Gay Activists Wary About Flamboyant "Bruno"

LOS ANGELES - U.S. gay activists are worried that comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's new film, "Bruno," could reinforce negative stereotypes about homosexuals just as they are making gains in the fight for rights such as same-sex marriage.
Cohen, who scored a surprise hit in 2006 with "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," portrays a flamboyant gay Austrian fashion reporter in the new film that premieres on Wednesday in London and opens in the United States on July 10.
The studio releasing "Bruno" says the film's intent is to satirize homophobia, but some gay advocates are wary.
"We do feel the intentions of the filmmakers are in the right place -- satire of this form can unmask homophobia -- but at the same time it can heighten people's discomfort with our community," said Rashad Robinson, senior director of media programs for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
With that in mind, GLAAD asked in vain for Universal Pictures, the studio behind "Bruno," to add a message from Cohen addressing the importance of gay rights and tolerance.
Universal says in a statement it believes most moviegoers will understand the film's "positive intentions."
"'Bruno' uses provocative comedy to powerfully shed light on the absurdity of many kinds of intolerance and ignorance, including homophobia," the studio said.
The movie comes out as U.S. same-sex couples have won the right to wed in six states amid a fierce debate on gay marriage that has seen California voters approve a ban on such marriages.
"Bruno" is expected to be a hit, although there remains a big question about whether the young men who make up a core Hollywood audience will turn out for a movie about a gay man.
"It's going to be interesting to see if a bunch of teenage boys actually care to go", said gay activist Cathy Renna.
But one thing is certain -- Cohen has a huge fan base. Men and women flocked to "Borat," a fake documentary about a Kazakh journalist traveling across the United States that used comedy to expose bigotry. It earned $128 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices and $133 million in other countries.
Like its predecessor, "Bruno" is a mock documentary that covers the fashion reporter after he loses his job in Austria and goes to America looking to become a celebrity. Bruno wears mesh shirts, talks with a lisp and has a penchant for dropping his pants.
His unscripted encounters with everyday Americans and prominent figures, who think he is real, often devolve into people's disgusted reaction to Bruno's in-your-face sexuality.
In one scene, for instance, a martial arts teacher shows Bruno how to guard against gays. GLAAD's Robinson said another scene worried him that shows Bruno appearing to have sex with a man in a tub, while his adopted baby sits nearby.
"That wasn't really unmasking homophobia, and especially in a country where same-sex couples can still be denied the ability to adopt children that they've raised since birth. Trivializing gay families isn't a joke," Robinson said.
But gay groups also see potential from the film. "Bigotry and homophobia still today get cloaked in many different nuanced ways, so a movie like this has the potential to let everyone in on the joke and to really change the way homophobia is viewed," said Brad Luna, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign.
from Reuters

