A "Tropic"-al storm brewing?

The R-rated movie parody “Tropic Thunder” arrived in theaters today, with quite a bit of controversy. Along with some perceived racist content, the film is also being criticized by advocacy groups for the disabled.

In particular, the groups are objecting to scenes in which an actor character (played by Ben Stiller) appears to make fun of the mentally challenged and developmentally disabled. A Web site that featured some additional clips of the same character was already pulled by DreamWorks.

However, DreamWorks officials say the film itself will not be edited. So Timothy Shriver, chairman for the Special Olympics, is calling for a boycott of the movie. He and others say the movie is discriminatory, and pointed to some recent, inflammatory and somewhat insensitive remarks the film’s stars, Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., have made during interviews.

“This population struggles too much with the basics to have to struggle against Hollywood. We’re sending a message that this hate speech is no longer acceptable,” Shriver told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Of course, the protests and boycott do come with a risk. They may simply be helping advertise the rather politically incorrect film.

What do you think? Does the controversy over the movie make you more or less likely to see it?