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Zoolander
 

Zoolander (2001) is a movie based on a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Ben Stiller for the VH1 Fashion Awards television show in 1996 and 1997. The short films and the movie feature Derek Zoolander, a male fashion model of limited intelligence. The title role is played by Ben Stiller, and in the feature film (which Ben directed), Zoolander's agent is played by his father Jerry Stiller. The movie also stars Stiller's wife, Christine Taylor.

Plot summary

In Zoolander, the supremacy of Derek Zoolander as the world's top male-model is challenged by the up-and-coming Hansel (Owen Wilson), an acid-tripping, Great Spirit-worshiping throwback to the '60s. When his best friends are killed in a "freak gasoline-fight accident," Derek announces that he is retiring from the male modeling profession. He returns to the coal mines where his father and brothers work, but soon finds himself desperately out of place.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Prime Minister Hassan of Malaysia is working on reducing child labor in his country. The evil world-wide organization known as the fashion industry is determined to retain Malaysia as a major source of cheap labor, and is desperate to thwart the incumbent Prime Minister. Fashion mogul Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell) is assigned to train a dull-witted male model to assassinate the Prime Minister.

Cast

Cameo appearances

Malaysia and it's subsequent censorship

The film was never shown in Malaysia, the country figured prominently in the film, as it is depicted as impoverished and dependent on sweatshops. Malaysia's censorship board deemed it "definitely unsuitable". *

The film was also banned in neighbouring Singapore, due to bilateral sensitivities and the movie's excessive drug use. However, as of 2006, it has since been un-banned by the authorities with some scenes cut.

HBO Asia, based in Singapore, aired Zoolander with all the references to Malaysia cut out. And thus, the rest of asia sees Zoolander on HBO with censored scenes.

Speculations among Singaporeans, Malaysians, and Indonesians about the movies' ban and censorship is due not only that it depicts sweatshops but mainly because that Prime Minister Hassan is of chinese descendants ruling the well-known racist Malaysia where racism has been used to define government policies.

Magnum

"Magnum" is the name of a male model pose in Zoolander. The film's protagonist Derek Zoolander invented the pose and he protects it as a trade secret (it is supposedly patented). The style of the pose is identical to all his other named poses, (which include "Le Tigre", "Ferrari" & "Blue Steel"), except that on "Magnum", he turns left, a feat he has been unable to do all his life, as he is not an "ambiturner." This contributes to the running joke that despite his reputation as a male model, Zoolander knows only one pose.

The pose is a distinctive and, among the film's cult following, instantly recognizable creation of Ben Stiller. Its defining characteristics are a lead-in that consists of using the neck to whip the head from one side to center and a facial expression that is decidedly feline.

Derelicte

"Derelicte" is the name given to the fashion line designed by Will Ferrell's character Mugatu. It is described in the film as "a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique." During the scene where Mugatu introduces Derek (Ben Stiller) to Derelicte, an actual homeless person appears on a pedestal. He is known in the New York area as "Radio" and frequents large movie shoots. This is his first major role.

Trivia

  • Many members of the shock rock band Gwar make cameo appearances during the Derek-Hansel walk-off scene and are uncredited.
  • In addition to his father and wife playing major roles, director/star Ben Stiller's mother Anne Meara and sister Amy Stiller also appear in the film.
  • The name of Will Ferrell's character, Mugatu, is a reference to the Mugato seen on the original Star Trek series.
  • The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (New York, New York) were digitally removed from one shot in the film and obscured in another shot. Zoolander was released mere weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
  • The bassist from the band System Of A Down, Shavo Odadjian makes a short appearance as one of Hansel's friends.
  • Many universities have a Facebook.com group called the Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good and Want To Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too, which Derek founded in the movie.
  • In The Oblongs episode Milo Interrupted, Bob Oblong (voiced by Will Ferrell) used bubbles from his bubble bath to make his hair look like Mugatu's.
  • Zoolander has character and plot similarities to Bret Easton Ellis's Glamorama, which was released three years earlier. Ellis commented on the similarities at a book signing and jokingly said he sued Ben Stiller The Better You Look, The More You Blog; Leafblower; September 15, 2005; InformationLeafBlower.com

References

External links

2001 films | American films | Comedy films

Zoolander | Zoolander | Zoolander | Zoolander | Zoolander | ズーランダー | Zoolander | Zoolander | Zoolander

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Zoolander".

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