Day 200--Bruno

On July 10th, I decided to drag my butt to see Bruno. I had no real desire to see it but I wanted to be an informed critic when the topic came up for discussion amongst my friends. I decided to see it alone because I didn’t want my friends to be watching me watch the movie. They love to see me grimace when I don’t like something and they have never let me forget when I let out an actual groan during some stupid movie they wanted to see.

I decided to see a 7:40 pm showing in Chelsea village (the gay part of NYC) so I could gauge the reaction of gays and non-gays to the movie. To my surprise, the place was packed. There wasn’t an empty seat in the whole theater. Maybe the gays came out in force because of the promise of full frontal male nudity.

As for the movie, it was high school type shock comedy. Another movie in the scope of Jackass or an extended Punk’d episode. There were a few times where even I chucked. Not that I ever laughed at any time which put me in the minority. Some of the audience members where roaring with laughter. Maybe it is because I don’t find humor in other people’s discomfort.

Yes, there are some stupid people out there. Many of them are simply ignorant of the world around them or they simply don’t care about life beyond their own existence. I get that. I understand that these people will never really care to understand me or my life. I’m fine with that. But to flaunt their ignorance for the enjoyment of others seems mean spirited and comedic hypocrisy.

For me, the funniest part of the movie was the camping scene where Bruno and three campers sit around the campfire. After Bruno makes some dimwitted comment about Sex and the City, there is total silence for a lengthy time. The funniest part of the movie was when Bruno didn’t speak and let the situation speak for itself.

Finally, is the movie homophobic? I don’t think so. It does play into many gay stereotypes and portrays gays as randy, sexual deviants and fetishists. Is the movie pro-gay in that it shows real homophobic people? Not really. No one going into the movie will change their views about gays or straights because the situations are so unreal you are seeing caricatures on both sides.

I rate this movie four stars.