The Poster Memorabilia blog

A Comedy Legend for the Ages

Westwood, August 2008 — the night a wildly reckless comedy walked the carpet.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

I get annoyed when people say that certain movies won't get made anymore. They're usually raunchy comedies that edgelords think the general public won't have the sense of humor for. They think everyone will be offended by these sorts of films, and that only they can appreciate their comedy.

While there's some truth to what they're saying, it doesn't apply to all comedies. Many funny movies have offensive jokes that most people still like. In fact, they often become legendary, too. The best example is the wild 2008 Ben Stiller film Tropic Thunder.

That movie is insane, and I don't use the word lightly. Not only did Stiller assemble an amazing cast full of screen icons, but he also had them play their most ridiculous characters yet. The whole film is a satire of vain actors, and Robert Downey Jr.'s character is the vainest of them all: a self-serious Australian method actor who has himself surgically altered to play a Black soldier, then spends the movie being told off for it by an actual Black castmate.

It's a joke aimed squarely at the actor, not the people he's imitating, and RDJ threads that needle so precisely that he ended up with an Oscar nomination for it. I'm not sure anyone else could have pulled it off, and I doubt a studio would greenlight it today.

“That movie is insane, and I don't use the word lightly.”

The film also had Tom Cruise unrecognizable as a monstrous studio boss and Ben Stiller's character chasing awards with a role that the disability community rightly took issue with. It was all outrageous, yet it's still a cult classic to this day.

I'm lucky I had the foresight to know it was gonna be a success. When I watched the trailer, I just knew the movie was bound to be a generational hit, or at least a cult classic with a strong following. Hence, I went to its LA premiere at the Mann Village Theater on August 11, 2008, and got the cast to sign my copy of the movie poster.

All the heavy-hitters were there. Ben Stiller, as the star and director, was naturally front and center. RDJ, fresh from his comeback with Iron Man a couple of months before, relished the praise and attention he'd finally gotten after years away from the spotlight. And Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Cruise were as charismatic as ever.

✦ ✦ ✦

I met most of them and got their autographs, but I missed a couple of the biggest ones. Tom Cruise was busy posing with Katie Holmes, who'd flown in from New York that day, and the press hounded Matthew McConaughey so much that I barely got to meet him. I saw them from afar, though, which was still nice.

At the very least, I got the main cast's autographs, especially the main trio. And with how big RDJ got through the years, I think his ended up being the signature I show off the most. I still can't believe I met Tony Stark when he first stepped onto the scene.

But what makes this autographed poster mean the most to me is the movie itself. I don't say this about any film, but I really don't think Hollywood will ever make a comedy with this many offensive jokes again. And maybe that's for the better.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

Guaranteed authentic for life • 90-day returns, any reason