Call it performance art, savage prank behavior or audacious social satire. Call it whatever you want, but there's no question Sacha Baron Cohen is at it again. As Erik reported back in March, the Borat star began surfacing as his Bruno alter-ego in a variety of absurd situations likely intended for the movie starring the effeminate European character. Wearing chains at a Kansas church? Check. Weirding out Ben Affleck? Check. Airport dancing? Yep. Now, bizarre reports of a cage match in Arkansas, where attendees paid for admission expecting to watch a fight and instead witnessed two men get naked and lock lips, suggests Cohen is still at it, more than three months down the line. Not only that, but he appears to have pulled the stunt twice: First on June 5 at the Four States Fair Grounds in Texarkana, then again at Fort Smith's convention center, where a character named "Straight Dave" apparently selected a planted audience member to challenge him. Whether or not you agree with Cohen's brash style -- he claims to take inspiration from Michael Moore's stunts --
the actor definitely constructs his gags with very specific ideas in mind. Borat took a stab at American stereotypes of foreign cultures, but Bruno looks like it's geared more towards attacking homophobia -- specifically as it manifests in middle America. However, it's hard to say whether or not such excessive spectacles will manage to correct misinformed perspectives or reinforce them.
The latter possibility means that Cohen is a dangerous talent, but that doesn't mean he lacks the conviction that he's cooking up something insightful. In a Rolling Stone interview, he expressed surprise that audiences would have a problem with his fake Kazakhstani journalist, claiming that "the mere purpose of it was to allow people to bring out their own prejudices." Sure, he can bring them out, but does he have the power to make them go away?
Your thoughts? Does Bruno serve the right purpose or should Cohen call it quits?
1. I'm not a fan of the idea of confrontational comedy. I don't like people who purposely create situations that annoy people for the sake of comedy.
With that said, Cohen really did tread a fine line of delivering great comedy with Borat.
He was the one being funny, it was coming from him rather than the unsuspecting victim. The Pamela Anderson scene did feel like confrontational comedy, I didn't like that scene in particular.
Posted at 10:01PM on Jul 8th 2008 by Jay