'Bruno': a homophobic and tedious failure of a film

Some commentators have claimed that Baron Cohen confronts homophobia in the film. But confronting homophobia is about explaining the truth about the lives gay people live. Most LGBT people do this, and we know it requires patience and sympathy.

Because Bruno is an idiot, he’s not in a position to do that. Nobody learns anything or changes their ideas.

The rednecks go on being rednecks, and the world is presented as a mixture of mutually uncomprehending groups between whom no real contact or discussion is possible.

It’s a deeply miserable view of the world rather than a comic one.

In fact the film mocks everybody and everything. Models and Hollywood PR consultants are revealed to be facile people, which hardly counts as biting satire.

Bruno’s attempts to bring peace to the Middle East pokes fun at both Hassidic Jews and Palestinians. Nothing is worth taking seriously.

If this was the unfocused, slightly crazy rage of Jonathan Swift or Eminem against the whole world, it might be interesting.

Gnat-brained

But the belief that the whole of human life and struggle is just the opportunity for one more joke about anal sex is tedious.

Even Bruno’s victims quickly get bored - most of them realise pretty soon that something isn’t right and are out of there, and the film’s gnat-brained attention span moves on.

This would be a truly depressing film if Baron Cohen found it easier to provoke homophobia.

However, he has to work really hard, in absurdly contrived ways, to make this happen.

Bruno goes hunting with rednecks who only throw him out after he has woken them up twice at night with crude seduction attempts.