Is “Brüno” Homophobic? (Or Are Some Gay Observers Missing the Point?)

Warning: This article contains minor spoilers about the upcoming movie Brüno .

Two weeks ago, the whole world watched the character of Brüno when he landed, face-down and bare-assed, in the lap of Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards.

And pretty much everyone, gay and straight, has been talking about Brüno, and the upcoming movie about him, ever since.

Brüno is, of course, the latest “mockumentary” from Sacha Baron Cohen, the creator of 2006’s Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Like Borat, Brüno is a character from Cohen’s 2003-2004 HBO show Da Ali G Show, about a trio of journalists who ask ridiculous, often shocking questions to the real people most likely to be made uncomfortable by them. Brüno, the movie, opens July 10^th.

Borat was a huge hit, grossing well over a $100 million in the U.S. alone, making it the 16^th most successful picture of the year, and earning Cohen an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

But Bruno – and Brüno – is gay.

Really gay.

Unbelievably gay.

That’s exactly the point. Brüno is the most extreme gay stereotype imaginable: he talks with a lisp, wears short-shorts, and is obsessed with sex and fashion. In the film itself, it seems that the character’s Austrian talk show has been canceled, and he’s come to America to do whatever – and I mean whatever – it takes to resurrect it.

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