Bruno: Satire, Humor and Stereotypes

Rashad Robinson writes:

“

In April, when the first trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie Bruno debuted online, many of us in the LGBT community were cautiously optimistic about what we saw – and I was among them.

I first became familiar with Sacha Baron Cohen through his Da Ali G Show on HBO, where he played different characters who conducted squirm-inducing interviews with political leaders, media personalities and everyday Americans. The characters’ clueless questions – and the actor’s impressive ability to never break character – allowed them to call attention to people’s hang-ups, biases and intolerance.

One of those characters, Bruno, was a flamboyant gay correspondent for the fictional Austrian TV show Funkyzeit mit Bruno — itself a satire of programs that feed people’s obsession with fashion and pop culture. Bruno interviewed fashion designers, nightclub owners and models – but he also spoke to people with anti-gay attitudes, using the setting to send up the homophobia of some of his interview subjects.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2006 blockbuster Borat made him a household name. Audiences and critics loved the movie. And based on what I had seen on Da Ali G Show, I had hoped that I might be able to say similar things about the forthcoming Brüno.”

See Bruno: Satire, Humor and Stereotypes

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Experts Question Obama Plan to Consult Military on Gays, Consultations Could Backfire As In 1993

Some experts are questioning President Obama’s effort to consult with military leaders as he plans to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The AP reported today that Obama “has begun consulting his top defense advisers on how to lift a ban.” But Dr. Nathaniel Frank, author of a new book on the policy, says that “Last time political leaders consulted with the military on this issue, the brass still claimed they had not been consulted, and the result was a disaster. Remember, Clinton insisted he was consulting on how, not whether, to lift the ban, and even so, we got ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’”

Frank’s new book presents never-reported evidence indicating that military officers who wrote the blueprint for “don’t ask, don’t tell” based the policy “on nothing” but their “own prejudices and fears.” The book, “Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America,” which was released today, contains the largest collection of evidence showing openly gay service does not undermine military effectiveness. Frank is Senior Research Fellow at the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Last month, a retired Marine Corp General questioned a similar Obama administration proposal to study “don’t ask, don’t tell.” “There’s been enough studying throughout the years,” said General Hugh Aitken. “Creating a new study will not change the facts.”

The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.