Film is Pwn

I don’t want to start off this entry on a controversial note, but I will admit: I like jokes.  No, it’s true.  I like laughing, I like funny people, and I think humor is generally a good thing for men, women, and children ages 3 and up.  But, I truly fail to see the humor in Sacha Baron Cohen’s full length practical joke film, Bruno.

Actually, I want to apologize to practical jokes, Candid Camera, Punk’d, and anyone who plays pranks on their friends for implying Bruno is about practical jokes.  I don’t like practical jokes very much, preferring something a little more sophisticated like wit.  But a practical joke is when you trick someone into believing something ridiculous, such as their car has been repossessed, then saying, “Just kidding!” and then the perpetrator and victim (hopefully) share a laugh without hurt feelings.

Sacha Baron Cohen doesn’t want to slap his victims on the back when the gag is done; for all intents and purposes, the gag is never done.  In Bruno and its intellectual (and I use the word loosely) predecessor, Borat, Cohen plays an outrageous caricature (Borat = anti-Semetic, third world reporter; Bruno = outlandish, gay “fashionista”) who constantly tries to anger, offend, infuriate, and in every conceivable manner provoke unsuspecting celebrities and ordinary people alike.

A typical gag from the trailer features Bruno having “adopted” an African baby, and appearing on a Jerry Springer style talk show, cradling the baby, declaring, “I gave him like a traditional African name: O.J.”  At which point, an African American woman in the audience, visibly enraged, stands up and screams, “WHAT?!!”

If this scene appeared in a scripted movie, one could debate whether this or any other gag is either inappropriate or funny.  But it’s not just a question of taste, it’s the fact that this (talented) comedian chooses to use his skills not to entertain the masses but rather to provoke violent or embarrassing reactions, film it, then show it to the world, further humiliating the people unfortunate enough to have come across this clown.

The people in the audience who pay their hard-earned money to watch Bruno should know: If you had happened to be in the vicinity when they were filming, these people would have gladly gotten you to sign a waiver under a false pretense then done everything in their power to embarrass, harass, or infuriate you for posterity.

–DJR