Not a Part of Your “Propaganda Machine”

Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder (2008) was a lightning rod for controversy before it was even released. Early trailers had some audiences up in arms over Robert Downey Jr. playing Kirk Lazarus, a white actor in blackface (the audacity of extreme method acting was part of the joke, of course), as well as an infamous line about actors going full… well, you know the scene. Stiller, Justin Theroux, and Etan Cohen’s goal in writing Tropic Thunder was to lampoon Hollywood and the range of personalities in the industry.

Mission accomplished.

One of those larger-than-life characters, studio executive Les Grossman (Tom Cruise), was featured in a video recently posted to X by the White House account on Friday. The post carried the line “Justice the American Way” above a scene of clips from films like Top Gun, Braveheart, Iron Man 2, Superman, The Last Jedi, John Wick, and Transformers, in addition to Grossman dancing in a scene from Tropic Thunder, all set to the Mortal Kombat theme. “Flawless victory” is heard as the clip ends with an image of the White House behind President Trump’s name.

DreamWorks

Stiller fired back on X, writing, “Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip. We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine.” The White House video was made to drum up enthusiasm for its war in Iran, but as Stiller reminded the administration, “War is not a movie.”

The Trump administration has shown a frequent tendency to misread popular media, regularly invoking villains as heroes. Last fall, Trump referred to major Heritage Foundation donor Russ Vought glowingly as Darth Vader. The White House has also made regular sport of attacking the entertainment industry, which includes using clips and songs over the objections of the creators. The FCC’s weaponization against critics on broadcast television leans into authoritarian intimidation. Separate rules for friends of the administration seemed evident as David Ellison touted his “clearer and faster path to regulatory approval” for the Trump DOJ’s review of his Warner Bros. hostile acquisition.

Tropic Thunder has raised interest in recent years with talk of a sequel — or at least a project that brings about the return of Les Grossman. Stiller told Collider in 2024 that even in 2008, the film “was dicey” to make, and today’s climate would make a sequel even harder to pull off. “In this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do,” he explained. “Definitely not at the scale we made it at.” Speaking about Downey’s character in particular, Stiller said, “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.”

It’s ironic that a film featuring characters chasing acclaim has been referenced by an administration known for its self-aggrandizing antics, as the last season of South Park showcased in spectacular fashion. We shouldn’t hold our breath that the White House will back down on their digital misappropriation, but we should spend some time this weekend watching Tropic Thunder.