“Bruno” – following Baron Cohen’s hit “Borat” – is centered around the adventures of a flamboyant gay fashion journalist from Austria. An official from Malaysia’s Film Censorship Board said the movie was considered unacceptable because of its story line, offensive language, jokes and racy nature. She declined to be named, citing protocol.

“It’s banned because the story is based on gay life … There are a lot of sex scenes,” she said. “It’s contrary to our culture.”

Gay sex, or “carnal intercourse against the order of nature,” is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and whipping in Malaysia. Sex toys, politically incorrect comments and jokes about religion also irked the censors, she said.

She said censors vetted the movie last month, and the distributor was notified. Ukraine has also banned the film, and some Austrian officials have spoken out against it, but have not taken action. Baron Cohen’s previous movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” made fun of the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and the United States and was banned in Kazakhstan and Russia.

Malaysia also decided in early September to ban another American hit, the horror film “Halloween II,” because of its gory scenes and excessive violence, the official said. The distributor was informed and can appeal the decision.

A Muslim-majority nation of 28 million people, Malaysia has strict public morality rules, including those applying to entertainment. U.S. R&B star Beyonce Knowles, who is scheduled to perform here on Oct. 25, has promised to wear conservative attire for the show.

Malaysia has just joined the Ukraine, Lebanon and the Bahamas in banning Bruno – the gay sexcapade/ insightful look at homophobia in America. I am a great defender of Bruno and understand that the film – made to shock American sense- was likely not going to receive a huge welcome from many international audiences.

That said, how crazy that Malaysia bans this movie, not because of the graphic nudity, not because of the language or sex scenes, but because it is based on gay life and contrary to the culture?

That just seems like a bad pr move to me.

Malaysia is a country where being gay is outlawed, but the reality is there are a number of gay pockets that live without the kind of persecution common in other predominantly Muslim countries. Couldn’t they refuse to inflame the issue more by using the graphic sex excuse and closing debate.

It is yet another example of how politicians are more than willing to engage in and inflame the debate about gay rights – using it as a galvanizing point for the more conservative and a polarizing force, both in Malaysia… and in the U.S.

Bruno is an over-the-top gay Austrian fashionista with a Nazi streak whose goal is to become the biggest Austrian celebrity since Hitler. To do so he travels to America, where he is told he must take on a charitable cause to achieve worldwide fame. So he decides to bring peace to a troubled place he calls “Middle Earth.”

There, he nearly sparks a riot in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem when he struts down the street in a sexed-up Hassidic outfit that includes skintight shorts. On the Palestinian side, he tries to convince a West Bank militant to kidnap him, while giving the man condescending fashion tips. Bruno confuses the popular chickpea spread “hummus” with the Islamic militant group “Hamas” when he tries to bring together Israeli and Palestinian personalities to make peace.

Baron Cohen, an observant, Hebrew-speaking Jew with close ties to Israel, has ribbed the region before. In his 2006 movie Borat, his fake Kazakh language was actually Hebrew and his shtick was peppered with Israeli slang. In Bruno he goes a step further, taking aim at the Middle East’s most sacred cows.

The movie opened worldwide a week ago and became the top grossing film in the U.S. over the weekend. It’s making waves in Israel, too.

The locally shot scenes got big rounds of applause and hearty laughs at a recent Jerusalem screening. But the subjects of his pranks don’t seem to be in on the joke.

“This man, I think he is not a man,” said Ayman Abu Aita, a former member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a militant group that has been largely disbanded. “He is not saying the truth about me. He lied.”

In their scene together, Bruno identifies Abu Aita as a “terrorist” and asks to be abducted.

“I want to be famous, and I want the best guys in the business to kidnap me,” Bruno says. “Al-Qaida are so 2001.”

Before Abu Aita has a chance to reply, Bruno suggests that the mustachioed man lose his facial hair. “Because your King Osama looks like a kind of dirty wizard or a homeless Santa,” he says before being kicked out.

In an interview with David Letterman, Baron Cohen, 37, said he set up the meeting in the West Bank with the help of a CIA agent.

