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The Forum > Article Comments > 'Bruno': a homophobic and tedious failure of a film > Comments

'Bruno': a homophobic and tedious failure of a film : Comments

By Colin Wilson, published 14/7/2009

Film review 'Bruno': dressed up as irony, this caricature of 'gayness' is a boost for the bigots.

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Julian Clary was once asked why he made so many jokes about anal sex.

His answer was that he found that what really seemed to make people homophobic was not homosexual men per se, that they were effeminate or whatever, but basic revulsion at the act of anal sex itself.

By making repeated jokes about anal sex, Clary said, he wanted to make it less of a bugbear for straight people. Laughing at something, after all, robs it of its power. This was the same logic used by Richard Pryor and Mel Brooks in "Blazing Saddles", or in the British TV series "Love Thy Neighbour".

Perhaps by exaggerating every ridiculous stereotype about homosexual men, "Bruno" may actually show those stereotypes to be as ridiculous as they are?
Posted by Clownfish, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 11:34:24 AM
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It is supposed to be in poor taste. Of course Bruno fires broadsides at political correctness and let's face it, with the all-pervasive, intrusive and humourless PC that abounds in the West, safety valves like Bruno's comedy are in short supply. So what about giving the thought police a day off?

One assumes that homosexual romance is not all Brokeback Mountain, just as The Sound of Music is not really representative of what having children is like.

The PC censor is not required, just a little maturity and a little less self-righteous indignation:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/film/film-23373524-details/Bruno/filmReview.do?reviewId=23709056
Posted by Cornflower, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 12:15:59 PM
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What a drab and dreary world those from Socialist Worker must live in! They can't even recognise that a comedy isn't going to '...take sides, and as such does nothing to undermine anyone’s anti-gay ideas' - it's a comedy FFS! That's not what comedies do! But what's odd is that later the author correctly says "In fact the film mocks everybody and everything" - Yes! That's the nature of many comedies out there!

It's articles like this that reaffirm my view that Socialist Worker has the intellectual horsepower of your average garden variety 2 stroke whippersnipper. I'm yet to see anything from them to change that view.
Posted by BN, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 12:54:32 PM
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Cornflower nailed it - really, and who can question someone who can use The Sound of Music to make a point?

Everyone ends up being the brunt of jokes at some stage, how you deal with it defines you. Drawing attention to your intolerance in most cases would define you as overly conservative.
Posted by rpg, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 12:59:17 PM
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"all-pervasive, intrusive and humourless PC that abounds in the West"...this kind of comment always completely bemuses me?..what all-pervasive PC? Where exactly is it? I would say that it is mainly right wing conservative views, everywhere, that are all pervasive. I see no actual PC at all, certainly not in Australia, which just gets more and more right wing as it goes along it's merry self interested way.....
Posted by E.Sykes, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 1:15:56 PM
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E(ric) Sykes I trust?

You have been funnier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilsw_rRN4GM

C'mon, loosen up, the Left is as jack-booted as the Right. A matching pair I would have thought.
Posted by Cornflower, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 1:27:50 PM
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How can some posters categorise response to humour as either right wing or left wing? Bizarre!

We really have to get away from this self-defeating ideological stuff that seems to pervade even into areas non-political.

Australia may be a victim to some extent of PC thinking but when it is all said and done we really are a very conservative nation. Even our supposed 'left wing' (ALP) adheres more to the monetarist style with some exceptions, and bows in the main to the interests of big business.

Bruno makes fun of the stereotypes that the ultra-conservatives casts over homesexuality. The only set that might not get it would be of the red-neck variety who may not see the irony.
Posted by pelican, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 1:35:10 PM
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well yes of course, however these "left wing chardonnay swilling elitist caffe latte drinking grant funded gay academic bureaucratic humourless politically correct post-modern climate change junky dole bludging multi-cultural blood sucking loser un-australians" are a complete fantasy i reckon..i wish i could meet some.. in the right wing christian religious heaven that is actually Australia.
Posted by E.Sykes, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 1:38:32 PM
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C'mon gay lefties, don't let these tightarse wowsers woo us into a world of strangling PC values. Take a dump and then have a big belly laugh. Life's too short and the world's in too much of a mess to sit at your computer getting all wound up over a bit of fun-poking at the stereotypes surrounding the world's greatest sexual persuasion.