'Borat' Could Mar Universal's $42.5-Million Deal

Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat" has grossed more than $100 million at the box office, but can the British comedian pull off another "mockumentary," this time in the guise of a gay Austrian fashionista?
Universal Pictures has bet $42.5 million that he can.
Before "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" became a box-office sensation, Universal agreed to pay the hefty premium for the actor's next film, "Bruno," which it will market and distribute. 20th Century Fox, the studio behind "Borat," turned down the project, deeming it too expensive.
Universal may already be feeling buyer's remorse. The studio is not scheduled to release "Bruno" until 2008, but a flurry of lawsuits filed against Fox and the "Borat" filmmakers has led to predictions by some legal experts that Universal could be a target too. Some everyday people featured in "Borat" claim they were duped into believing that they were participating in a documentary about American life rather than a spoof that they claim made them look foolish.
And the legal issue may not be the only challenge Universal faces with "Bruno." Given all the publicity surrounding "Borat," Cohen may now be too well known, some say, to fool enough people into taking "Bruno" as seriously as is required to make the film work.
"He is going to have a real tough time making "Bruno" and so is Universal," predicted Edward D. Fagan, a New York attorney representing two Romanians who are suing Cohen, 20th Century Fox and several others connected with "Borat" for alleged civil rights violations.
"The cat's out of the bag," he said.
Universal declined to comment for this story, but studio officials have indicated they plan to move forward with "Bruno."
"Borat" was successful in part because of Cohen's believability as a Kazakh journalist and the participants' belief that the interviews he conducted for the film were legitimate.
For "Borat," Cohen and a crew posing as his Kazakh news team roved the country interviewing such figures as the head of a Southern rodeo, New York feminists, former Georgia Republican congressman Bob Barr and conservative pundit Alan Keyes. Fox agreed to let the filmmakers create several phony production companies to convince unsuspecting interview subjects that they were taking part in a real documentary.
Like Borat, "Bruno" is a recurring character in Cohen's "Da Ali G Show" a series that has its origins in Britain and was popularized in the U.S. when HBO did its own version of the program. In the series, Bruno is an aggressively gay interviewer prone to wearing see-through clothing and tight-fitting pants. In one interview on "Da Ali G Show," Bruno asks an Arkansas pastor who claims he converts gays into heterosexuals, "Have you ever taken a walk on the brown side?" and "Why is being gay so out this season?" Clips of Bruno have been widely circulated on such Internet sites as Google Inc.'s YouTube.
For Universal, which is part of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal division, "Bruno" concerns come as the studio is struggling to reverse what has been a difficult year. In February, Chairwoman Stacey Snider left Universal after a successful tenure to head Paramount Pictures' DreamWorks SKG. Several films since released by Universal have been flops, including its big-budget summer movie, "Miami Vice," as well as "The Black Dahlia" and "Let's Go to Prison" — neither of which were financed by the studio.
The studio has two prestige films left this year, Robert De Niro's "The Good Shepherd" and Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men."
Some critics question whether "Bruno's" flamboyant homosexuality will limit the film's appeal in certain parts of the country.
Several studios including Fox balked at the rich terms. Under the deal, Universal will pay about $25 million for the distribution rights to the film and pay Cohen and producer Jay Roach approximately $17.5 million, according to people familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the financial terms are confidential.
Cohen's agents negotiated the type of deal that few stars receive nowadays. Cohen, who owns the rights to the "Bruno" character and movie, also will receive 15% of the box-office gross before the studio recoups its expenses, these people said. Cohen also has complete creative control, including the final cut and the ability to pick the director.
The "Borat" lawsuits have added another layer of complexity for Universal.
"Once you have a high-profile situation and you have lawyers circling around, your risk factor is higher," said prominent entertainment litigator George Hedges, a partner in Los Angeles at the firm Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart, Oliver & Hedges.
Fox is facing off against several well-known attorneys such as Fagan and Los Angeles celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred. Fox maintains that the suits have no merit and that the release form signed by the participants noted the film would be in documentary style for worldwide release.
In addition to the lawsuit filed by the two Romanians, a defamation suit was filed by two fraternity members who claim they were misled and tricked into making sexist and racist statements in a "Borat" scene.
Allred has asked California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer to investigate whether the filmmakers used unfair business practices by claiming the interview with Southern etiquette coach Cindy Streit would "be filmed as part of a documentary for Belarus Television and for those purposes only."
"I would hope that the attorney general will look at this next venture to see whether it uses the same deceptive and unfair business practices," Allred said in an interview. "If I were a lawyer at NBC Universal I would want to make sure that this was done in a way to avoid legal exposure."
Although the spotlight on "Borat" seems to have brought Cohen fame, some pundits say the exposure has not been wide enough to ruin the punch line for his next spoof. And that is what Universal is counting on.
"We tend to think that everybody in the culture is plugged into "Borat," but they are not," said pop culture critic and historian Neal Gabler. "Even though he seems to be omnipresent, there are many people who do not know the culture of Sacha Baron Cohen and everything he represents."
from The Orlando Sentinel