This wasn’t really the point of my letter, but can you honestly say that a “Borat” character (I’m talking about Borat, not Bruno here) in, say, China, Russia, Italy, India, Mexico, etc. would have been able to get away with all that?

I have enjoyed extended stays in all those countries several times for both business and pleasure and, if I were SBC, would not feel at all safe doing my schtick there. The only places I would feel comfortable doing that in would be the US, Canada, and parts of Western Europe.

Again, that’s not the point of what I was saying, but in response to your letter, I stand by my statement.

And I think you've touched upon something. SBC is 'critiquing' and making fun of *western* society. We think we're so tolerant, yet we often overlook and accept overt and dangerous intolerance as part of life. That's one of many things he plays upon, including greed, ignorance, etc.

But on Borat, you would have to be more specific. I mean garbling the national anthem in China might draw repercussions or punishment from the state, but SBC isn't making fun of state-level apparatuses. Can you seriously see a crowd of Chinese rodeo goers storming the floor and killing him? How about Mexico? Or would it be more realistic to assume that someone would wait for him after the event and kill him on their own? Incidentally, what makes you think that this *isn't* a contingency his handlers plan for when preparing such an event within the U.S. or in England?

A more fitting title would be "Why 'Brüno' is bad."

However distasteful the people SBC attempts to skewer, Cohen's characters far eclipse them. And then there is the problem that his approach is based on lying and deceit.

Why enrich this jerk by seeing his movie? Instead, you might donate the price of two tickets to the Lambda Legal Defense Fund.

"However distasteful the people SBC attempts to skewer, Cohen's characters far eclipse them. "

HELLO! That is precisely the POINT!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum

Jesus, they teach these literary and philosophical devices in MIDDLE SCHOOL!

Thanks, I appreciate the thoughtful response. I confess I may not fully "get" the character, and in any event I should probably see the movie before mouthing off!

Shock of all shocks: Heterosexuals making fun of THEIR VERY OWN OFFSPRING and getting rich off of it.

Morals, indeed.

I'd love to see him try this in China or Saudi Arabia. Now that would be revealing.

Cohen gets laughs by setting up unsuspecting people for humiliation, which is a kind of cruelty I've always despised. During his filming of "Borat," he presented himself as a legitimate Khazak journalist to a newswoman at a local station, she checked his credentials, which seemed valid, invited him on her show, and promptly lost her job because of his antics. Not funny. And by the way, what did his antics do, exactly, for Khazakstan? Well, one actual Khazak journalist got the bum's rush from some event because the organizers assumed he was Cohen.

The science of Baron-Cohen's humor is that he makes people feel better about themselves by mocking other groups. Whether that's rednecks, Nazis, Ron Paul, homosexuals... doesn't matter!

The people who go see these movies are overwhelmingly urban and suburban office workers who want to get a good laugh and make fun of others they detest, but the subtext is that they want to feel moral superiority and raised status as a result.

That being said... his mockery of all groups is one-dimensional, and creates the same problems for gays as it does rural America. David Rakoff's takedown is expert and should be required reading.

I abhor Cohen's methods. There is something cruel and unethical in the way he treats people. Though I admit to being in tears laughing during the rodeo scene in Borat.

...this movie IS making fun of "gay" culture? As a bi-sexual man, I sure would like to see gay culture avoid the kind of empowerment black culture was sold.

Maybe Bruno can serve as a (perhaps accidental) warning to gays not to end up like blacks.

Not to watch:

"They're not afraid to be themselves."

turn into:

"They only care about sex and shopping."

"outside the US

I'd love to see him try this in China or Saudi Arabia. Now that would be revealing".

It is - Brunos encounter with a real life terrorist in 'Arabia' is really 'revealing'!

I think we've grown too accustomed to thinking far too much about the impact of movies. It's a MOVIE folks. It shouldn't have to be anything more than one and a half to two hours of entertainment. Criticizing a movie because it doesn't help someone's cause seems to me a case of investing far too much expectation in a medium that doesn't deserve it.

I am looking forward to SBC making fun of Jews, that would be incredibly unexpected!

Go Palestine!

I haven't seen Bruno yet, but based on Borat, and The Ali G Show, I think SBC is a brilliant culture commentator and entertainer. Yes, I do feel bad for some of the people that SBC targets, but honestly--the fact that they can't see through his ridiculous characters instantly shows that they buy into the stereotypes he's lampooning.

For example, in my opinion, openly comparing women's looks (the dinner party scene in Borat) is a critique of misogyny, in both our culture and Borat's mythical one. If we feel bad for the woman--why? She's obviously not unattractive. In fact, I find her much more attractive than the other women at the table. Yet, in the article linked from the New Yorker is worried about her crying to her husband later that night, and it's obvious that the WRITER of the piece is the one who thinks the woman is unattractive. But why? Because she is, or because Borat thinks she is?

In this way, I find SBC haunting as well as hilarious. Another example is the scene in Borat where he is incredulous over all the different kinds of cheese at the supermarket. I go from laughing to shame over the excess of our culture, and back again.

I just don't think that something so complex and intelligent AND entertaining is a bad thing, even if it makes us feel bad or uncomfortable at times over things we probably should feel bad or uncomfortable about--but often won't put up without the release of laughter or distance of humor.