Fagging funny movie to me, and I'm a straight-looking, straight-acting poofter who's out Yippeeeee ........
Posted by spotbanana, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 1:44:21 PM
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There is nothing like a deliberately tasteless comedy to bring out the PC anal-rententive prigs. (PCARP)

The socialist worker online would be the perfect place to find PCARPs.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 2:06:55 PM
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Sounds like another charming movie you would love to take your kids to. If you were to make a true movie on homosexuality you would have to portray the sad facts of how unhealthy and sad the homosexual lifestyle is. Unfortunately true research on the subject will never be allowed to be published by the secular pc brigade who want to legitimize a very sad lifestyle.
Posted by runner, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 2:42:42 PM
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E.Sykes,

'...i wish i could meet some'

Just head down to Newtown. Or the offices of the ABC. Actually OLO has quite a few representatives.
Posted by Houellebecq, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 3:09:30 PM
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If Colin find the depiction of gays in Bruno a concern because it might incite homophobia I have to wonder what he thinks of these depictions of gay and lesbian people "http://www.mardigras.org.au/item.cfm?id=394&nav=Mardi Gras08&sub=Parade" - copy and paste between the quotes. runner don't go there.

There might be reasons why it's Ok for gay and lesbian's to portray themeslves that way but not Ok for Sasha but they don't seem to be the reasons in this article.

R0bert
Posted by R0bert, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 5:24:36 PM
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runner:

Aw gee - my Mac dictionary gives the following definitions of sad. Back to the drawing board for you, or out with the evidence. I must say though, I sometimes feel a little heavy at having failed to rise, so I'll give you one point, though it's a fluke.

Bye lovey.

Sad
1 feeling or showing sorrow; unhappy : I was sad and subdued | they looked at her with sad, anxious faces.
• causing or characterized by sorrow or regret; unfortunate and regrettable : he told her the sad story of his life | a sad day for us all.
2 informal pathetically inadequate or unfashionable : somebody's priorities are pretty sad.
3 (of dough) heavy through having failed to rise.
Posted by spotbanana, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 5:31:35 PM
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'The rednecks go on being rednecks, and the world is presented as a mixture of mutually uncomprehending groups between whom no real contact or discussion is possible.'

Hmmmm.... Sounds like a typical day on an OLO gender thread.

[Cornflower] '...let's face it, with the all-pervasive, intrusive and humourless PC that abounds in the West, safety valves like Bruno's comedy are in short supply. So what about giving the thought police a day off?'

What’s this? I do believe the poor old Cornpuff is trapped in a Howard-era Murdoch opinion piece, circa 1999.

I thought cracks about ‘PC thought police’ (aka anything to the left of Atilla the Hun) went out with dial-up internet connections and Ikea lounge suites.
Posted by SJF, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 5:41:57 PM
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I must confess that I have not read this article, however I did see the movie and it is quite simply a load of crap!
Posted by rehctub, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 6:23:00 PM
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An astonishing lack of humour from the author.

The reason the absurd caricature of Bruno is funny is because the subworld of backward rednecks think it's accurate. It's like Kath & Kim: if you don't get the joke, it's because you ARE the joke.
Posted by Sancho, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 6:30:26 PM
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"Bruno: A comic genius or a witless git?
you be the judge," writes Jim Schembri in
his review of the film for - The Age, July 10th, 2009.

According to Schembri - "Eliciting extreme reactions
by disgusting people does not require skill...
Behave abnoxiously in front of anybody for long enough,
and you'll eventually get a reaction for your film..."

I agree that Bruno is hardly 'comfortable viewing.'
However Sacha Baron Cohen likes to push the boundaries
and see how far we allow him to take his antics.
The film is meant to be provocative and its not for
the faint-hearted. There were moments in it however,
that were extremely funny - but I have to confess it
did get a bit tedious - a joke repeated over and over
again tires fast. And, I couldn't help wondering -
is Cohen lampooning homophobia or perpetuating it?

