Review: A Decidedly Gay take on Brüno
I shall preface this review with a caveat: I went into Brüno expecting to dislike it, and very likely formed my opinion before actually seeing the film.
I was dining with a friend a few weeks before Brüno debuted, when he said something along the lines of “can you believe what those gay activists are complaining about with Brüno?” I asked him to elaborate; he said that they did not understand that it was a satire. It appeared that, no matter what protestation I presented, his opinion of their opinion was unswayable; he could simply not understand why on earth someone could be offended by a negative portrayal of them, even if it was satirical in nature. Here are but a few of my defenses, conceived after viewing the movie, for my point of view:
In the beginning scenes of the movie, Brüno and his partner are shown having sex. They are both in full-body jumpsuits with zippers to reveal selective parts of the body. Their sex is depicted as wild—involving slingshots, anal insertion of champagne bottles, and an exercise machine rigged to operate a dildo. None of this is played against any bigots, there is no revelation of Americans’ prejudice here, except perhaps with the audience. The entire time the theatre was a chorus of laughter. Not only does the film present gay sexual behavior as deviant and eccentric, but it plays it off for laughter. (An aside—the screen is filled with a penis later on in the film. Once again, there was a chorus of laughter, which began before the ‘penis dance’ began. Why can an audience not take a penis seriously?)
A couple of scenes in the movie deal with Brüno adopting a child, and having his child be forcefully taken away by the state after he is shown to be an unfit parent. The kid is taken into custody to a chorus of cheers while Brüno tears at the security officers holding him back. This is perhaps the most disturbing part of the movie. This scene, like the rest of the movie, was played off for laughs. This is, however, an incredibly serious and very unfunny issue. The state in which I live, and have been for my entire life a citizen, currently forbids adoption by same-sex couples. If my boyfriend and I were to decided that we wanted to start a family, we would be unable to. Furthermore, if my partner had a child, and he were to pass away, I could not care for this child. I would be in the same situation as Brüno—my adopted child would be forcefully taken away from me. Hilarious, right?
The same applies to the marriage scene at the end of the film—Brüno’s partner dresses as a woman to attempt a marriage. This of course fails, to the raucous laughter of the audience. Again, someone please tell me what is hilarious about being stripped of one’s right by a vote of one’s peers.
Furthermore, the character of Brüno encapsulates a completely irreverent picture of gay men. I fully understand that the character is a parody of gay fashionistas. The problem is that I do not see this undoing any stereotypes. The Alabaman hunters, for instance, have only had their prejudices against gays reinforced by his actions toward them, and his behavior during the ex-gay church scenes completely passes over how psychologically damaging such programs can be. I can easily imagine being a closeted high school student basing some of my ideas on what a gay man should be on Brüno, and forming an identity based on a complete stereotype. I was once told that I was “an insult to homosexuality” because of how un-gay my behavior was. I was peer pressured into acting gayer. In addition, I can just as easily imagine a somewhat feminine but otherwise self-actualized high school student who has had the courage to come out be taunted by bigoted class mates for whatever traits he might have in common with Brüno.
In closing to my disjointed review, I simply wish to say this:
For those who say that I have been too easily offended, I want you to imagine that, instead of pretending to be gay, Sacha Baron Cohen had instead donned blackface and highlighted continuing racial tensions in America while attempting to play off the discrimination encountered by African-Americans for laughs.
8 comments
Sasha baron Cohen already played the racial tension card. he played a middle eastern man when every man who even remotely looked arab was considered a terrorist. He loves to play devil’s advocate and piss people off. If you formed the opinion before you saw the movie you should have just boycotted it and been mad and made a point with out adding $8.50 to his bank account. Plus it is purely satire. he’s not even american, he’s just pointing out huge flaws in american culture.
So, I keep up with the things you write through twitter. I saw Bruno yesterday. The person I was with thought the entire movie was absolutely hysterical. He was laughing throughout the whole movie and there were a lot of parts that offended me. I know a lot of people who do not have the right to get married or adopt children and the way it was portrayed in Bruno made it all seem like a big joke.
I completely agree with this whole thing.
There were a few parts of the movie that made me laugh, but for the most part I only laughed to not seem like I was having an absolutely awful time.
Thank you for writing awesome entries like this.
@oh come on
I saw the movie so that I could assuage or verify my biases. Unfortunately they were verified. I am sorry that you cannot understand why I would be offended, but I take my civil rights rather seriously.
Enjoyed reading your post, Jon. There’s plenty to take offense to in this movie, and that’s pretty much the filmmaker’s thing – offending people. Unfortunately, the stereotype territory he mines doesn’t pan out and the whole thing comes off as rather mean-spirited. I laughed at several points, but several times because of nervous shock. Funny and offensive and without many redeeming factors.
I was afraid this would end up being what Bruno was like. I hoped that it would not be the case, but you’ve confirmed my fears. Thanks for seeing it so I wouldn’t have to.
I understand that you were offended by this–just reading about it made me shake my head a little bit. However, being the ‘token Jew’, I was often reminded of the point in Borat where he throws money at the cockroaches, thinking they are the nice Jewish people whose house they’re staying at. I did take a little offense to this just because the stereotype is that we’re greedy, but I still laughed! I understand gay rights is an enormous issue in America, but please take a little time to laugh at yourself also <3 remember that you too fit some gay stereotypes, as I fit some Jewish ones. Jews have been persecuted through all history, and gay acts were once accepted in societies such as in ancient Greece.
Laura,
I think you’ve failed to understand the root of my disappointment. Sure, we live in a world of Jewish stereotypes. But tell me what civil liberties are no longer afforded to Jews. Now tell me what civil liberties are not afforded to gays.
The fact is, Jews are historically a second class while gays are currently a second class. And making fun of the oppressed amidst their struggle for rights doesn’t really do much to help them out.
Doesn’t Sasha also make fun of the anti gays as well? Like when he goes to the priest to “change his ways” but it ends up blowing up in his face?
Also are you offended that gays don’t have complete civil liberties or that Bruno made fun of gays? Because in your response to Laura’s comment it seems that a movie that makes fun of Jews is ok because they are given all of their civil liberties. But since gays don’t have full liberties it’s not ok.
If that’s the position you’re taken, then what about the viewers of Bruno in many European countries where gays are all0wed to marry? If you lived in Europe I guess you wouldn’t have been as offended? Or would you have been offended if you lived in California, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, etc where gays are allowed to marry?
“and making fun of the oppressed amidst their struggle for rights doesn’t really do much to help them out. ”
surely Jews are still being oppressed in parts of the world. Does this mean that jokes about Jews are inappropriate? What about a movie?
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