The comedy trope of a male dressing up as a female character and expecting hilarity to ensue is one that has endured throughout several decades. It was novel, I guess, when Tom Hanks did it in the TV show Bosom Buddies, but that was back in the early eighties, folks.
By the time Big Momma's House rolled around in the mid-nineties, we as a society were growing tired of it, and painstakingly watching Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino fall in love with Adam Sandler in drag in 2011's Jack and Jill was several steps too far for many.
But one movie that's bearable in a veritable wave of terrible crossdressing comedies is White Chicks, starring the Wayans brothers - Shawn and Marlon - as they do... interesting impressions of Valley Girls.
Complete with jokes about sex toys, lactose intolerance and an honest-to-God "yo mama" fight (dated, even in 2004) the movie is rescued by a tour-de-force performance from none other than Terry Crews.
White Chicks has gained a reputation as being a classic - in no small part thanks to Terry Crews' performance.
White Chicks, of course, follows two hapless FBI agents, played by the Wayans brothers, who are forced to go undercover as the socialite sisters they're meant to be protecting when a car accident renders them "too hideous" to be seen in public (one has a cut on her lip and the other a cut on her nose).
This is all in order to foil an insidious kidnapping plot.
Terry Crews plays a fellow socialite who takes a liking to one of the sisters, not realising he is inadvertently trying to seduce Marlon Wayans in makeup (happens to the best of us, I suppose) and hilarity, of course, ensues. But the internet isn't happy with White Chicks, either way:
White Chicks mocks a lot of people in its 115-minute runtime; not only do some people view it as racist, but it's also clearly making fun of the "dumb blonde" trope, as well as the less-discussed problem of whiteface:
Of course, comedy is subjective, and while some people loved White Chicks, other are willing to admit that they don't like the film, and that the film is offensive on a comedy sensibility level.
But there you go, folks. People are offended about White Chicks now, and although their criticisms may or may not be valid, it's not going to stop movies from bankrolling a sequel. At least that's what Terry Crews hopes; he's staying in shape, keeping his firm, pulsating man breasts from falling into disrepair, in case they ask him to come back and whip off his shirt once more in White Chicks 2.
"I will never, ever get out of shape because that movie’s going to happen one day," he explained. But considering how problematic the tropes are in today's context, Terry Crews might have to be working his abs for a while.
