Brüno gets the horn

It's almost impossible to visit a website or open a paper at the moment without seeing Sacha Baron Cohen's notoriously waxed derriere in some kind of ridiculous outfit. Tackling the country-by-country unveiling of his new movie Brüno as a small scale world tour, he's notching up the column inches in typically controversial style.

Although the press are falling over themselves to applaud Cohen's (hairless) balls, not everyone is so pleased about the impending film's release. For a start there's Richelle Olson, who's suing Cohen for $25,000 in damages for brain injuries she claims to have suffered when she fell during a scuffle on stage with 'Brüno'.

Given the fact that Universal Studios are confident that the video footage shows that Olson was never touched by Cohen, it seems that this is just another opportunistic exercise in wishful litigation. Although credit to Olson for getting in there before the movie is released, the Borat lawsuits didn't descend until after the movie came out and hit big at the box office.

Far more interesting though, is the 'concern' expressed by the gay community, who worry about the impact that the film will have on perceptions of homosexuality. Despite the fact that Cohen's intention is to hold a mirror up to US society's discomfort with the love that dare not shop at Primark, that's not good enough for some people. Nor is the fact that significant reshoots were conducted to avoid any potential upset.

At a recent industry event in honour of Dustin Lance Black, some prominent (but conspicuously anonymous) people commented that Cohen's portrayal was comparable to a white actor appearing in black face. Of course, no-one bothered to mention that Robert Downey Jr scored an Oscar nomination for doing precisely that earlier this year for his performance in Tropic Thunder.

The point here, is that there's a difference between an ignorant, uninformed portrayal of a minority community, and one which demonstrates an informed understanding of life's complexities. The more 'challenging' elements of Bruno dare to address some of the extremes of the gay lifestyle, that understandably give people pause for thought.

This is something that spoof news source The Onion accurately captured years ago in a brilliant article entitled 'Gay-Pride Parade Sets Mainstream Acceptance Of Gays Back 50 Years'. If we want to be accepted and respected, we have to be understood. Even if that means occasionally we’re forced to acknowledge some of the more distasteful elements of our cultural identity. If we're happy to laugh at ignorant rednecks' intolerance, we can't complain if occasionally the joke's on us.