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Loading ...GLAAD: `Bruno’ reinforces negative gay stereotypes
07.13.2009 10:33am EDT
(Los Angeles) The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said that “Bruno,” the new film starring Sacha Baron Cohen, reinforces negative stereotypes and “decreases the public’s comfort with gay people.”
GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios, who saw the film Friday, said that “the movie was a well-intentioned series of sketches – some hit the mark and some hit the gay community pretty hard and reinforce some damaging, hurtful stereotypes.”In a style similar to his popular Borat character, Baron Cohen brings Bruno, a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashionista, into ridiculous situations with unsuspecting everyday people.
Universal Pictures, which released “Bruno,” sought GLAAD’s input on the film and invited staff members to advance screenings, Barrios said.
The organization “shared a number of concerns, and unfortunately, the scenes that we had the biggest concerns about remained in the film,” Barrios said.
One such scene shows Bruno in a hot tub with his adopted infant son and two naked men involved in a sex act.
“Scenes like that don’t help America understand the hundreds of thousands of gay families who get up every day, do the carpool then rush home to make dinner and be with their children,” Barrios said.
Similarly, the movie’s mock marriage scene “doesn’t help Americans understand the lives of gay couples who are denied the rights and protections of marriage in 43 states,” he said.
Universal Pictures maintains that “Bruno” is a satire that “uses provocative comedy to powerfully shed light on the absurdity of many kinds of intolerance and ignorance, including homophobia.”
“While any work that dares to address relevant cultural sensitivities might be misinterpreted by some or offend others, we believe the overwhelming majority of the audience will understand and appreciate the film’s inarguably positive intentions, which we’ve seen demonstrated whenever we have shown it,” the studio said in a statement.
Barrios said that while he believes the filmmakers had good intentions and that some moviegoers will see the satire, “some people in the gay community will be as troubled as GLAAD is that the movie doesn’t decrease homophobia, but decreases the public’s comfort with gay people.”
As a proud openly gay man and gay rights activist. I disagree with GLADD’s assessment. Yes a few of the scenes went a little too far. However there was nothing in the movie that you can’t see gay men already doing in pictures on the internet. This is a large and diverse community. I honor the incredible tapestry of our community. I think GLADD has some issues of internalized homophobia. This movie was satire of an often purposefully shocking minority group. I was not offended and I grew up in the rural south. On many occasions he put himself in real physical danger. I am surprised he did not get killed. He did this to point out peoples homophobia. I thought the over all message of the movie was brilliant. The movie literally ends with Snoop Dogg saying “He is gay. That’s ok? What more could you ask for? Lighten up people.
Amazinig how adult people asume that young people watching this kind of film will view it the same way they do. I’ve seen clips. Its juvenile and stupid, but hey, some people like that kind of crap.
Bruno was hilarious. My boyfriend and I went, and of course the film was ridiculous (in the same way Borat was) and parts of it were hard to watch but at no point should anyone, nor, do I think any intelligent person would think, that Sacha Baron Cohen’s character Bruno was an actual gay man. The film is completely satire, and GLAAD needs to realize this. There is no one (hopefully) that sat down and saw Borat as an actual Middle Eastern man.
Acting like this film was some sort of horrible thing, is why GLAAD will fail to make any ground breaking cultural changes.
This film has actually made my heterosexual friends think about homosexuals. My friends who saw it were concerned with whether or not I was offended by the movie. Which quite honestly I think is awesome that heterosexuals were concerned about my feelings on homophobia. Bravo Bruno.
While I haven’t actually seen the film yet, I can’t wait to. But I’m not going into it looking for things to complain about. It looks like a funny movie, and even being the dyke that I am, I know that I’m going to take it all with a grain of salt and enjoy myself.
I am a little sensitive to the stereotypical gays being portrayed in movies and TV, but I agree with The Menstruator on this one. It does more to make from of homophobia than homosexuals. Everyone seeing the movie KNOWS that Bruno is not a real gay person so the movie watcher is in on the joke while we watch Bruno just be Bruno and we get to see the people he’s interacting with squirm.
Once again GLAAD has proved itself to be over opinionated, thin skinned and self absorbed. When we saw the movie, it was full of fellow gays laughing half to death. Your opinion seems to be as stupid as the straight people portrayed in the movie.
This movie made a mockery of heterosexuals, not homosexuals. If you think otherwise than perhaps there’s something your life that you are ashamed of…
Straight people looked completely studid in this movie. They were hateful and all very homophobic.
If you aren’t comfortable with gay people you aren’t going to change because of a stupid movie.
Why aren’t all our alleged straight allies upset about how ignorant the film made them look. (And their parts aren’t even scripted.)
If you were offended by the film perhaps you are weak minded, a teenager or you just shouldn’t have seen it. It’s not for everyone.
Well Bob, obviously there is no universal sense of what is humorous. The difference is are people laughing with you or AT you?
Oh, come on. Actually GLAAD complaining is what’s hurting us and making us look like babies. I thought it was funny. I don’t act “flaming” like Bruno does anyway, and it was more making fun of gay guys who are into the whole fashion, sashay thing.
I’d rather people view us as funny and quirky than as some kind of plague that is destroying their children.
/shrug, another stupid gross-out comedy I won’t see. No big deal.
Of course it is a negative representation, which hasn’t stopped GLBT media, including this site, from accepting their ad money.
The concept of cultural sensitivities has turned people into thin-skinned wimps. I’m a gay man but secure with myself. If someone calls me a limp-wrist fag, who cares? Not my problem.
I HATE to say I agree with GLAAD on this one. I saw the film and although some of it was funny, most of it just made me cringe.
At least according to the USA Today review of the movie. (I had that in the original post but it got stripped out.)
Oh, but if you disagree with the movie being hilarious you’ve obviously got a thin skin.