Brüno

Even amidst a film festival in Galway, I still had time to do some exploring of the city on foot, and even to sneak out to a multiplex at the shopping mall on the edge of town. The Omniplex at the Galway Town Center was showing Brüno. I'd been subjected to the trailers for this playing constantly over-and-over on a loop on the big screen above the ticket windows in the Dublin bus station. I had seriously considered passing this up entirely, but having decided to see it, I wanted to cross it over my list as quickly as possible.

Let me be blunt. I used to like Sacha Baron Cohen. I used to think he was funny. I laughed all the way through Borat: Cultural Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006). I thought it was brilliant. Actually, I'm a little bit ashamed about this now.

My patience with Cohen is completely exhausted. Brüno lived to everything I thought it was going to be from the trailer. It was disgusting and unfunny (although the audience in the Omniplex sure laughted a lot). For me it was like getting pissed on for two hours.

O.K., I've gotten uptight. Maybe it's the fact that of all the politicians Cohen goes after, he chooses the one decent and impeccable guy in all of Washington, D.C.---Ron Paul. He doesn't go after the gangster bankers of the guys lining their pockets, making imperial fascist war, and destroying our country. He goes after the guy fighting them, and the one of the few guys still trying to stop the war(s). He thus aligns himself with every nitwitted braindead talking head of the Operation Mockingbird media. Congratulations, Cohen, the Council on Foreign Relations outta give you a goddamn medal! You've earned your place as an Establishment shill!

I would love to link to the full-length clip of Cohen's encounter with Paul, with the parts Cohen edited out, where Paul has to hold himself back from slugging Cohen, but NBC Universal (i.e., fascist arms manufacturer General Electric), in its infinite corporate wisdom, has decided you are not allowed to see this full scene, and has pulled it from Youtube over copyright issues. Personally my respect for Paul went way up after this (for this I ironically can thank Cohen).

The implication of this film is that being decent and normal is somehow wrong. Being decent is now to be considered perverted.

Ha, ha, look at those stupid normal people reacting with disgust at having a penis waved in their face! They are so uptight!

Fuck Cohen, and fuck his hatred for America, and for normal people trying to get by. He looks at anything that isn't as perverted as him and sees sickness.

In reality, he is exactly what he parodies. He is a whore for fame who will do anything to get the approval of the very limelight-ravenous celebrities he attempts to skewer. But he has no real talent to offer except being outrageous in the most disgusting way.

O.K. I take the last part back a little bit. Cohen has done some decent voice work for the Madagascar movies. He was the funniest part of the second movie.

But that's all I'm willing to grant him. I'd say he can go to hell, but I think he already lives there. He's spoiled any appreciation I had of his earlier movie, in any case.