Bruno Made Me Sad

I saw Bruno on Wednesday, but I’ve waited to comment on the movie because I wanted to make sure I knew where I stood. After much debate, I’m disappointed that it doesn’t really push anyone to feel one way or another about gay marriage. When Bruno and his assistant go to the courthouse to be wed, I expected there to be some sort of underlying message about the struggle for gay rights, but ultimately felt that the scene merely existed to appease the GLAAD committee who was also dissatisfied with the depiction.

Otherwise, Bruno made me laugh harder than I have in a while. In particular, the scenes where he unveils his talk show to a test audience and the interviews with the Christians he’s chosen to save him from his sins were some of my favorites.


I realize that Cohen’s work is meant to show how ridiculous stereotypes can seem when taken literally, but there were some awkward moments where the ridiculousness seemed to outweigh the suggestion (like the pictures of him and O.J. in the hot tub – yes, I understand that they’re photoshopped).

My contemplation of the material probably speaks to the work of Cohen more than anything else. Though I don’t think I like the way that Cohen went about creating Bruno, it’s his devotion to the project that keeps me thinking about it (I also very much enjoyed the marketing scheme for the movie).