Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida

New GLAAD president: ‘Instead of challenging stereotypes, [‘Bruno’] reinforces them

News release from GLAAD:

STATEMENT FROM INCOMING GLAAD PRESIDENT JARRETT BARRIOS ON BRÜNO

New York, NY, July 10, 2009 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today issued the following statement from incoming President Jarrett Barrios in response to the film “Brüno,” which opens in movie theatres nationwide today.

“In many parts of the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people live life in harm’s way.  We are among the most frequently targeted for hate crimes—including physical attacks, verbal assaults and destruction of our property.  In particular, LGBT youth experience bullying and violence in school and social settings--harassment that contributes to lower self-respect, depression and increased incidence of suicide.

Into this context steps the movie “Brüno,” an 80-some-minute series of sketches apparently intended to skewer these homophobic attitudes—and get some laughs along the way. Clearly, the filmmakers wanted to use satire to highlight and challenge homophobia.  But their film also reinforces troubling attitudes about gay people in ways that run counter to the intentions of the filmmakers.

The movie repeatedly builds entire scenes around stock stereotypes and situations that make gay people and families the butt of crude jokes.  I can’t help but think of all the teenage kids already getting bullied, beat up and ridiculed for being--or for being thought to be--gay.. For these kids, this movie will give their tormentors one more word in the anti-gay lexicon of slurs: Bruno.

Instead of challenging stereotypes, it reinforces them for many of the those who voted to take away the freedom to marry from loving, committed gay and lesbian couples in California.  Many states have gone even further—Arkansans went to the polls and effectively eliminated the ability of gay people to adopt or foster children in that state.  In a cruel twist, “Brüno,” some of which was actually shot in Arkansas, includes a scene where the title character shows a talk-show audience photos of sexual activity occurring in the presence of an infant child.  Can this help the gay families across the country who continue to be reduced to political punching bags at the ballot box?

It's unfortunate that “Brüno” ultimately misses the mark, particularly when there are still far too few positive images of gay people in major studio films.  Some members of our community will not be offended by this film.  Others, like those of us at GLAAD, find it frustrating and discouraging to be confronted with a movie that wants to increase America’s discomfort with homophobia, but which for much of America, seems likely to decrease its comfort with gay people.”

Photo gallery | Chaz Bono at Outfest premiere

Gay rights activist Chaz Bono arrives at a premiere for the feature film "La Mission" at Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles on Thursday, July 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

Gay rights activist Chaz Bono, right, and Jennifer Elia arrive at a premiere for the feature film "La Mission" at Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles on Thursday, July 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

Movie review | Brüno (R) ***

BY CONNIE OGLE, cogle@MiamiHerald.com

The real genius, if that is what it is, behind Sacha Baron Cohen's crude, shocking and explosively funny Brüno is the fact that the filmmakers actually found enough gullible human targets. Surely they had thinned out after Borat became a hit and introduced Cohen to the cable-free parts of the planet that had never seen his characters torment the unwitting on Da Ali G Show.

But ignorance still happily blossoms unencumbered by pop-culture literacy or -- in some cases -- good dental hygiene. And so there are plenty of easy marks who take themselves far too seriously: pretentious fashionistas, homophobes, swingers, viewers of local reality TV shows, presidential candidates or stage parents so desperate they'll agree to put their toddlers in any unpalatable position for a shot at fame. (One father's statement that his baby is OK around lighted phosphorus is not even close to the most appalling set-up to which these people will agree.)

Directed by Larry Charles (Borat, Religulous), Brüno follows the same pattern as Borat: A flamboyant fish out of water -- in this case a gay Austrian model who longs to be an American celebrity, accompanied by his cheerfully smitten assistant (Gustaf Hammarsten) -- comes to the United States to make his mark, mingle with regular people who have no idea he's a character and expose any hypocrisy, stupidity or fear that lurks in their souls. If you are uncomfortable with the ''gotcha'' nature of prank comedy, know that not everyone comes off like an ignorant bigot: Paula Abdul fares slightly better than Ron Paul (who clearly needs a new publicist), and a karate teacher who instructs Brüno in how to fend off attackers wielding sex toys maintains a surprising degree of dignity.

Let us be clear: Brüno, which inexplicably eluded the dreaded NC-17 rating, is far more graphic than Borat, even when you consider that movie's hilarious, extended nude wrestling match. In Brüno the nudity is even more inventive and tasteless. If you are the sort for whom the phrase ''anal bleaching'' is upsetting, imagine how much more traumatized you will be if you actually see it. Cohen and Co. not only press up uncomfortably against the film's participants; they're after us, too, trying to find our breaking point.

But pushing the envelope is the point of comedy, and Cohen is undoubtedly the most fearless performer alive today, whether he's being chased by violent Hasidic Jews in the Middle East, insulting ''King Osama'' to a terrorist or making out with another guy during a cage fighting match in Arkansas, perhaps the most dangerous movie stunt since Johnny Knoxville rode that giant rocket in Jackass Number Two. The details of how the cast and production crew survived this film deserve a documentary all their own.

Brüno's outrageousness may indicate that this particular humor well must eventually run dry for Cohen; finding enough fodder for a third film would prove something quite unnerving about the human race. But even if this is the end, we must applaud his audacity, even if we can't always bear to watch it in action. Is this comedic genius? As Brüno would say: Ich think so.

