Ben Stiller Is Defiling All Our Landmarks With Blue Steel On The Tour For ‘Zoolander 2’
Derek Zoolander + Australia Day is a combo we could have probably done without.
The marketing campaign for Zoolander 2 has been fairly extraordinary up until this point.
The news of the film’s release was first dropped at Paris Fashion Week early last year when Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson made a surprise appearance on the runway and casually hung out with Anna Wintour. The first full trailer saw some surprisingly quality jokes and welcome cameos from the likes of Justin Bieber and Kristen Wiig (Benedict Cumberbatch was also there, but hey, that’s a whole other thing). Then Derek Zoolander landed his first cover for Vogue. With a targeted focus on the fashion industry and a playful engagement with modern elements of that world like selfies, viral videos, and social media, each teaser or stunt has proven to be a bit of fun — a knowing wink from your old fave, 15 years on from the first film.
But this hasn’t really been the same vibe of Ben Stiller’s promo tour of Australia. Unfortunately touching down just 24 hours before Australia Day, the comedian’s been thrust into (and largely overshadowed by) a nation rife with serious debate about its heritage, culture, and treatment of its first peoples. The Australian premiere of the film took place in Sydney’s CBD, just hours after thousands marched in protest of Invasion Day, and Stiller awkwardly carried a little Australian flag down the red carpet.
To his full credit, Stiller has acknowledged the day extensively online and has been posting and retweeting messages of support and solidarity with the Indigenous population, however Derek Zoolander hasn’t quite struck the same tone:
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A photo posted by Derek Zoolander (@zoolander) on
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I think we all have doubts about this sequel and — as much as we want to believe in it — this is not helping:
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Zoolander 2 will be in cinemas from February 11.