as you probably know, Sacha Baron Cohen has created another Borat-type documentary, this one focusing on americans' reactions to a gay -- well, a very, very gay -- european in their midst.
as a huge Borat fan, i cannot wait to see Bruno. but i have to, until july.
if you saw Borat, you know it's just as offensive as it is hilarious. it rubbed plenty of people the wrong way, giving rise not only to countless lawsuits, but also to cries of antisemitism ("...in case the repeat their attack of 9/11...") and sexism ("look! there is a woman in a car! can we follow her and maybe make sexy time with her?"). Bruno is expected to bring more of the same, while outing plenty of homophobes and exposing comical levels of bigotry in the US of A.but, as Richard Lawson asks in the Gawker article, will this hilarious farce be good for the gays or not?
Doesn't a movie like Bruno kind of, for those who want to see it that way, reinforce an idea that gay men are silly, frivolous, outrageous mincers who are vain and shallow at best and sex-crazed and oblivious at worst? Sure "we" (the liberal elite, the frippering coastals) get it, but there's no lesson guide handed out when you buy the ticket. Same as some people complained that Borat came, in its hyperbole, half circle and ended up being antisemitic, Bruno could be viewed as a benediction to those most rigid in their prejudices that, yes, they were right all along about those homosexuals. And if that's the case, then I'd say we really don't need another satire that only "we" get.does Lawson make a good point? could this be just as damaging to homoprogress as it is supportive? i guess it's possible.
i really don't know if Borat changed many minds, or enlightened any hicks in the midwest. i hope it did, and i know that if i were one of the on-screen casualties of Borat's antics, i would certainly re-think my racism and ethnocentrism. in my mind, if Bruno embarrasses even a few people - hopefully not only those who are punked on screen - then it's making progress. bigots and homophobes should be embarrassed. they should start to second-guess who's hearing them or watching them. certainly, as the Borat "co-stars" won't soon forget, "you never know when there's a camera on you."
will there be jokes at the expense of gays? sure. that's just a part of comedy. will i be offended? no. i'll be laughing my arse off.
i like SBC, and i like the messages he tries to send. also, i'm pretty sure i'm not the only one who understands the meaning of his movies. nor do i think that understanding is limited to the liberals or the gays. i think this movie has a higher chance of being a net win for gay progress.
what do you think?
4 comments:
Net win for sure. Why can't a satirical movie be geared toward the ... satirees?
If this movie moves the needle at all (doubtful), I think it might serve as such an obvious over-the-top portrayal that some people might reevaluate their perception of who gay people _really_ are. And maybe they'll decide that those little lesbians down the street really ought to be allowed to marry. After all, they aren't as bad as Bruno, right?
I’m a big Jew and I loved Borat! I nearly pissed my pants when he threw money at the cockroaches in the Bed & Breakfast. And I think most viewers understood the deeper message that poor, uneducated, isolated people like Borat resort to silly superstitions--gypsies, magic spells, and, yes, anti-Semitism--to explain the world.
But I do think this type of humor, let’s call it “offend the offenders by being overly offensive” humor, can backfire. In high school, I remember an incident in which two Christian boys, emboldened by an episode of South Park, started calling me a “money-grubbing Jew.” They even threw two pennies on the ground and asked why I wasn’t picking them up. Needless to say, they were not hitting the same tone as the South Park writers. It was clear that seeing no-holds-barred anti-Semitism on TV had simply given them the “confidence” to voice their hidden bias.
From what I understand, Bruno is different from Borat. Borat got his “co-stars” to bare their ugly souls by enabling their racist ideas. (Throw the Jew down the well!) Bruno will simply provoke biased reactions by being his super gay self. It’s a much more direct approach, less manipulative, and will hopefully garner some sympathy for us gays. After the laughs die down, viewers will be forced to ask themselves, Bruno is hapless and frivolous, but is he a bad person? Did he really deserve that?
First things first - I expect to be laughing my arse off along with my arugula eating coastal compatriots who “get it.”
Now I get to be grumpy. According to the author, the world is divided between those who are in on the joke, and the excluded rubes who aren’t. I think this is a false paradigm. I believe that the vast majority of those who will see the movie understand that it lampoons the ridiculousness of EXTREME homophobia. But I also think many of the moviegoers who “get it” and abstractly support the concept of “gay rights” may still harbor stereotypical views and misgivings about the gay “culture.” This movie will do nothing to allay those concerns. If anything, it reinforces the negative stereotypes.
At this juncture in the gay rights movement, as we struggle for marriage equality, we yearn to be seen an ordinary people, capable of the same committed relationships as heterosexuals. My fear is that another loud, queeny, fashion-obsessed homo does nothing to help the cause.
Totally agree with the person posting before me. The gay rights movement is not helped simply by making more people accepting of stereotypical, flamboyant gay men; and it is most certainly not helped by making gay men out to be something of a huge joke. Show me a movie that depicts gays and lesbians living ordinary lives, in their families, workplaces, and leisure, as normal people who don't wear special clothes, watch special movies, live in special neighborhoods, or go to special nightlife spots.
That, I think, would be the real progress. And I agree that it is getting tiring seeing gay men depicted in this way.
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