The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Platoon parody effect; two qualified reactions to the portrayal; two proposed role swaps and Craig's response

Tropic Thunder is said to affect later viewing of Platoon in the way Walk Hard affects music biographies because many shots closely parody Platoon. One answer says the blackface performance has never personally offended him, while emphasizing that blackface outside this satirical context is objectionable. A separate qualification agrees that it had to be as good as it was to meet that bar. A second answer says he is not offended by the blackface at all, understands the joke, and can laugh at material like it. Matthew McConaughey is proposed for Tug because Ben Stiller's version feels too similar to his Zoolander mode, with Stiller moving to Rick Peck. Bill Hader is proposed for Jeff Portnoy because he would have brought fresher improvisation than the already-established Jack Black. McConaughey as Tug is explicitly endorsed when Craig is asked, but the Jack Black replacement is challenged because Black's physicality and Chris Farley-like energy enliven the jungle passages.