Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Sacha Cohen Exposes Homophobia In Arkansas For His New Movie

Today is a pretty dark day when it comes to the Constitution, our rights as Americans not to be spied on...stuff like that. So to lighten the mood a bit, it seems that we may have caught a hint of what is going to be in Sacha Baron Cohen's new movie starring his other character, Bruno. If you haven't seen Da Ali G show before, Bruno is a gay reporter from Europe that travels around in a (to put it lightly) flamboyant manner. It isn't to mock flamboyant gay people, but to expose the ugliness of homophobia and make those that embrace it ashamed of their behavior. Well some people in Arkansas may have been shamed last month, but they acted that shame out with violence.

From The Huffington Post:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Crowds in Arkansas came for the lure of cage fighting and $1 beer, but police say what they got instead was men ripping each others' clothes off and kissing _ a stunt suspected of being orchestrated by Sacha Baron Cohen of "Borat" fame.[...]

The day after the June 5 Texarkana bout, Fort Smith's convention center hosted "Blue Collar Brawlin.'" Fort Smith police Sgt. Adam Holland said organizers told him a character named "Straight Dave" would goad a planted audience member into the ring for a fight.

The two men would then wrestle, rip away some of their clothes and share a brief kiss reminiscent of one between Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell in the film "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."

Producers said "there would be a romantic embrace," Holland said. "They said it was kind of to essentially make fun, poke fun at wrestling _ two guys rolling around on the floor, all sweaty."


The crowd's love of wrestling was certainly exposed, as well as all that repressed anger underneath. Unfortunately for their egos, they signed waivers allowing them to be filmed....and most likely shown to the world in all their ugliness when Bruno comes to the big screen. Cheers to Sacha for this stunt, I can't wait to see it in a theater near me.