Semi-Pro isn’t nearly as funny as it should have been, but it’s much funnier than some people have made it out to be.
The story of an egotistical and out-of-touch ABA team owner in 1976, Semi-Pro is basically an excuse for Will Ferrell and a few of his friends to goof around and wear some insanely big wigs.
Comedies like this are completely subjective depending on the whims and attitudes of the viewer. But what struck me, and which I’ve pointed out to others, is that “retard” is thrown around at least a few times in the movie as a clearly derogatory term. This film didn’t stoke the bubbling outrage, though, that Tropic Thunder has recently. Perhaps it’s because there isn’t something as clearly meant to stir offense as the Simple Jack component of Tropic, but if the protests were really about the word’s usage, it’s odd to me that Semi-Pro didn’t begin some sort of outraged discussion about the word’s usage. And it’s not like we’re talking about a great deal of time having elapsed - this was just four or five months ago.
posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 6:01 PM by ChrisThilk