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten.

Director: Larry Charles.

Screenwriter: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer, Jeff Schaffer, Peter Baynham.

Producers: Sacha Baron Cohen, Monica Levinson, Dan Mazer, Jay Roach.

A Universal Pictues release. Running time: 83 minutes. Pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity, language. Playing at area theaters.

Doris Day documentary to debut at Philadelphia QFest, the city's 15th annual gay and lesbian film festival

By DAVID PATRICK STEARNS, The Philadelphia Inquirer

In life, as on screen, Doris Day never quite says yes, and never absolutely says no. She leaves her fans hoping she'll come out from her seaside California home to say "hi," just like in her girl-next-door movies - and make everything perfect.

Isn't she perfect, after all? She always looked that way, even when her son was said to be the target of the Manson Family murders and her third husband died, leaving her in debt. That outer perfection, what created it and what's behind it, is explored in "What a Difference a Day Made: Doris Day Superstar," a documentary film about the now 87-year-old star. The movie has its North American premiere Sunday as part of "A Day With Doris!" at Philadelphia QFest, the city's 15th annual gay and lesbian film festival.

Click here to read the entire article.

MediaTakeOut.com outs actor-model Terrell Carter

Photos (and text) now appearing on MediaTakeOut.com:

OUTED???? ONE OF TYLER PERRY'S ACTORS ALLEGEDLY HAS PHOTOS LEAKED … AND IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S IN BED WITH HIS LATINO BOYFRIEND!!! (CHECK OUT THE PICS AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF)

 

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MORE EVIDENCE!!! PICS SURFACE OF ACTOR/MODEL TERRELL CARTER AT A PREDOMINANTLY GAY BEACH IN BRAZIL ... AND HE'S WEARING SPEEDOS!!!

 

LA high school featured in 'Bruno' leaves district

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- A high school that was the location for a racy photo shoot by Sacha Baron Cohen's character "Bruno" has broken away from the nation's second-largest school district.

Birmingham High School in Los Angeles had already been planning to become a separate charter school before Wednesday's decision.

The move came one day after officials with the Los Angeles Unified School District disciplined two administrators over violating the district's policy on using the school's name in the film.

The charter proposal ends the district's authority over school employees, so the disciplinary action will be moot.

The photos feature the actor's latest incarnation as gay fashionista "Bruno." He wears shoulder pads and tight red shorts and poses with student football players on the campus field.

Caption: In this undated image released by GQ magazine, Sacha Baron Cohen, in character as the Austrian flamboyant fashionista, Bruno, center, poses with members of the Birmingham High School football team from Van Nuys, Calif. The photo was published in the July 2009 issue of "GQ", currently on newsstands. GQ, Mark Seliger / AP Photo

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Video | ‘Humpday’ – about two straight pals making an amateur porn film together -- opens July 24 in South Florida theaters

From Jan Mitchell:

HUMPDAY is a buddy movie gone wild.

Late into the night at a wild party, the two find themselves locked in a mutual dare: to enter an amateur porn contest together. But what kind of boundary-breaking, envelope pushing porn can two straight dudes make? After the booze and "big talk" run out, only one idea remains—they will have sex together...on camera. It's not gay; it's beyond gay. It's not porn; it's art. But how exactly will it work? And more importantly, who will tell Anna (Delmore), Ben's wife?

La Toya Jackson’s scene removed from ‘Bruno' movie after sudden death of brother Michael

By CHRISTY LEMIRE, AP Movie Writer

LOS ANGELES -- The filmmakers behind "Bruno" have decided to delete a scene involving La Toya Jackson following her brother's death.

Universal Pictures, which is releasing the comedy, said the decision came "out of respect for the Jackson family."

The moment was first cut out of the movie's Los Angeles premiere Thursday night, which took place just hours after the Michael Jackson's death at age 50.

"Bruno," starring British comic Sacha Baron Cohen as a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion correspondent, is set to come out July 10 and is the follow-up to his 2006 smash "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." La Toya Jackson had been featured in an absurd interview with Bruno in which she sits on a Mexican man's back and eats sushi off a second, naked Mexican man.

The moment is classic Baron Cohen, the kind in which he places some unsuspecting person in a weirdly deadpan situation and waits for the humiliation - and the humor - to follow. He also tries to interview Paula Abdul in this setting but she quickly feels uncomfortable and leaves. (The joke's on the audience, too, because we don't know which scenes are real and spontaneous and which feature players who are in on the gag.)

Jackson arrives at a contemporary L.A. home under the guise of being interviewed by Bruno, a character Baron Cohen introduced alongside Borat on his sketch comedy program "Da Ali G Show." Because there's no furniture in the house, Bruno asks Jackson to sit on the back of a Mexican laborer, who's on his hands and knees functioning as a chair. Another man serves as a table with pieces of sushi spread across his naked body.

Jackson hangs out awhile and politely banters with Bruno, who asks whether she will introduce him to her brother, Michael. She tries to deflect his persistent requests but relents when he asks to see her cell phone - then he finds what is supposedly Michael Jackson's number and reads it to his assistant in German.