Abu Aita’s Israeli-Arab lawyer, Hatem Abu Ahmad, denied his client has been involved in any acts of violence. He said he is preparing a lawsuit against Baron Cohen and Universal Studios alleging that the terrorist reference could get Abu Aita in trouble with the Israelis and the homosexual association could get him killed by Palestinians. “This joke is very dangerous. We are not in the United States, we are not in Europe. We are in the Middle East and the world operates differently here,” Abu Ahmad said.

The jokes apparently had their share of dangers for Baron Cohen as well. His production team said he narrowly escaped an angry mob during his prance in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Jonathan Rosenblum, an ultra-Orthodox columnist, said he hasn’t viewed the scene but said the reaction was to be expected.

“It was offensive. It was meant to be offensive and it succeeded,” he said. “I don’t have any interest in going to the movie but I am sure it will have its fans.”

Yossi Alpher, a former Israeli Mossad officer, and Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian Cabinet minister, are apparently not among them.

In a panel Bruno holds with them in the movie, he tries to find common ground.

“Why are you so anti-Hamas? I mean isn’t pita bread the real enemy here?” Bruno asks with a straight face.

The dumbfounded interviewees look awkwardly at each other before taking the bait.

“You think there is a relation between Hamas and Hummus?” Khatib asks.

“Hummus has nothing to do with Hamas,” Alpher insists. “It’s a food. We eat it, they eat it.”

To which Khatib responds: “It’s vegetarian, it’s healthy, it’s beans.”

Both men declined comment for this article. But following the prank, Alpher published his account of the meeting in the Jewish publication The Forward in which he said he became suspicious when he saw Baron Cohen dressed in leather and studs, his face heavily powdered, and his arms and chest shaven.

In the movie, Bruno encourages the Palestinians to return the pyramids and asks Jews why they can’t get along with Hindus.

Among the nuggets not appearing in the movie but said nonetheless, according to Alpher, were: “Your conflict is not so bad. Jennifer-Angelina is worse” and “Vy don’t you Jews and Arabs settle the conflict with a time share on the land?”

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.”

Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Bruno” started big on opening day Friday but had a huge drop the rest of the weekend, with the Universal Pictures mock documentary finishing with $30.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The movie took in nearly half of its weekend total – $14.4 million – on Friday, then tumbled with just $8.8 million Saturday and an estimated $7.2 million Sunday.

Revenues for hit movies typically go up on Saturday, so the nosedive for “Bruno” could be a sign that it lacks the shelf life that made Baron Cohen’s “Borat” a $100 million smash.

“It is unusual for a film to drop on Saturday. Normally, you expect the film at least to be even on Saturday or above compared to Friday, because Saturday is the biggest moviegoing day of the weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. “It’s going to be interesting to see how it does over the long run.”

“Bruno,” which features Baron Cohen as a wannabe going to extremes to achieve celebrity, finished ahead of 20th Century Fox’s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” which took second with $28.5 million. The “Ice Age” sequel raised its domestic total to $120.6 million.

Finishing third after two weekends in the No. 1 spot was Paramount’s sci-fi blockbuster “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” with $24.2 million, raising its domestic haul to $339.2 million. The sequel passed the $319 million total of 2007’s “Transformers.”

The weekend’s other new wide release, 20th Century Fox’s romantic comedy “I Love You, Beth Cooper” opened weakly with $5 million, finishing at No. 7. The movie centers on a high school valedictorian who uses his graduation speech to declare his love for a bombshell classmate (Hayden Panettiere).

“Bruno” outpaced the $26.5 million opening weekend for Baron Cohen’s surprise 2006 hit “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” “Borat” started with $9.2 million on opening day Friday then climbed to $10.1 million Saturday, a sign that fans were talking it up to friends.

That good word-of-mouth propelled “Borat” to a long run at theaters, the movie climbing to a $128.5 million domestic total.

“Borat” also scored its big opening weekend in far fewer theaters. “Bruno debuted in 2,756 cinemas, more than three times the number for “Borat.”

Nikki Rocco, head of distribution at Universal, said comedies such as “Bruno” typically drop off over opening weekend this time of year, while “Borat” opened in November, when audiences are less fickle than summer crowds.

The studio will have to wait until next weekend for a sense of how well “Bruno” can hold up for the long haul.

“I don’t know. That crystal ball just isn’t on my desk this morning,” said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. “Zany comedies tend to be like that, so I’m hoping that in the scheme of things, it just plays out the way zany comedies will play out.”

