Bruno

You know the story. Bruno is the host of a gossipy Austrian fashion TV program, enjoying inventive sex with Diesel, his long-time lover. His velco suit causes havoc at the Milan fashion show, he is fired and Diesel leaves him for another man. So Bruno heads for Hollywood to become a star. What to say? Well:

First, Bruno is very, very funny. It barely pauses for a breath in its short 82 minute running time. Cracks about Mel Gibson, mixing up Ron Paul and Ru Paul, adopting a black baby that he names OJ… and on and on. As pure comedy, it is hilarious.

Second, despite all the hype about homophobia, at least half the movie is not about homosexuals (whether the depictions be negative or positive) at all. The focus for the much of the first hour is celebrity, and the bizarre things one will do to pursue it. Paula Abdul sitting on the Mexican gardener, a supermodel explaining how hard she works, a focus group for Bruno’s gossip show, two utterly brain dead “charity PR” consultants… and on and on. Best of all, the talking penis; without doubt a classic of the genre, right up there with the penis-biting snake in Jackass 2. Most stunning were the parents pimping their children for a fake photo shoot; one even offered to make sure her child lost a third of his/her body weight to get the part.

Third, fewer of the scenes involve entrapping ordinary people in their own bigotry and stupidity. There is some of that, but the charge – which carried some weight – against Borat, that it relied upon mocking ordinary people not in the know enough to realize that they were making fools of themselves, doesn’t really carry over to Bruno. It is clear that more people were in on the joke in this movie, and the humor was less reliant on gotcha moments; it was just plain funny.

That said, there were some missteps, or at least some moments that gave me pause. There is a scene involving Bruno going hunting. He clearly tries to provoke a homophobic reaction. The hunters are incredibly uncomfortable, but actually remarkably restrained until Bruno tries to enter a tent naked. What have we learned from this scene? Certainly nothing about homophobia. The scene with Ron Paul also sends a mixed message. Paul calls Bruno a queer, but he is obviously provoked. It is clear that Bruno will become more and more provocative until he Paul walks out; he takes off his pants and Paul walks. What have we learned?

The last major scene is the equivalent to the rodeo in Borat. A cage fighting show that begins with Bruno baiting gays, and ends with him making out with his male assistant in the cage. Cut to shots of outraged, angry audience members. I didn’t quite get the setup here. Bruno announces himself as “Straight Dave” and audience members are wearing Straight Dave t-shirts. Bruno says his ass is only for shitting, and one audience member displays a t-shirt with those very words on it. How were they prepared for the show? Again, it is funny and disturbing, but it looks a lot more staged than the rodeo scene.

So, taken as comedy, I loved it. And I think that most of the liberal critiques are off target. But I’m not sure I learned anything about homophobia in contemporary America today.  I doubt Sasha Baron Cohen intended me to.