Review of the Controversial Movie Bruno
Sacha Baron Cohen's Newest Character Pushes the Envelope
Sacha Baron Cohen can be accused of a lot of things, but holding back is not one of them. He has pushed the envelope with his well known characters Ali G and Borat and now Cohen is knocking the envelope off the table by moving the spotlight to a different character.
Sacha Baron Cohen is Bruno
Cohen’s newest movie, Bruno, takes us to new places. Some places might make people uncomfortable. Some places may make people laugh. Then some places may make people want to throw up.
Bruno is an openly gay (flaming would not be inappropriate) Austrian man claiming to be 19 years old. He has his own fashion show in Austria called Funkyzeit mit Bruno. After a fashion faux pas, Bruno’s show is pulled tarnishing his reputation. To revive his dying career, Bruno heads to the good old US of A.
Bruno in America
While they may be few, the places were Bruno shines is the same as Borat. Cohen has mastered taking stereotypes to the extreme and putting them in everyday society. He was able to do that with Ali G and Borat. With Bruno the gay stereotypes are rampant, but if you look a little closer there are other issues being probed.
Bruno takes a stab a celebrity and fame. With his quest to garner fame and fortunate he blasts trends that have gotten people attention, such as sex tapes and adopting babies from third world countries. Bruno also takes a swipe at what people would do to get that fame and fortune.
When putting together a photo shoot for his adopted African child he interviews the parents of toddlers. Some of the questions were, “Would you mind your baby being strung up on a crucifix?” The mother’s answer? “fine, I wouldn’t mind my baby being up on a crucifix?” Next question, “Is your baby comfortable with bees, wasps, and hornets?” The mother’s answer? “George is comfortable with everything, he’s fine.” One outrageous question after another and the parents just ate it up.
Bruno is Tasteless
There are many, many scenes in Bruno that will make the audience wince. From the start we are introduced to Bruno’s lover. We are given too much access to their private lives. Let’s just say there are sex toys and black dots.
Then there is the scene where Bruno and his assistant, Lutz, wake up handcuffed in an uncompromising position. They walk through the streets nearly nude. Not a pretty sight. And no one should be subjected to a helicoptering penis.
The argument may be made that the numerous tasteless scenes are needed to make the point. It definitely takes a certain person to be bombarded with these sometimes pornographic images. At the very least Bruno makes the viewer look at some of these issues.
There are times when Bruno is funny. More often than not, it is disturbing. Bruno is not for everyone, that is for sure.
Bruno Movie Poster
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