What to Make of Bruno

Lost in the sea of hype for the new Sacha Baron Cohen film, Bruno, is the question of the roles and responsibilities of the satirist who tackles controversial and taboo subject matter in an effort to critically examine and change public perception. What if the satirist isn't taken as such? What if the public isn't in on the joke? What if the intentions and consequences are in opposition?

These questions have received some media attention, but not nearly enough. I haven’t seen the film yet, so clearly I can’t comment on specifics from the movie. But I am a fan of Da Ali G Show and know the Bruno character well. I have also seen Cohen in several media appearances designed to promote the film.

Bruno is a mock documentary, much in the same style as Cohen’s previous film, Borat. The premise of the film is that Bruno is an Austrian fashion reporter who loses his job in Austria and comes to the US in search of fame. He seeks the elusive and desirable job of celebrity. The off-the-charts stereotypes Bruno embodies includes wearing sheer or mesh shirts and talking with a pronounced lisp.

The film covers Bruno’s encounters with Americans, ranging from the man-on-the-street genre of encounters to arranged meetings with prominent figures like US Representative (R) and former Presidential candidate Ron Paul. The folks in the film all believe Bruno is real, and hijinks ensue.

Given the current political and social climate, it’s no surprise that even though the issues associated with the dangers of satirizing homophobia when many won’t take it as satire aren’t getting much in the way of mainstream media attention, they are being addressed by prominent GLBT organizations and activists.

In response to one scene that shows Bruno appearing to have sex with a man in a bathtub while his adopted baby sits close by, Rashad Robinson, Senior Director of Media Programs for The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said:

That wasn't really unmasking homophobia, and especially in a country where same-sex couples can still be denied the ability to adopt children that they've raised since birth. Trivializing gay families isn't a joke.

Commenting on another sequence from the film, Robinson states:

In one extended series of sequences, Bruno adopts a baby from Africa, giving Baron Cohen an opportunity to take aim at those celebrity parents who seem to treat their children like fashion accessories. What follows, though, shifts the film from smart social satire to something else entirely - a parade of over-the-top stereotypes that, whatever their intent, play to and could affirm troubling attitudes about gay people.

Bruno appears as a guest on a local TV talk show with the baby in tow. Then, following racially insensitive comments by Bruno in the presence of the largely African American audience, that audience is shown photos of what appears to be Bruno in a hot tub having sex with men inches away from the child. Horrified and outraged, the talk-show audience turns on Bruno.

What's disquieting about this scene - and others in the film - is that it doesn't call attention to or unmask cultural homophobia...in a country where gay and lesbian parents can still be denied the ability in some states to adopt the children they have raised since birth - and where those children can even be taken away from the only parents they've ever known - the idea of trivializing gay families, making them the butt of a series of crude jokes, and reinforcing pernicious stereotypes about gay men and children didn't feel funny. It felt dangerous.

Robinson adds:

We do feel the intentions of the filmmakers are in the right place -- satire of this form can unmask homophobia -- but at the same time it can heighten people's discomfort with our community.

With that in mind, GLAAD asked in vain for Universal Pictures, the studio behind Bruno, to add a message from Cohen addressing the importance of gay rights and tolerance.

Universal says in a statement it believes most moviegoers will understand the film's positive intentions: "Bruno uses provocative comedy to powerfully shed light on the absurdity of many kinds of intolerance and ignorance, including homophobia," the studio said.

And while it may come as a surprise to those who think of GLBT folks as a monolithic, single-minded group, there are those who see things differently. Brad Luna, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign offers this:

Bigotry and homophobia still today get cloaked in many different nuanced ways, so a movie like this has the potential to let everyone in on the joke and to really change the way homophobia is viewed.

HRC is not alone in their disapproval of what many see as GLAAD's attempt to dictate to others what to think of Bruno. Queerty sees his character as a possibly strong weapon in the fight against homophobia and heterosexism.

Yes, he plays a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion reporter, but heterosexual Sacha Baron Cohen's character Bruno is, for all intents and purposes, a comedic exercise in exploring gay stereotypes and going on a witch hunt for homophobes — both concepts that, on their face, we're perfectly fine with...

Finally, The Human Rights Campaign chimes in with this:

If the context and intent behind this kind of particular humor is about exposing and making fun of homophobia to show the ridiculousness of it, that is one thing. What is undeniable though is the impact on the audience is going to vary. Although we view the movie for what it is, a satirical portrayal of stereotyping, we shouldn’t lose sight of the seriousness of this issue. The #1 epithet used on schoolyards across the country remains anti-gay slurs. In the last few months, we have had to continually witness the heartbreaking suicides of young boys who were taunted and bullied using anti-gay epithets. It continues to remain a serious problem in this country. As Sacha Baren Cohen and Universal Pictures prepare for the upcoming release of Bruno, they have a responsibility to make sure that the viewing public understands this character is done as satire to poke fun at stereotyping. Otherwise, they run the risk of 16 yr old high school boys across the country feeling empowered to bully schoolmates. And tragically we already know what the consequences of that are.

In the end, I think I side with Queerty when they write:

Bruno doesn't need to be a finely tuned teaching moment; that's asking too much of mainstream cinema fare. But the film let's us laugh with and at stereotypes. It's a pornographic enterprise into America's remaining taboos. If the film starts even one conversation about "how wrong" all of that is, it's a success — and, dare we suggest, something we should support.