Reviews on “Bruno” were not as strong as those for “Borat,” which critics generally liked. There also had been questions about whether Baron Cohen’s flamboyantly gay persona might prove off-putting to audiences.

“Bruno” did most of its business in cities on the East and West coasts, while revenues were “softer, much softer in middle America,” Rocco said.

Even if revenues continue to plunge, “Bruno” is well on its way to turning a profit for Universal, which paid $42.5 million for rights to distribute it domestically and in eight other territories. “Bruno” took in $25 million in overseas markets so far, including $20 million in those Universal acquired, among them Great Britain, Australia and Germany.

Modi Wiczyk – co-chief executive officer of Media Rights Capital, which financed “Bruno” – said the movie exceeded the company’s expectations. Wiczyk said he had anticipated “Bruno” would finish in the range of $25 million domestically for the weekend.

“We don’t have talking robots or karate in our film,” Wiczyk said. “For that increasingly small subset of films that don’t have robots, we did terrific.”

After all, the film character boasts that his fame is second only to Hitler’s and says he just wants “to achieve zee Austrian dream – find a job, get a dungeon und raise a family in it.”

Yet rather than recoil at British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s new spoof about a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashionista, most Viennese are taking Bruno’s own advice: “Get ueber it!”

Judging from a smattering of look-alike contests and Web sites cheerfully hawking skintight T-shirts and short-shorts, some even seem to be embracing their inner Bruno.

“We can all learn a lot from Bruno: style, zest for life, versatility, fearlessness,” Doris Knecht, a columnist for the Kurier newspaper, wrote in her blog ahead of Universal Pictures’ worldwide release Friday.

“This man is proud of his homeland, so we’re proud of him,” she said, proclaiming: “Austria has a new ambassador. Thanks, Bruno!”

Not everyone shares her enthusiasm – least of all a real ambassador: Emil Brix, Austria’s top envoy to Britain.

In an interview with Austrian public broadcaster ORF aired Thursday, Brix denounced “Bruno” as “completely improper and unsuitable.”

He said he found Baron Cohen’s flippant references to Hitler and to Josef Fritzl – convicted in March of imprisoning his daughter for 24 years in a dungeon and fathering her seven children – cheap, crass and offensive.

“Everyone should speak out against such a thing,” he said, warning that it will tarnish Austria’s image.

ORF panned the film in a review. “A lot of expense for a few punch lines,” it said.

Most Austrians, though, seem to be taking “Bruno” in stride.

They’re used to being ridiculed for the country’s past complicity with the Nazis, its flourishing far-right political fringe and the Fritzl affair, which came less than two years after a similar case involving a young woman who escaped after being held captive 8 1/2 years in an underground cell.

They’ve also taken a ribbing over Austria-born Arnold Schwarzenegger, initially for his “Terminator” films and most recently for becoming California governor. Outsiders have made cracks about lederhosen and yodeling ever since “The Sound of Music” – still unseen by the vast majority of Austrians – debuted in 1965.

“Austrians like to laugh at themselves as long as no one gets hurt,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal said Thursday.

Underscoring the mischievous mood, he quipped: “I hope the lederhosen industry gets a boost from ‘Bruno’ in this time of recession.”

Some Austrians already are familiar with Bruno, a character Baron Cohen has channeled on “Da Ali G Show.”

Although Vienna isn’t exactly in the throes of Bruno fever, movie posters depicting him in barely bum-concealing bright yellow lederhosen, a matching alpine cap and an over-the-shoulder pout adorn virtually every bus and tram stop in the Austrian capital.

Fans also have been hawking clothing and merchandise emblazoned with Bruno-isms like “Get ueber it!” “Nicht nicht!” and “Ich don’t think so.”

“Naturally ‘Bruno’ is tasteless and always has one foot planted over the border of decency. But what else can you expect from Sacha Baron Cohen?” said Alex Rechsteiner, a philosophy student.

Austrian media generally have played down suggestions that “Bruno” will do irreversible damage and even discourage tourists from visiting. They note that some Australians feared the same after “Crocodile Dundee” was released, yet if anything, that film may have lured foreigners.

Baron Cohen is used to getting flak for his work.

