Quality 5.0 / 5.0 (highly recommended)
Gay Inclusive? Slightly – One mention of a minor gay character
Gay positive? Very – I love how the gay content is handled

Unusually, in this case I think the sequel outdoes the first book, though it’s close. The sheer creativity, wit and cleverness in this book combined with the engaging writing style make this a pleasure to read.

The novel is a mystery or crime drama, set in an alternate reality where Dodos have been re-created and people travel internationally by means of Gravitubes that go through the center of the earth. A branch of the government deals specifically in time-travel-related crimes.

And, most importantly, books have their own reality, and it’s possible for characters from, say, “Great Expectations” to enter the “real” world of the novel, and for the protagonist Thursday Next to travel into works like “Jane Eyre” or Poe’s “The Raven.” Hence Miss Havisham from “Great Expectations” is actually a major character in Fforde’s novel.

Someone is trying to kill protagonist Thursday Next by using coincidences. Yes, you read right. Death by coincidence. Fforde injects a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor into his work, and there are several laugh-out-loud moments along the way.

The main weakness to the novel is the pacing and plotting – what is ostensibly the main plot seems to take a backseat to the many subplots, so it sometimes feels like the story is just drifting. I enjoyed reading this novel, but I didn’t find myself reading it breakfast, lunch, and dinner as I do when a book is totally gripping. Still, this is a minor complaint on my part, given that the characters are likable, the humor agreeable, and the ideas engaging, and I award the novel high scores in the “Quality” category.

As to the gay stuff…. the author mentions once that the Thursday’s brother (named Joffy, a minister in the Global Standard Deity Church) is gay, including a reference to Joffy’s boyfriend. The scene is a delightful riff, as Joffy and his boyfriend must keep their relationship secret because the boyfriend’s employer looks down on its employees associating with… clergymen. This is the only gay content in the whole book (hence the very low rating in that category), but I love the way it’s handled, so I give it full marks on the positivity scale.

Overall Quality 4.0 / 5.0
Gay Content 1.5 / 5.0 (minor bits)
Gay Positivity 4.0 / 5.0

An incisive and biting look at the Hollywood industry. As with most of Stiller’s films, the humor is hit or miss, but fortunately hits the spot more often than not.

The film begins with several fake trailers which introduce the film’s characters.

• Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), a fading action star who’s hoping to reinvigorate his career with a new war movie
• Jeff Portnow (Jack Black), a drug-addicted comedian hoping for critical success
• Alpa China (Brandon T. Jackson), a musician and actor who has parlayed artistic into commercial success through merchandising
• Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr), a method actor so serious about his craft that he literally loses himself into his roles

The film benefits from inspired casting: each real-life actor is pitch-perfect in their portrayal of a troubled on-screen actor, each haunted by his own demons. (Downey deserves special mention: he’s just amazing in the role.) In Tropic Thunder, they come together to make a Vietnam-era war movie. In order to achieve greater verisimilitude, the overwhelmed director Damien (Steve Coogan) deposits his actors (Tugg, Jeff, Alpa, and Kirk) in the middle of a real war zone. Hilarity ensues.

Satire too. I’m baffled by the disability advocacy groups who have decided to protest Tropic Thunder because of its use of the term “retard” and its portrayal of Tugg Speedman playing a mentally-challenged man (Simple Jack) in an effort to win an Oscar. That subplot is the single most cutting indictment of the Hollywood machine in the movie; the whole point is how Hollywood exploits everything from minority groups to tragedy in order to make money and win awards. If anything, Tropic Thunder is staging its own protest of the misuse of such groups of people.

As Stiller says, “It’s sort of edgy territory, but we felt that as long as the focus was on the actors who were trying to do something to be taken seriously that’s going too far or wrong, that was where the humor would come from. [The joke is on] actors reaching for roles in terms of hopefully winning awards” (1)

Much has also been made of Tom Cruise’s over-the-top portrayal of amoral executive and financier Les Grossman. It’s definitely a departure for Cruise. I found the role to be a little one-note, but no one can deny that Cruise really throws himself into it.

