UniversalGay issues are, like, totally hot right now, right? What with Prop 8 and the whole Carrie Prejean "opposite marriage" mess, so Sacha Baron Cohen must be friggin' overjoyed—with Brüno being released this week.
We checked out an early screening, and tho we love a good gay giggle as much as the next moviegoer, we just couldn't get behind Cohen behaving as though being gay automatically makes you hilarious to watch. It doesn't.
SBC's performance is a straight man's limited idea of what he thinks is stereotypically gay. It's unknowing, ignorant, offensive and guilty of the most heinous crime of all: It's just not funny. If he'd made us guffaw we could at least forgive him for giving us a politically incorrect good time.
Plus, we still live in a world where not all people see gays as equals, obviously. You know, we're just around to do your hair or design your clothes or entertain you, that kind of sick thinking. Which is exactly what Cohen's been doing, dressing like a horned-up, couture-draped idiot on every press stop.
Since the most obvious (and pretty much only) attribute Brüno has is being gay, audiences aren't laughing at Brüno the fool, but Brüno the homosexual. Skip it, we say.