Ben Stiller Says Legendary Comedy Couldn’t Be Made Today. Is He Correct?

Could “Tropic Thunder” be made in 2024?

The legendary comedy starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte and Danny McBride focuses on a group of actors making a Vietnam War movie.

It’s one of the funniest movies ever made, and Downey is in blackface nearly the entire time. It’s what comedy is supposed to be.

Edgy, funny, over-the-top and highly-entertaining.

Ben Stiller doubts “Tropic Thunder” could be made today

However, we all know comedy has become increasingly vanilla over the past several years. The woke snowflake brigade will complain about anything, and look for any reason to be offended. For that reason, it’s been a long time since a truly elite comedy hit theaters.

The last one was probably “This is the End” back in 2013. That’s more than a decade ago. Could Stiller’s famous comedy be made right now? He doubts it.

Stiller told Collider the following when asked if “Tropic Thunder” could be made today:

“I doubt it. Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do. Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business. I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. He read it and was like, ‘Alright, let’s make this thing.’ It’s a very inside movie when you think about it. But yeah, the idea of Robert playing that character who’s playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too. The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on — actors trying to do anything to win awards. But now, in this environment, I don’t even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I’m being honest.”

Ben Stiller doubts “Tropic Thunder’ could be made today. (Photo by Elisabetta Villa/Getty Images)

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Stiller that the woke outrage mob would never let “Tropic Thunder” be made today, despite the fact it’s clearly a comedy.

It’s a parody of how ridiculous people in Hollywood are. Anyone with a brain and a sense of humor understands it.

Yet, there are multiple scenes that would probably cause woke losers who don’t like to laugh to implode. The two below would probably start boycotts.

Hopefully, we can get back to what comedy used to be when Hollywood was cranking out bangers. Remember the days of “Superbad,” “The Hangover” and “Pineapple Express”? We need to go back to those days.

We need to go back to when comedies were legit hilarious, and not the vanilla trash we’ve had to endure for years. Give people what they want, and that’s comedy that has zero limits.

“Tropic Thunder” is wildly out of pocket, and that’s why it’s so great.

Never apologize for laughing and never apologize for demanding great comedy. Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com if you agree.