The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Zoolander, Ben Stiller’s landmark 2001 action-comedy, is a single word: ridiculous. Zoolander is an unashamedly silly film that stands up as an iconic piece of comedy history, despite some poorly ageing jokes. Twenty years later, its style of farcical satire is still strikingly unique.
Derek Zoolander (Stiller), male model extraordinaire (with not much going on between the ears), was first conceived in a Saturday Night Live writing room for a VH1 Fashion Awards short. Stiller was subsequently inspired to turn the sketch into a full blown film, and Zoolander was born. It focuses on the hotly contested arena of male modeling, with Derek as its poster boy. Alongside Mathilda (Christine Taylor), an investigative journalist, he uncovers a plot to assassinate the Malaysian prime minister, with a brainwashed Derek acting as kung-fu killer madman. Furthermore, Derek’s sense of self-worth is crumbling after he realises that he is effectively being replaced by the newest male model on the scene. It’s dumb enough that we’re kept entertained, and yet quietly heartfelt enough that we’re still intrigued.
Zoolander proved to be a massive success, with a sequel, TV series, and a special Vogue skit following its release. Not only was the film Stiller’s first project as both lead actor and director, a habit he would continue with Tropic Thunder (2008) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). It also started a long-term working relationship with co-star Owen Wilson, starring as the Kurt Cobain-esque bad boy Hansel.
Zoolander is a playful jab at the fashion industry, satirising the seriousness within the culture via an outsider perspective. The sheer number of A-list cameos appearing throughout (most memorably David Bowie) is incredible. In the opening sequence alone, you can spy Natalie Portman, Christian Slater, Victoria Beckham, and Donald Trump, and the numbers just keep going up throughout the movie. Everyone and anyone, it seems, wants a piece of Derek Zoolander. The determined Mathilda meanwhile, decked out in her K-Mart brand outfit, acts as the link to the ‘real world,’ beyond the snakeskin leather suits and ninja star-stopping looks. Mathilda’s reactions mirror our own perfectly, from her stifled laughter as Derek tearfully reveals that he’s not an ‘ambi-turner,’ to her dumbfounded expression as Hansel smashes a computer full of incriminating evidence. Mathilda is our teammate in all of this madness.
Zoolander deals with some pretty heavy topics in its brief runtime. It’s hard not to think that the child slavery storyline is a tad insensitive when it involves Will Ferrell being, well, Will Ferrell, as campy fashion designer Mugatu. The opening scene is where the supposed satire starts to taste sour. The fashion world’s reliance on worker exploitation contrasts sharply with the money-laden, material concerns of the catwalk, an imbalance that is oddly mocked in Zoolander. Where are the scenes showing the poorly paid young workers who slave away on these illustrious garments? We only see the fruits of their hard labour, their hardship reduced to a cheap plot point designed to garner audience sympathy with our clueless male model heroes. This endemic hardship, under at least as much scrutiny now as it was in 2001, leaves a poor taste in the mouth.
It’s not the only part of the film that can be read less than favourably. Stiller’s decision to digitally remove the Twin Towers from the film following the 9/11 attacks was met with wide criticism (they were reinstated in the 2016 Blu-Ray release). Some of the humour today definitely doesn’t land, such as eating disorder jokes, transphobia, workplace harassment, and even a strange scene of Wilson and Stiller using blackface as a disguise. The style of comedy wasn’t updated for the 2016 sequel, which caused an uproar within the LGBT+ community for the portrayal of the gender non-conforming character All (played by Benedict Cumberbatch). Zoolander is a telling signal of how quickly comedy has evolved over the past two decades.
The cultural legacy of the film however cannot be denied. Ironically, for a film that mocks the fashion industry, every major brand wanted a part in Zoolander. There are mentions of Balenciaga, Gucci, and Versace, to name a few (Donatella herself even makes a cameo). Although fashion is the butt of the jokes, Zoolander also celebrates it, and has been credited with correctly guessing some of the biggest trends of the 2000s. Zoolander’s impact on other fashion-focused films is also clear. The Devil Wears Prada (2006), for instance, took inspiration from Zoolander’s use of real-life designers, famously showcasing some of the biggest luxury brands in the world, or at the very least those who didn’t want to offend Anna Wintour. This too satirised the fashion industry, albeit with a more serious tone and a terrifying performance by Meryl Streep.
Despite his uneasy relationship with the industry, Derek is an advocate for the modelling and fashion world through and through, approaching his job with complete seriousness and pride. There’s something to be admired in this, considering that it’s a fashion designer that brainwashes him and tries to ruin his life. The ridiculousness of the fashion world is immense, but there’s something beautiful about it too. The film has its share of heartfelt moments; Maury (Jerry Stiller) standing up for Derek, Derek’s oppressive father finally supporting his modelling, and little baby Derek Jr. showing off his first model look. It’s comical, but there’s a sweetness about it.
Amidst all the nonsense and glamorous buffoonery, Zoolander does ask a very interesting question; after a life lived through images, what is the self beyond what other people perceive you to be? Derek is trying to find a life that has meaning beyond being “really, really good-looking,” and this fundamentally strong story has helped Zoolander remain a classic. You genuinely care about and empathise with the main characters. It’s silly, but it’s also oddly soft.
Zoolander is truly a ridiculous film, but it also as an appealing sentimentality. It captures a world that exists entirely out of reach, and gives us an interesting perspective on that world. Here we find a man teetering on the edge between his fantasy and sudden reality, and a woman peeking through the curtain to the magic on the other side. It may satirise the fashion industry, but there’s some truth to the madness; overbearing designers, models reaching a god-like status, and the unethical practices that underlie many runway looks. Zoolander is far from perfect, but the heart that runs throughout the film, and the veiled truths to be found in it, are more than enough reason to return to it again and again.
Words by Alice Fortt
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