The movie contains a couple of items of gay interest. First, one of the actors turns out to be gay, which then leads to a chuckle-worthy cameo at the film’s conclusion. I’m delighted to report there are no negative gay stereotypes and no negative reaction to his inadvertent revelation. In fact, one character just says, “Hey, everybody’s gay sometimes, this is Hollywood.” Another character (who’s in an, um, amusingly difficult situation, then offers all kinds of sexual favors in exchange for assistance). It’s unfortunate that the gay actor is closeted, but it’s arguable that’s just the satire making another comment on the Hollywood machine. On the whole, I’m impressed with this bit of gay inclusion.

Second, one of the fake trailers advertises a fake movie called Satan’s Alley, a Brokeback Mountain-style movie set in a monastery. Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus and Tobey Maguire play two monks falling into a forbidden relationship. I’m slightly less amused at this portrayal. Seriously, did they have to call it Satan’s Alley? What’s up with that? But the trailer is also obviously another satirical snap at Hollywood, and Downey and Maguire are pretty amusing in the spot.

Overall, recommended as a smart, funny, and entertaining satire.

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(1) Access Hollywood, “Disability Advocates Call For ‘Tropic Thunder’ Protest, Stiller Responds,” 11 August 2008, http://omg.yahoo.com/news/updated-disability-advocates-call-for-tropic-thunder-protest-stiller-responds/11875 (retrieved 1 September 2008).

Walliams and Lucas have a great ability to find comedy in the ordinary, to take a typical everyday circumstance and turn it into a laugh-fest merely by tweaking the circumstances or exaggerating certain behaviors or having the characters say/do what we think but would never say/do. They’re at their best when the humor is an incisive but good-natured observation about humanity’s foibles and foolishness.

Occasional pieces bare teeth, however, and cross a line into mean-spiritedness. For example, the sketches about “Fat Fighters” grow increasingly ugly. The subtlety of the early bits have given way to crude and openly hostile treatment. These pieces are more uncomfortable than funny.

Fortunately, such sketches are an exception to the flavor of the humor overall. Don’t let this minor criticism scare you off! Season two remains in its last half a great improvement to an already funny first season. Highly recommended!

Episode 4
Original Air Date: 9 November 2004

• The fourth episode presents a Maggie (David Walliams) and Judy (Matt Lucas) sketch of gay interest. After a Christmas service (this is apparently the Christmas episode), Maggie learns that the church Choir Master is gay and partnered to a fellow named Steven.
• This episode also includes a good example of one way Walliams and Lucas have innovated from the first season by incorporating fast-paced, standalone bits: a very funny short sketch of a corner store cashier (Lucas) making observations about a customer (Walliams).
• Daffyd (Lucas) storms his local library with a selection of gay books in order to create a gay section, only to find it already has a quite popular one. More odd than funny.
• Sebastian’s (Walliams) sketch in this episode has an ugly tone. The Prime Minister (Anthony Stewart Head) and his wife are having a baby, and Sebastian reacts with jealousy. Unfunny.
• On the whole, another funny one, but with more than the usual number of quirky head-scratchers.

Episode 5
Original Air Date: 16 November 2004

• The Prime Minister is on a television set preparing to give a televised interview; the interview is planning on asking some difficult questions. Sebastian doesn’t like that. I have never been a fan of the character of Sebastian; this is my least favorite of his sketches in the season. It’s not even that he’s so ugly and mean-spirited in it; he’s simply insipid.
• Daffyd’s friend Myfanwy has married her girlfriend Rhiannon, and he attends their reception at the bar after skipping the actual nuptials. Daffyd argues he couldn’t go to the service because he’s gay and wouldn’t be welcome at the church; they point out that the vicar is a gay man performing a gay wedding. Then Daffyd argues that two women should not adopt. “It’s not right!” he says. He then proceeds to spout off some very anti-lesbian stereotypes; when they retaliate verbally, he says he won’t tolerate homophobia in the village. I have mixed emotions about this piece. As far as the humor goes, it’s laughable, but as much shocking as comic. But regarding the gay positivity, Daffyd’s sketches have strayed from their original satirical brilliance. I appreciate how Daffyd has become a mouth-piece for ignorance and prejudice, and yet his behavior casts an ugly tone. Daffyd’s first few pieces in the first season delighted me; the key ingredient was Daffyd’s naïveté, simplicity, and basic good-natured. Slowly those are falling away, and being replaced with an insistent internalized homophobia which simply doesn’t amuse me.
• As a side note, one of the recurring characters in the series is mental patient Anne (Walliams), whose sketches tend to be odd but fairly funny. In this episode, she leaves behind a sketchbook which, when the pages are flipped, turns out to be an animated illustration of a penis getting hard and then ejaculating. It was a very funny piece and quite, as the British might say, “rude.”
• Overall, Episode 5 was more dumb than anything.

