Zoolander

Derek Zoolander existed first in two short films Ben Stiller made with Drake Sather for the VH1 Fashion Awards specials of 1996 and 1997. The feature’s opening was shot at the real 2000 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards, during commercial breaks. It opened in the United States on 28 September 2001, two weeks after the attacks. Stiller had the Twin Towers digitally erased from Manhattan skyline shots where they stood in the background; they came back for the 2016 Blu-ray. The plot targets Malaysia’s prime minister. Its Film Censorship Board kept it out of cinemas, objecting to the plan to kill the prime minister and to the country being drawn as poor and dependent on sweatshops. Singapore banned it in February 2002, allowing it in 2006 with an NC-16 restriction. Rated R at first, it became PG-13 after Stiller appealed and scenes were recut. The comedy rests on one idea: Derek never gets smarter, no scene letting him learn before the finale. The satire stays toothless, since the fashion names mocked are in the cast playing themselves. A good fit if you are content to have the film turn on one idea, that Derek is never allowed to wise up. Not for anyone expecting satire that lands on the fashion world, since most of those mocked play themselves.