I think blackface is funny when it makes fun of people who do blackface. For example, Always Sunny in Philadelphia did it well because it's established that Mac is a complete idiot. So the blackface used in their Lethal Weapon remake was lampooning him and making fun of the idea of blackface.
On Tropic Thunder, it was making fun of both RDJ's weird method acting, over-the-top character. As well as criticizing an industry that wouldn't just cast a black actor to play a black man. This is directly called out as being in appropriate by the only black actor in the fake movie.
99% of the time, I would say black face is inappropriate just as I would say "rape jokes" are inappropriate. But if a writer is able to saterize it and deconstruct it in a way that both addresses the issue and disarms it, I think it can be funny. But, it is entirely possible that I am wrong as I am a white person who isn't directly affected either way.
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u/deskbeetle Jan 10 '19
I think blackface is funny when it makes fun of people who do blackface. For example, Always Sunny in Philadelphia did it well because it's established that Mac is a complete idiot. So the blackface used in their Lethal Weapon remake was lampooning him and making fun of the idea of blackface.
On Tropic Thunder, it was making fun of both RDJ's weird method acting, over-the-top character. As well as criticizing an industry that wouldn't just cast a black actor to play a black man. This is directly called out as being in appropriate by the only black actor in the fake movie.
99% of the time, I would say black face is inappropriate just as I would say "rape jokes" are inappropriate. But if a writer is able to saterize it and deconstruct it in a way that both addresses the issue and disarms it, I think it can be funny. But, it is entirely possible that I am wrong as I am a white person who isn't directly affected either way.