Robert Downey Jr: Alejandro Inarritu comments not intended to offend

The Avengers star’s publicist has released a statement insisting the actor intended to be complimentary about the Birdman director.

Inarritu, while promoting his Oscar-winning film Birdman in October, likened superhero movies to a “cultural genocide”.

Downey Jr said in a video interview last week that “for a man whose native tongue is Spanish, to be able to put together a phrase like ‘cultural genocide’ just speaks to how bright he is.”

Various Twitter users accused Downey Jr of being racist in his remarks.

Downey Jr. also said that he respects “the heck” out of Inarritu in the interview with The Guardian. Later, he remarked, too, that “a certain level of scrutiny is good”, when making films that are so popular — especially among children — even if it’s critical.

“You want to be responsible to the opportunity you’ve been given,” he said.

“Taken in the proper context of the interview, it is intended to be, and is, complimentary,” said Downey Jr’s publicist Alan Nierob.

Inarritu’s Birdman, which won Oscars for best picture and best director, takes a darkly satirical look at blockbuster culture in its examination of a past-his-prime actor grasping for artistic authenticity. His film is centred on an actor (Michael Keaton) who cannot shake the voice of his superhero character, and pokes fun at many real-life actors who have participated in the genre, including Downey Jr.

In an interview with trade publication Deadline in October, Inarritu said that although he “sometimes” enjoys superhero movies, he takes issue when they try to be too profound.

“They have been poison, this cultural genocide, because the audience is so overexposed to plot and explosions and (expletive) that doesn’t mean nothing about the experience of being human,” Inarritu said.

A representative for Inarritu did not immediately respond to requests for a comment.

The social media response echoed the backlash against Sean Penn months ago when the actor presented Inarritu with his best picture Oscar by saying, “who gave this son of a b**** his green card?”