Blogs and Stories
The Brünos Who Surround Us
The film has one major flaw. You don’t know which of Brüno’s foils are actors and which are real people caught up in his satiric net. This is a version of the problem that has been plaguing the country in general: No one wants to invest any equity in a house or a deal. But by not investing truth in the film—by not coming clean about what is true and what is false—Cohen thwarts his own satire. We don’t know where truth has triumphed because we don’t know what is true. Satire has to rest on truth sooner or later.
But this slipperiness gets redeemed in the film’s final moments when we see Brüno—having become famous again—singing a song of himself accompanied by Bono, Sting, Elton John and Snoop Dogg. Has Cohen sold his satirical birthright for a mess of stars?
Well, the film has previously put Bono and Sting in a bad light, stigmatizing them as celebrities seeking celebrated causes to remain celebrities. And Elton John, we gradually see, is playing the piano while sitting on a Mexican. Is Cohen himself so clueless that he would let his guard down and compromise his film by using celebrities to sell it, thus becoming the very thing he has been satirizing? Or are these celebrities so besotted with themselves, a la Brüno, that they cannot believe that Cohen would betray their trust and put them in a ridiculous light? My own feeling is that this film is a true piece of shit. In other words, it is a Swiftian splendor.
Lee Siegel has written about culture and politics and is the author of three books: Falling Upwards: Essays in Defense of the Imagination; Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television; and, most recently, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. In 2002, he received a National Magazine Award for reviews and criticism.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Obama, the Un-decider
Lee Siegel has written about culture and politics and is the author of three books: Falling Upwards: Essays in Defense of the Imagination; Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television; and, most recently, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. In 2002, he received a National Magazine Award for reviews and criticism.
Leave Palin Alone
Lee Siegel has written about culture and politics and is the author of three books: Falling Upwards: Essays in Defense of the Imagination; Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television; and, most recently, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. In 2002, he received a National Magazine Award for reviews and criticism.
Obama's Dangerous Obsession
Lee Siegel has written about culture and politics and is the author of three books: Falling Upwards: Essays in Defense of the Imagination; Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television; and, most recently, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. In 2002, he received a National Magazine Award for reviews and criticism.
An interesting and apt take on the bizarre film, Bruno. Ultimately, I found it to be satire of the highest order, as did this writer.
Though parts of the film were hilarious, and much of it uncomfortable, it wasn't all that funny as a whole. I can't imagine it will have "legs" as a movie.
Spoiler Alert:
The explicitly sexual scenes (homosexual at the start, and heterosexual at the end) which bookend the film were smartly set against each other. The fact that this turns out to be a very moral movie, and a love story, was a surprise.
The cage scene is brilliant. It was an amazing exhibition of the animal rage that some still feel against homosexuality.
To me, Sacha Baron Cohen was not making fun of gay men as much as personifying an extreme caricature of gayness in order to provoke honest -- and sometimes horrifying -- reactions. This will be a film talked about for a long time.
I finished watching the movie a few hours ago and agree on all your points around the satire. But it's also worth highlighting that between Bruno and Borat, Cohen mocks nearly every group but the liberal urbanites that alternately recoil in guilty-horror and glee in his skewering and who seemingly buy his tickets and DVD's.
How I wish we could get Marshal McLuhan's take on this. I can only imagine.
This essay makes me so happy. I love the sharp analysis of popular culture. I'm going to use this as an example of analysis with my AP English seniors next year.
This is the silliest review I've ever read. Bruno is pure slapstick. Of course he's making fun of all that is foolish in American popular culture, but he was primarily just showing how irrational and silly homophobia is. Period.
I don't know about anyone else...but this guy just creeps me out in all of his films...Just not amusing.
I hope Sacha Baron Cohen's next spoof targets
pseudo intellectual cultural "experts" who dissect, and try to
find deep meaning in his hilarious exaggerated characters.
It's not that deep. Get over yourselves "Cultural Essayists."
As for the gays who are having a hissy fit
over the movie.
Apparently there was some concern in the gay
community, that the adoption scene
would portray gay adoption in a bad light.
The whole adoption scene was hilarious,
from opening the box at the luggage claim, to the
photo shoots.
Get over it. It's called exaggeration.
Cohen was poking fun at Madonna and Angelina,
and the whole "coolness" factor of adopting a
"prized" African baby.
Lighten up. Learn to laugh at yourselves.
Try not to be humorless, like PETA.
Just wondering if there were any moments in
the movie that might offend PETA ?
Perhaps when Bruno made reference to
the death of a hamster, or was it a gerbil ?
I'm sure the elephants foot and trunk in the airport scene will get them going.
Not having seen this movie, I can't comment on the Swift comparisons. But knowing Cohen's MO through his shows, I assume he still finds easy targets and tries to humiliate them. Yes? And if he doesn't succeed easily, he goes further and tries to manhandle them or somesuch? Then maybe, just maybe, a poor working class redneck from The South gets "punk'd"? And all the "enlightened" viewers get to laugh at the redneck's faults? Gee, sounds like fun.
Makes me want to make a movie about the homeless:
I can start by teasing them with food and a roof, then pull the carpet from under their feet. Oh what laughs it'll get!!
Or about the Brit's and their race problems:
I can easily find a racist lorry driver in the north, and pit him against a Pakistani cornerhop owner. Give them knives and let them go at it!!
How we'll be rolling in the aisles!!!!
I laughed so hard my sides ached. Even when I left the theater I would review a scene in my mind and still
keep laughing. Bruno is a great film. See it.
Lee Siegel looks like Jack Bauer.
busted a gut laughing. not bothered by mix of staged and real events. seems like the staged events were used to frame/set up real moments. the film axis of narcissism and homophobia isnt quite as perfect as borats xenophobia/racism discourse, but it has 1000% more clever social satire than most studio comedies.
bruno is stiffing.........
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.