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Hollywood makes some strange decisions when it comes to casting actors in films. This is the premise of a new movie, in which Robert Downey, Jr. plays a white actor hired to play a black man in a film. The movie, called Tropic Thunder , is going to be a comedy co-starred by Ben Stiller and Jack Black. But is this too sensitive of a subject to laugh about?

My first reaction to the leaked pictures was, "Wow, he really does look like a black man." My second reaction was, "Wow, people in Hollywood really do think its funny to cast a white guy to play a black guy." According to one movie review site, the film takes a stab at Hollywood egos, which most of us can appreciate. But the topic the movie is ridiculing is part of the entertainment industry's dark past. To bring it up in a modern setting seems a little tasteless.

I might remain a skeptic, but Robert Downey, Jr. thinks he's standing on solid ethical ground. He told some reporters, “At the end of the day, it's always about how well you commit to the character. I dove in with both feet. If I didn't feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell in [Soul Man], I would've stayed home.”

For those who missed Soul Man, it was a terrible movie in which a white guy makes himself look like a black guy in order to get financial aid for college. It was supposed to be funny in a 1986 kind of way; it wasn't. Rather, movies like Soul Man, or, more recently, White Chicks, emphasize differences in races, using stereotypes to get cheap laughs and avoid serious content. Let 's hope that Downey hasn't made the same mistake.