Jim Schembri's summation gives one pause for thought:

"Precisely where one places Sacha Baron Cohen in the
pantheon of comedy greats depends, to a large extent,
on whether one considers the waving of a semi-erect
penis in front of a camera as the work of comic genius."
Posted by Foxy, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 8:48:18 PM
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i watched the prime-time promotion of the shrill..[ridiculing muslims/gays/and youth...he is the pride of the jewish commic's..using racist type casting to further the rightwing zion adgenda typical of his race
http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/cover_story/exploring_jewishness_of_sacha_baron_cohens_humor/13129

so expert at promoting their own,here another quote..but here are some top Jewish moments from Sacha Baron Cohen’s highly anticipated..(and litigious)..mock documentary about a flamboyant gay fashionista..who aspires to become the “biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler.”

1) When Bruno fails to achieve uber-fame by solving the problems in Darfur,he comforts himself with the knowledge that..“luckily, there is still one sh—hole left to fix in the world: ..“The Middle East” (or “Middle Earth,” as he calls it).

But he doesn’t make many friends while traipsing in a black hat,pais and a speedo through a religious area in Israel,where enraged residents chase him out of the‘hood....lets se if that gets cut

2) Bruno conducts dialogues between Israeli and Arab leaders, including an ex-Mossad chief and a Palestinian mayor of Jerusalem. Alas,..he confuses the word “hummus” with “Hamas.”[nice touch..[a la his ali'g'..racist bloopers

3) Bruno decides the best way to become famous is to be kidnapped by Muslim extremists,...lol..suprise/suprise..and so visits a leader of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in a refugee camp in Lebanon.[note the linkage?..“I want the best guys in the business. ..Al Qaeda[a cia/mossad construct..is so 2001,”..he tells the man.

“Your king Osama looks like a dirty wizard or a homeless Santa Claus,” he adds. ..Needless to say.. Bruno gets kicked out rather than kidnapped.

4) Bruno and his manager,..desperate to land celebrity interviews, consult a chart they have made of top actors.[in reality mostly jewish[ever note the preponderrance of nose-jobs?..There is..“Wilhelm Schmidt”(Will Smith),Adolf Pittler(Brad Pitt)..and lastly,..a man Bruno calls..“Der Fuhrer.”..The camera pans to reveal the photograph of said star:..Mel Gibson.[recall what he said about jews]..lol

5) After congressman Ron Paul pronounces Bruno a..“queer,”..the fashionista laments,..“I couldn’t even shtup Rupaul..(sic]..ron/paul wants fed audit...link's..to zionist banker cartel
Posted by one under god, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 10:37:21 PM
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SJF

Ikea Lounge suites are passé?

Quelle horreur!
Posted by Fractelle, Wednesday, 15 July 2009 1:19:05 PM
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I didn't like it when Bruno made fun of our friend Ron Paul. That is why we will not see the movie. He is a wonderful person, and has a lovely family too.
Posted by BarbieTie, Wednesday, 15 July 2009 10:53:31 PM
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But Christians are made fun of all the time - why can't the progressives take the ridicule.
Posted by TRUTHNOW78, Friday, 17 July 2009 11:21:50 AM
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Why aren't the Austrians all getting upset? Or, for that matter, the whole European community? After all, the character of Bruno is defined as much by his Eurotrashiness as he is by his campness. Had he been an American gay character, or perhaps a gay pom, the movie simply wouldn't have worked. Whether or not it worked anyway is open to debate.

I think the real issue lies with the placement of the joke. Is Bruno the joke, or are all the rednecks who object to him so much? Or the sensible non-rednecks who object to him? I understand that homosexual advocates may dislike the link between gayness and campness. If that is the case, then they need to object to Priscilla, to the Mardi Gras and to Fluffies Night at the Family Nightclub in Fortitude Valley, too . . .
Posted by Otokonoko, Saturday, 18 July 2009 12:48:49 AM
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