle, personality and behavior” (Monica Cyrino)

4. Formally: The Production • Mise-en-scene, Cinematography, Editing, Sound • Try to be conscious of framing, camera placement and movement, shot transitions, and the overall sound design. • What genre is Tropic Thunder? • How does it balance commitment to comedy with desire for legitimacy as an action/war film? • When is there verisimilitude, and when does the film sacrifice realism for comedy? • Tropic Thunder cost $92 million dollars – where can you see the money onscreen? • When are special effects or CGI used?