QAre any of the characters based on real people?
AYes, most are a combination of celebrities who have been known for one or more of the flaws that many of the movie characters have. Tug Speedman has been called a younger Sylvester Stallone, Vin Diesel, Steven Segal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Wesley Snipes. Jeff "Fatts" Portnoy is likened mostly to Eddie Murphy but also to Chris Farley, Martin Lawrence, Tim Allen, Tom Arnold, and, to a lesser extent, it's a slight poke at Robert Downey Jr. with the references to the character's repeated drug arrests. Kirk Lazarus is likened to Colin Farrell, Daniel Day-Lewis, Heath Ledger, Russell Crowe, Robert Downey Jr. himself, Christian Bale, and Marlon Brando. With regard to Alpa Chino, take your pick of rapper-turned-actors. He's mainly a combination of Snoop Dogg, Will Smith and Lil' Jon in regards to Snoop Dogg putting his name on everything, Will Smith taking on a major film role to help boost his record/product sales and Lil' Jon having his own energy drink. Finally, Les Grossman has been likened to Hollywood producer Scott Rudin and also to Harvey Weinstein. Also Four Leaf Tayback seems to be inspired in part by authors Dick Marcinko and Tom Clancy.
QIs taking a drug to turn a white person black possible?
ASort of. There is a drug called methoxsalen, marketed under the trade name Oxsoralen that can be used in this way. Author John Howard Griffin used it, in conjunction with spending up to fifteen hours daily under an ultraviolet lamp, to darken his skin in order to investigate racial segregation in the south. He also used dye to cover the parts of his skin that were uneven. Griffin's experience is detailed in the non-fiction book Black Like Me (1961). Journalist Grace Halsell did the same, resulting in a book Soul Sister: The Journal of a White Woman Who Turned Herself Black and Went to Live and Work in Harlem and Mississippi (1969). Prior even to Griffin and Halsell, a journalist for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette named Ray Sprigle attempted to do the same in 1947. This was before the advent of methoxsalen, so Sprigle attempted to deepen his skin color with walnut dye and iodine but eventually ended up suntanning himself darkly. In the movie, however, the process Kirk Lazarus Robert Downey Jr. uses is referred to in dialogue as a surgical procedure. At the end of the film, he removes his contact lenses and fake facial hair in the enemy camp, and later appears at the Oscars with his normal skin tone.
QHow many versions of "Tropic Thunder" are there?
AThe theatrical version of "Tropic Thunder" got rated R by the MPAA. This version was later released on DVD as well as an Unrated Director's Cut. The Director's Cut runs more than 17 minutes longer than the theatrical cut and adds more story, dialogue and action to the film. A detailed comparison between both versions can be found here.
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