Episode 6
Original Air Date: 23 November 2004

• A series of very brief sketches in the sixth episode show two prim and proper ladies at lunch (played by Walliams and Lucas). One lady (Walliams) tries to set the other (Lucas) up with a series of men. She has Polaroids of each: they turn out to be full-frontal nude shots of the men. Very funny.
• Finally, Daffyd enjoys another amusing sketch. He returns to the pub after a gay rugby league game, followed by the handsome gay rugby team. Daffyd, meanwhile, is the only member of his team, being the “only gay in the village.” Except that the elderly gentleman who fill the bar argue they’re gay too, and cite sexually explicit acts as proof. Daffyd ends this funny and silly bit by saying he’s leaving the village and going to a place where he’ll be the only gay: San Francisco.
• Sebastian also has his best piece yet. The Prime Minister is celebrating a re-election victory with his staff. Sebastian and the Prime Minister dance, the PM disentangles himself, and Sebastian starts crying. The PM shows pity, and Sebastian French kisses him. A light-hearted and very laughable piece.
• The second season concludes with another strong, funny episode.

DVD Extras

• The DVD includes a very interesting but oddly paced and shot documentary. It would have benefited from some tighter editing. Nevertheless, the documentary provides some interesting insight into the world of “Little Britain.”
• We also find a special “Comic Relief” episode, which hosts several British celebrities (George Michael, Elton John, and Robbie Williams). The episode is more strange than funny, and it sorely misses the laugh track.
  • George Michael meets Andy, the indecisive and supposedly wheelchair-bound fellow played by Matt Lucas. Michael can barely contain his own amusement at the scenario.
  • Daffyd interviews Elton John. The piece was very funny, loaded full of double-entendres, but John himself fell flat, and his concluding line just comes across as dumb.
  • Robbie Williams really gets into his role when he’s dressed as a lady by “ropey transvestites” Emily (Walliams) and Florence (Lucas).
• The deleted scene include some pretty funny ones; but for most of them, it’s obvious why they were deleted.

The first season of “Little Britain” was brilliantly funny but suffered from a couple of serious problems, such as repetitive sketches and “character-fatigue.” By the end of the first season, the comedy was growing a bit stale.

With the second season, the dynamic duo of Matt Lucas and David Walliams reinvigorate their comedy universe of “Little Britain.” The second seasons presents a greater variety of characters and faster-paced sketches. The later episodes feel nearly as fresh as the early ones. Some of the new characters, such as Maggie and Judy, are simply hilarious. The second season is also far, far more risqué (or “rude,” as the British would say) than the first.

As ever, the duo remain gay friendly (Lucas is openly gay himself). A disproportionate number of sketches contain material of gay interest. Largely, the gay content enjoys a good-natured approach. At the same time, I maintain my complaint from the first season: there’s not much variety around the gay characters. They all tend to be campy and theatrical, indulging in stereotypical behaviors. The gay-friendly vibe offsets any offense I might take; so too the fact that all the characters in the series are ridiculous. I do note we get several low-key gay men presented: a church choir master, his partner, a vicar. Nevertheless, these are minor characters who barely even speak; and I remain mildly disappointed to see so little range in the primary gay characters.

Episode 1
Original Air Date: 19 October 2004

• The first episode introduces several new sketches, a couple of which are simply delightful and kept me laughing hard throughout the whole season. First we have “Bubbles,” a grossly obese woman (Matt Lucas in a fat suit) at a health spa who has a habit of losing her robe. Next we have Judy (David Walliams) and Maggie (Lucas), two English ladies who seem to be holding on to Britain’s old glory days. Judy in particular seems to be living a century ago; every time she eats something made by someone she doesn’t approve us (which is anyone not white, Protestant English), well, let’s say the food doesn’t sit well.
• Daffyd “the only gay in the village” Thomas (Lucas) returns as well, of course; he remains one of the most popular characters. In this mildly funny sketch, he comes out to his parents. Daffyd is dramatic, while his parents’ reaction is low-key (“That’s nice, dear”).
• Sebastian (Wallace), a lusty aide to the British Prime Minister (Anthony Stewart Head), also returns. I tend to find Sebastian’s school-girl antics tiresome, but this sketch is one of his better bits. Sebastian feels scorned because the Prime Minister is taking Gregory from Treasury on some important business, so Sebastian flirts with the opposition leader to make the Prime Minister jealous. Sebastian doesn’t know the meaning of subtlety, however, so his version of flirting is outrageously funny.
• A very funny episode, and a great beginning to a new season!

