Want to Insult People while Maintaining an Air of Superiority? Here's How!

Illogical etymology aside, homophobia specifically describes a fear of homosexuals. Antipathy or outright hatred is covered by the term bigotry, so the nuance is worth exploring. Especially in the context of the new movie Brüno, the Sacha Baron Cohen vehicle and surprising success that just might save Universal Pictures from a disastrous hit-free summer.

Those experiencing homophobia generally describe a niggling fear that they may be sexually approached or desired by someone of their own sex, and they are repulsed by the imagined experience of that encounter. A homophobe may, for example, have no negative reaction at all to a gay celebrity or an actively pro-equality politician, but sharing a barracks, a breakroom, or a bathroom with a homosexual gives them inescapable willies.

Like arachibutyrophobia, the fear is irrational, and the onus is on the individual to temper his behavior in a way that prevents his fear from inhibiting the rights of others. In a reasonable world, homosexuals (who have far better things to do with their time than sexually pursue irrational heterosexuals) and homophobes (who have a responsibility to temper themselves) can exist in mutual ambivalence.

Which brings us to Brüno. Universal Pictures would have us believe that “Brüno uses provocative comedy to powerfully shed light on the absurdity of many kinds of intolerance and ignorance, including homophobia,” but the title character repeatedly goes out of his way to orchestrate the fantastical situations that homophobes fear the most. Texas Congressman Ron Paul sits down for an interview with the unequivocally gay Brüno – seems tolerant, right? – and finally has enough of the charade once Brüno drops his pants and coaxes Paul onto a nearby bed. In another scene, Brüno spends an entire evening trying to raise the discomfort quotient among a group of rugged hunters, eventually confirming their every reservation by sneaking uninvited into one of their tents after lights-out. Now which of these individuals, Universal Pictures, is practicing “absurdity” and “intolerance”?

In Borat, Cohen illuminated anti-Semitism by acting as an anti-Semite, spouting hatred for a mythical enemy and capturing the reactions of those around him. The difference in Brüno is that Cohen has become the boogeyman himself, then (ostensibly, by the studio’s statement) chastises those he encounters for believing in the boogeyman. His portrayal of a predatory homosexual is worse than a minstrel show (a charge leveled all over the Intertubes); Brüno is a landshark to galeophobes. And it is a recipe for turning homophobia into bigotry.

Brüno is very funny. Shame on Universal and Cohen for claiming that it’s something more.