Keeping It Real: Gay Rights In The Year of Brüno
99Problems.org is founded on the principles of empowerment through open discussion and debate. We value open discussion that allows you, the reader, to see all sides of the issue. That’s why we’re introducing a feature we’d like to call..
(*drumroll please*)
This week, we’re covering the most controversial movie star in recent history: Sacha Baron Cohen and his movie Brüno, which is set to be released next week. Some think that Brüno’s release is going to have a huge detrimental effect on modern perspectives of the homosexual male. We asked our reporters this question:
is going to set back gay rights in America?
Check out what they had to say, after the jump!
View: Eli KeeneWhat’s the world to make of Sacha Baron Cohen? With his new movie, “Brüno”, set to premiere in a few weeks, people seem to be unsure of how to respond to a film that bases its entire appeal on its raciness. For those not in the know, Brüno is one of Cohen’s three characters, and is best described as a flamboyant, gay, sex-driven Austrian fashion reporter. The film follows his antics across the United States, including such stunts as dancing pantsless in front of U.S. representative Ron Paul. While Cohen has a knack for coming up with hilariously awkward situations, the controversy surrounding his latest movie is pretty clear. “Brüno”, while meant to be too absurd for reality, is nonetheless a pretty negative depiction of gay culture. And the worry, according to a recent New York Times article, is that Brüno’s over-the-top character could enforce many people’s homophobia. On the other hand, representatives from the movie argue that Brüno exposes the senselessness of homophobia. I won’t go so far as to endorse the movie before I’ve seen it, but I think we can learn a lesson in this debate from Cohen’s last movie, “Borat.” In 2005, when Borat made his presence known worldwide, the reaction of the Kazakh government (whose country the character supposedly represented) was overwhelmingly negative. A spokesperson for the Kazakh Foreign Ministry even went so far as to suggest that Borat was the result of an international conspiracy aimed at destroying Kazakhstan’s reputation. Yet only a year later, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev laughed off Cohen’s character, saying, “All publicity is good publicity.” At least now millions more people have heard of Kazakhstan. So what does this mean for Brüno and the gay community? Our country’s views on homosexuality are changing. The gay rights movement has scored major wins recently with the legalization of same-sex marriage in four new states. What’s important now is to continue the movement’s momentum by keeping the conversation going. Much as Borat drew attention to Kazakhstan, even though his character had nothing to do with the actual country, Brüno will draw millions to a debate about gay rights, even if he is entirely unrepresentative of gay culture. And while homophobic viewers won’t be forced into changing their minds, they will at least be forced to laugh not only at Brüno, but also at the ridiculousness of the prejudices he exposes.
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View: Yolanda ClatworthyI don’t know about you, but I’m sick of hearing about the marital woes of Jon and Kate plus Eight. So I actually kinda welcome the recent media storm about Sacha Baron Cohen, whose latest movie “Brüno” has America debating whether this movie will be funny or offensive. I’m gonna go with both. After all, he managed to piss of an entire country with his previous movie Borat. This time around, it’s not Kazakhstan, but the gay and lesbian community that are getting riled. Why? Well, in the movie “Brüno”, Cohen plays an excessively flamboyant gay journalist from Austria. And obviously, it’s hard to form an absolute judgment before the movie is even released in theaters, but it would seem from movie trailers and recent publicity stunts that Cohen is not sympathetic nor sensitive to the gay movement. For one, while dressed in character at the MTV Movie Awards, he shoved his unmentionables in Eminem’s face. In a leaked scene from “Brüno” (spoiler alert!) he has sex with another man just a couple of feet away from a baby that they had adopted. And on Friday, he jet skied up to a brothel in Amsterdam declaring that men had the right to hire other men as prostitutes, dubbing it the Pink Light District. Which is all hunky-dory hilarity, until you realize that he’s perpetuating misconceptions that some people already have of the gay community: of lewdness, promiscuity, and their inability to raise children together. And shit, I agree with his right to make this movie. I’m all for freedom of speech. I just wonder about the implications of these stunts in the grander scheme of American politics. Gay issues are particularly important at the moment, what with the recent right to marry gained in Iowa and denied in California—and this movie has the potential to validate and /or create homophobic views. In the movie that bloggers have labeled “Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt,” my concern is that this title will translate into reality. That people will take a hint from a scene from Brüno and “protect” themselves from gays by “hitting them.” And that people will take a cue from former presidential candidate Ron Paul’s scene and storm out on the discussion surrounding gay rights rather than giving it the honest contemplation it deserves. Think I’m paranoid? Then prove me wrong America. Trust me, there’s nothing I’d like more. Prove that it’s not necessary to add a message of support for gay tolerance at the end of the movie, which the gay community asked Universal Pictures for and were denied. Prove that this is a simple summer comedy that exposes the ridiculousness of homophobia rather than escalate it. Go on and watch it. I know I will.
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