In Brief: Paul Cameron Made a Fool in Movie ‘Brüno’
Anti-gay “researcher” Dr. Paul Cameron, infamous for his severely skewed statistics and his support of Nazi concentration camp tactics for dealing with homosexuals, has yet again been made a fool. This time it’s in Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming movie “Brüno,” in which he plays a flamboyant, gay Austrian man of that name.
Victim: Dr. Paul Cameron, chairman of the Family Research Institute, Colorado
Scene: Bruno comes to him for advice on going straight.
“I did a German thing a year ago. Is that this? I wondered what had happened to that. I’m in this bloody film? Well, I’ll be jiggered. I guess you never can believe when people are in distress.
“I had to go to Kansas City. I was told that this chap was a homosexual in Germany, had a popular TV program in Germany, was perhaps suicidal and wanted to [become straight]. And I was supposed to see if I could help him in some way.
His producer was telling people what to do. He’d say, ‘Here’s the setting. This will be your office. He’ll come in, give him the kinds of advice that will be useful for him.’ It took about two and a half, three hours. To put it mildly, a few of his questions seemed strange. When he tried to sit by me and he wanted to give me a b – - w job, that kind of stuff pushed it.
“If it’s a gag, it was pretty well staged. I’ll be another laughing stock. Oh, well.”
In an ironic twist against the Nazi-admirer, Baron Cohen is Jewish and often places Judaism-related gags into his comedy.
I wasn’t going to see it. Now I will!
The movie makes fun of Cameron, but it also is full of antigay stereotypes.
Take a look at the photos:
http://men.style.com/gq/features/slideshow/v/0709BRUNO?loop=0&slideshowId=slideshow56140&iphoto=1&nphoto=13&play=true
This is almost the sort of stuff that Peter LaBarbera peddles, and there’s no effort in the movie to contrast Bruno with real-world LGBT folks. That could easily have been done, very comically, but it wasn’t.
I agree. Cohen’s shtick is old and it wasn’t even that funny to start with. Cameron humiliates himself most of the time, but being a victim to Cohen’s shock humor will almost make him a sympathetic character. Plus, the gay stereotypes that Cohen uses in his humor are ridiculous and offensive, and the fact that the fans of his humor are mostly young heterosexual males is just concerning.
Unfortunately, a lot of women and gay guys — myself included — may take one look at the photos and simply think, “Gawd, he’s hawt!”
I hope you’re being sarcastic, Mike. If not, well… I’m not here to judge people’s personal tastes.
From Newsweek:
Just have to say I saw the movie last night at midnight and I really encourage everyone to check it out. It’s crass, but it’s also hilarious.
And even more importantly, the message of the movie is clearly “Accept people for who they are,” and it’s pretty tough to miss. I saw the movie in South Carolina (where I live) and about 20 people walked out in the first fifteen minutes saying stuff like “That shit’s gay!”, which didn’t surprise me. Homophobes are going to hate this movie, but I think mainstream America is going to walk away with a really positive message. Plus Paul Cameron and another “gay converter” (who I did not recognize) came across as idiotic, misogynistic, misinformed morons. Which, to me at least, was worth the price of admission.
I agree with both mike and Jay, except for the “hawt” part
The problem with Cohen’s “Bruno” character is not really that he’s effeminate–it’s that he’s vulgar, crass and stupid. What’s supposed to be funny about Cohen tricking Congressman Ron Paul (who, unlike Cameron, is not known for anti-gay idiocy) into his hotel room for an interview and then pretending he’s trying to seduce him? Would that be funny if Cohen tried it with, say, Michelle Obama?