“Hi, I’m Bruno.” This Friday, the gayest movie of the year is released; I saw it tonight and just loved it. It’s a relatively short movie, but in those 85 minutes I laughed as hard as I’d ever laughed. Many of it was uncomfortable laughter, but when he talks about the lips of his Christian “gay converter”… well, the entire audience I watched it with roared throughout the film and hopefully you’ll laugh too.
The climactic scene in the “love story” of the film comes in a wrestling or MMA ring (it’s not quite clear) in Arkansas. It’s “straight night” at the event, and Bruno makes a disguised appearance. Ever wonder how wrestling fans might react if an unexpected gay kiss showed up in the ring? You’ll find out….
There has been a lot of talk about whether this movie is “good” for gay people. To be sure, it plays on just about every gay stereotype there is. The story and the character and the jokes are so over-the-top, to me it’s just a fun, funny ride. Will it “push kids back in the closet”? Maybe if it was the only portrayal of gay people in the media, but those portrayals are so diverse now that getting offended at the movie was the furthest thing from my mind.
on Jul 8th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Can’t wait to see it! Yeah, from the previews I’ve seen it definitely appears to be way over-the-top.
on Jul 8th, 2009 at 10:44 am
I saw it at an advanced screening last week and it is just brilliant…even better than Borat IMO and I LOVED Borat.
on Jul 8th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Bruno is dangerous and should be censored
on Jul 8th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Well considering that the world-famous designer Karl Lagerfeld always carries a fan perhaps this film isn’t that over-the-top, lmao!
Check it out here:
http://www.urbanmodels.co.uk/images/fashion/top_designers/sub_main/karl_lagerfeld.jpg
& here:
http://www.vogue.co.uk/biographies/080420-karl-lagerfeld.aspx
on Jul 9th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
“Will it ‘push kids back in the closet’? Maybe if it was the only portrayal of gay people in the media, but those portrayals are so diverse now…”
Oh yeah right. We’ve got bitchy fashionistas on “Queer Eye”, and then we’ve got, er, bitchy fashionistas on “Project Runway” and then we’ve got more bitchy fashionistas on “America’s Top Model” and 5 other model/fashion reality shows. And for balance: bitchy black basketball players on “Shirts & Skins”! Perfect!
on Jul 9th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Seriously.
I can already dread all the gay jokes from the straight men. As if we needed more gay panic humor among straight men.
on Jul 10th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
^^ RGMike nails it. There’s diversity in gay portrayals, sure, they range from merely campy to flaming queen.
As for Sascha Baron Cohen and his waaaaay tired shtick, I dare him to make this movie:
Hymie, the hilarious story of of the hooked nosed Jew, who talks in a Brooklyn accent, don’tchaknow, ov vey, I’m tellin’ ya! as he obsesses about money, spends most of his time figuring out ways to screw over the Goyim to make more money, all the while wearing sandals with black socks and loud print shirts, which in addition to his cigar, are permanent fixtures as he struggles to not fondle young children. Laugh out loud as Hymie yells at bank clerks! Gets mad that his lox and bagels aren’t the ones he usually has! hilariously tries to play softball, which, of course, since Jews suck at sports, ends hilariously!
Come on SBC, let’s see you do something like THAT, you boring old fuck, instead of being yet another breeder who makes money off of fag jokes.
on Jul 10th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Actually, there are several scenes/dialogue in which it would probably be quite offensive to Jews…
Saw it today. OMG, there WERE several moments where my jaw just dropped to the floor, lol!
In a nutshell, the film is John Waters meets Jerry Springer meets The Three Stooges.
on Jul 10th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Heterosexuals have oppressed gay people for thousands of years. Heterosexuals are outsiders with prejudices to homosexuality. They are not capable of knowing what is anti-gay. This movie only serves to validate heterosexuals wrong and bigoted prejudices of gay men. A few years ago a university conducted a test where heterosexual students judged essays of heterosexual and gay participants. No matter what the gay participants wrote even if it was exactly word for word what the heterosexual students wrote they always judged the gay men’s essays as “feminine” and the lesbians as “masculine”. Heterosexuals are not capable of determining what is anti-gay because they are outsiders with prejudices to homosexuality. Heterosexuals will walk into the movie with prejudices and walk out feeling validated.
on Jul 11th, 2009 at 5:05 am
“Heterosexuals will walk into the movie with prejudices and walk out feeling validated”.
Tell ya what, Sarge - I’ll go see this movie with my very straight, and very accepting, younger sister, whom I’ve been out to for 8 years (I was 19, she was 16). And, our wacko senses of humor being what they are, we’ll both laugh our asses off. Then we’ll head over to the Mall of America to go guy-watching together… and you can try to re-paint “heterosexuals” with that same broad brush again.
In all seriousness, though - I’ve always believed there are two kinds of stereotypes. The first is the distortion or utter fabrication, created with a pre-existing malicious intent. (E.g. Angry Talk-Radio White Men and their view of all black men as criminals). And the second is the comedic exaggeration built around a core of truth. (E.g. Bruno; I’m sorry, but - having spent my share of time in Minneapolis gay bars - there ARE a lot of effeminate gay men out there!)
It’s easy for the second kind of stereotype to BECOME the first, and thus become dangerous, if we don’t keep a close watch on it. But in determining whether this is likely to happen, one has to consider the context - and Sacha Baron Cohen is a man who’s been willing to extract some laughs by caricaturing even his OWN religion and culture. (Watch Borat sometime - and remember that Cohen is Jewish!) Real demagogues don’t usually go in for humor.
Also, by mistaking the second kind of stereotype for the first, we’re insisting that Cohen’s portrayal of a flamboyant, effeminate gay man is malicious - i.e., that flamboyance and effeminacy are inherently undesirable things to be associated with. Well, by implying this, then aren’t WE the ones selling out our more “fabulous” brethren? (And isn’t “over-the-top”, hyper-exaggerated humor, like Bruno’s, itself a quintessential form of camp?)
on Jul 13th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Of course, GLAAD had to open their big mouths and whine about Bruno. This is a great example of why I simply cannot embrace that organization:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-robinson12-2009jul12,0,816523.story?vote47996319=1
on Jul 15th, 2009 at 10:03 am
So let’s see: GLAAD — a bunch of well-heeled queens, whose lives revolve around the glitzy, schmoozy, celebrity-studded “awards show” they put on every year — are offended by a movie that portrays gay men as shallow and fashion-obsessed. Er… WHAT?
Some things are truly beyond parody.