'Bruno' misses the mark

[BridgeTheGap]

It's not that we don't get it. The makers of the film "Bruno," Sacha Baron Cohen's just-released follow-up to "Borat," have said that they intend to satirize and expose homophobia. But even when filmmakers have the best of intentions, there can be a disconnect between the concept and the execution. In "Bruno," the satire often loses sight of the way gay people are treated in real life.Consider a different movie, "I Love You, Man," in which Paul Rudd's character, Peter, deflects a pass from another man. Peter handles the situation with grace, modeling how an adult would and should react to crossed signals. But the audience in the theater often had a very loud and very different reaction: "Ewwwww."

I've seen a rough cut and the final cut of "Bruno." If some people get icked out over an innocent kiss, imagine the reactions to a movie that is loaded with stereotypes, toilet humor and a steady stream of gross-out gags. Yes, some of this is aimed at mocking anti-gay attitudes — and the film often hits its mark. But far too much of it, intentionally or not, ends up hitting gay people instead.

In some scenes, the film's method cleverly skewers anti-gay attitudes. But in others it loses its way. In the film's finale, a disguised Bruno takes part in a no-holds-barred cage match in Arkansas (a state that in November voted to effectively ban gay people from becoming adoptive or foster parents). The situation is a set-up, and in the middle of the fight, Bruno begins to rip the clothes off his opponent and kiss him. The audience for the cage match, which is not in on the joke, goes berserk, screaming epithets and hurling objects — including a chair — at the two men. (The film's production notes say that the confrontation "lasted many hours" and required 40 police officers "to rescue the cast and crew and quell the angry mob.")

Whatever this scene may reveal, it is disturbing on a number of levels given the pervasive violence gay people often face. Late last year, the FBI reported that anti-gay hate crimes have been on the rise since 2005. Last month, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs reported that violent hate crimes against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people increased 24 percent in 2007 and additional 2 percent in 2008.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090714/OPINION04/907140313/1054/OPINION/+Bruno++misses+the+mark

[groovedaddy]

1. This kind of stuff can really backfire...

While earning a poli sci degree years ago, I remember a film that we studied along similar lines as Bruno. It was directed at anti-semitism. It made ridiculous characterizations of anti-semitism, with the intent of revealing to anti-semitic people just how ridiculous their views were. The film was shown to a screened, anti-semitic audience. Instead of seeing the ridiculousness of their prejudices, they saw the film as an affirmation of their views! The stupidity and prejudice run very, very deep.

[TheWraith]

2. That might be half of Cohen's point.

Speculating here, but I sometimes wonder if Cohen is engaging in a sort of Andy Kaufman style performance art, where the people who don't get it are part of the joke.

[groovedaddy]

3. You're probably right. n.t

[SacredCow]

5. I should have read all posts before making mine....

I agree that this very well might be an Andy Kaufman kind of stunt.

[DarkTirade]

6. I remember hearing recently that the Colbert Report has an even number of

conservative vs. liberal viewers. The difference is that the conservatives think that he's not joking. :banghead:

[SacredCow]

4. It's definitely skirting a line....

In a way, Cohen reminds me a little of Andy Kaufman in his methods. I haven't seen the movie, but I'm guessing that I'll find it kind of funny on the surface, but then feel uneasy about what manner of Pandora's box it might open. I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see headlines that a bunch of rednecks go out specifically to target gay people after seeing the film. Not that it is condoned by the film, but it may just inspire people who are already prone to violence against homosexuals to act out.