After the 2006 surprise smash “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” officials and ordinary people in the former Soviet republic took great offense at being mercilessly lampooned as an incestuous and boorish backwater.

In the end, it didn’t seem to inflict any lasting damage: Next year, Kazakhstan will hold the chairmanship of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Alfons Haider, an openly gay Austrian cabaret singer and TV host who some believe helped inspire the Bruno character, has expressed admiration for Baron Cohen while repudiating what he describes as the movie’s far-right and anti-Semitic undertones.

Vienna is one of Europe’s most gay- and lesbian-friendly capitals, and its annual Life Ball – a glittery event that draws celebrities from around the world and raises millions for HIV/AIDS research – is a highlight of the social calendar.

“How could mein film be ein PR-disaster for Austria?” the daily newspaper Oesterreich quoted Baron Cohen as saying in characteristic zis-und-zat “Bruno-speak” in an interview published Thursday. “Hitler, Fritzl, Bruno. Zat has to be ein upswing!”

According to Movie Line, the original ending planned for Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie “Bruno” involved a violent gay bashing. Though the ending has since been changed, audience members for a February screening of the movie say that the film ended with Bruno (Cohen) and his assistant Lutz (Gustaf Hammerstan) being attacked at an Arkansas cage match for making out in the ring.

According to writer director Richard Day, an industry figure at the February screening, the original ending cuts to a press event after the cage match where Lutz’s character “is now drooling, seemingly brain-damaged, and in a wheelchair, played for laughs.”

According to Movie Line, the new ending has the couple “embrace domesticity with their adopted baby.” Day and actor Jack Plotnick (the only two gay people invited to the screening) complained after the movie, despite other audience members disagreeing.

“By the time I got to the bashing, the audience started defending the movie,” said Day. “They were annoyed with us for ruining the party.”

Universal Pictures, which is releasing the comedy, said the decision came “out of respect for the Jackson family.”

The moment was first cut out of the movie’s Los Angeles premiere Thursday night, which took place just hours after the Michael Jackson’s death at age 50.

“Bruno,” starring British comic Sacha Baron Cohen as a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion correspondent, is set to come out July 10 and is the follow-up to his 2006 smash “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” La Toya Jackson had been featured in an absurd interview with Bruno in which she sits on a Mexican man’s back and eats sushi off a second, naked Mexican man.

The moment is classic Baron Cohen, the kind in which he places some unsuspecting person in a weirdly deadpan situation and waits for the humiliation – and the humor – to follow. He also tries to interview Paula Abdul in this setting but she quickly feels uncomfortable and leaves. (The joke’s on the audience, too, because we don’t know which scenes are real and spontaneous and which feature players who are in on the gag.)

Jackson arrives at a contemporary L.A. home under the guise of being interviewed by Bruno, a character Baron Cohen introduced alongside Borat on his sketch comedy program “Da Ali G Show.” Because there’s no furniture in the house, Bruno asks Jackson to sit on the back of a Mexican laborer, who’s on his hands and knees functioning as a chair. Another man serves as a table with pieces of sushi spread across his naked body.

Jackson hangs out awhile and politely banters with Bruno, who asks whether she will introduce him to her brother, Michael. She tries to deflect his persistent requests but relents when he asks to see her cell phone – then he finds what is supposedly Michael Jackson’s number and reads it to his assistant in German.

The British comedian came in character as Bruno in a towering bearskin hat, a red military waistcoat and tight black shorts. He was accompanied by a group of similarly attired men whose waistcoats showed off their midriffs.

“I just wanted to do something that was flattering for the royal family. Something that the queen – I’m not talking about Elton John – would really appreciate,” said Baron Cohen as Bruno, a gay Austrian fashionista. “You know the British royal family and the Austrians have got a lot in common. We’re still the only people who are proud to wear a swastika.”

Baron Cohen’s flashy appearance at the premiere follows his stunt May 31 at the MTV Awards. As Bruno, Baron Cohen descended into the audience on a wire, ending up with his bare behind in the face of rapper Eminem, who stormed off in a show of anger. Eminem later said he was in on the gag.

“Bruno” begins hitting theaters worldwide early next month, including July 10 debuts in Britain and the United States. The movie is Baron Cohen’s follow-up to his 2006 hit “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” in which he played a clueless journalist on a U.S. tour.