Cult Classic: Zoolander
After introducing us to a world of "walk-offs", eugoogoolisers and Mer-men, the least we do was to reward Zoolander a spot as one of our cult classic picks.
Last month’s announcement of an Anchorman sequel was greeted with a mixture of joy and disbelief from its quote-happy fans, owed mainly to the fact that it appeared impossible previously.
The original was a mild hit that became a cult phenomenon and could its backers really take a risk and hope that its audience would return a decade later?
In the case of 2001’s Zoolander, we’re still waiting for a follow-up to perhaps the most quotable comedy of my generation… prior to Anchorman’s release three years later, obviously.
In the eleven years since the male modelling-centred comedy, Stiller has signed up to a trilogy of Madagascar films, two sequels to the Meet the Parents trilogy and a follow-up to Night at the Museum. All of which are successful, safe franchises, yet Stiller fans will tell you that the comic is much better served when writing and directing his own work, as he did for Tropic Thunder and of course, Zoolander.
First created for a couple of sketches at the VH1 Fashion Awards in the mid-1990s (yes, the fashion awards contained within the film do exist), Zoolander focuses on the world’s biggest and perhaps dumbest male model – Derek Zoolander.
Simply put, it is likely that this character will be long remembered as Stiller’s greatest gift to comedy, a preening and pampered but good-natured simpleton who doesn’t understand the concept of model scale buildings and can’t turn left because he’s “not an ambi-turner.”
Aside from the most incomprehensibly casual orgy scene, a litany of celebrity cameos and the introduction for European viewers to a then-unknown Will Ferrell, Zoolander’s strength is its endlessly quotable comic creation, a figure a lot more creative than the assassination storyline that caused the film to be banned in Malaysia (the film’s target is a fictional PM for the country).
A few weren’t too happy with the film upon release and we’re not talking about Malaysian officials – the “borrowed” assassination storyline bore so much resemblance to author Brett Easton Ellis’ (American Psycho, Lunar Park) novel Glamorama that it went to trial. Considering that Ellis’ lawsuit for copyright infringement was later settled out of court, we’d wager that Stiller privately admitted that some of his inspiration for the film wasn’t entirely his own.
A familiar plot aside, Zoolander doesn’t put a foot wrong throughout its brisk runtime and today is still just as fresh as ever to watch, owed to the committed performance by Stiller, his real-life wife Christine Taylor, Ferrell and even David Duchovny as the world’s greatest hand model.
Initially, however, that all counted for naught, as the film was released in the US on September 28, 2011, just two weeks after the 9/11 attacks. As you can imagine, the country was not ready to once again embrace comedies at the time, while a commercial for Zoolander was actually interrupted by the very first TV footage of the attacks on the Fox 5 – WNYW TV Channel.
A disappointing box office haul followed yet the film earned a huge following through discovery on DVD and though it won’t be directed or written by Stiller (that honour goes to Justin Theroux), a sequel to Zoolander appears to finally be getting off the ground, with the latest industry whispers suggesting a 2014 release.
Let’s hope that if a mega-bucks offer to complete a Night at the Museum trilogy comes his way in the meantime, Stiller is wise enough to steer clear of the easy route and tackle his most memorable creation once more. After all, there’s a lot more to life than just earning really, really ridiculously large Hollywood pay cheques.
For more cult films, check out the Jameson Cult Film Club.