Episode 2
Original Air Date: 26 October 2004

• The second episode introduces another fantastically funny new character: University lecturer Linda (Walliams). Students come to her with some request or another, and she calls Martin upstairs to find the answer. She also describes the students in the most offensive, and hilarious, terms imaginable. The first bit has her calling Martin on behalf of a “big fat lesbian.” It doesn’t sound so funny in writing; but through characters like Linda or Judy/Maggie, Lucas and Walliams are making fun of prejudice itself.
• Sebastian and the Prime Minister are in the middle of an adversarial summit with the American president (a caricature of George W. Bush, played by Vincent Marzello). The president’s aide (Lucas) is as effeminate and lispy as Sebastian is theatrical, and the two get into a girly hand-slapping fight. Mildly amusing.
• Daffyd is manning the gay and lesbian stall at a village festival; he’s hawking items like dildos and poppers, but he refuses to sell to non-gays. Then he meets the new vicar Glen (Hywel Simons) and assumes the church will be homophobic, only to find Glen himself is gay and involved with a man in a ridiculous vinyl outfit (Walliams). “What ever happened to good old fashioned religious homophobia?” Daffyd mourns and storms off, wanting to be the only gay in the village. Another smart and funny Daffyd piece; probably my favorite of the season.
• Ultimately, an excellent episode.

Episode 3
Original Air Date: 2 November 2004

• The third episode includes an odd duo of pieces about the police and a serious car accident. The first one is funny, but weird; the second decidedly unfunny. Walliams and Lucas have an admirable ability to mine ordinary life for comedy, but there are occasional misfires.
• Sebastian is jealous of one of the Prime Minister’s former aides. Frankly, a boring and tiresome sketch.
• Daffyd auditions for Hamlet but apparently doesn’t make it. “It’s very difficult for gay people to make it in theatre,” he tells his friend Myfanwy (Ruth Jones). Then Daffyd’s brother appears, looking for advice on how to come out to their parents. He brings his boyfriend Pedro (Walliams), a super nelly Spanish queen. Daffyd doesn’t want his brother to come out. I did not enjoy this piece; it is easily the least gay positive of all Daffyd’s sketches. Daffyd’s rejection of his brother casts an ugly tone over the whole bit. Funny last line, though.
• Overall, not nearly as funny as the first couple of episodes.

The second half of the first season reveals some “character-fatigue.” Many of the personas portrayed by Matt Lucas and David Walliams are one-gag bits. In other words, there’s a single aspect of the character or relationship that provides most of the humor, and the sketches from one episode to the next all play off that single aspect.

For example, Andy (Lucas) stays in a wheelchair, cared for by Lou (Walliams). From one sequence to the next, Lou asks Andy what he wants (what movie, what food, what activity), Andy tells him, Lou points out that Andy doesn’t actually like what he picked, Andy insists, Lou gives in, and afterwards Andy reneges and says he doesn’t want it. All the Lou and Andy bits are funny, but they also grow successively less laughable and more repetitive.

The bonus material on the DVD suggest that Walliams and Lucas would film all of a particular character’s season one sketches in one or two days. The duo seem to have underestimated the need to keep successive sketches fresh with new and evolving gags. They can only vary the same thing so many times before it gets old.

Hopefully Season Two will introduce some new characters and fresh perspectives on old favorites. And also a little more variety around the gay characters portrayed. Daffyd, Sebastian, and the occasional other gay representation are all a bit one-note. I laughed a lot through these episodes: Walliams and Lucas are masters of exploiting a variety of situations for the inherent comedy. But the last half of Season One tends toward merely amusing whereas the first half was brilliant.

Again, I will limit my discussion of each episode to the sketches of explicit interest to gay viewers.

Episode 5

Daffyd. Our favorite gay villager is getting tested for HIV despite being a virgin. Very, very funny – probably the best Daffyd sketch since the first one. The nurse’s last line to Daffyd is fantastic.

Des Kaye. Former host of a children’s TV show (until fired) now works at some retail store. While on break, he tells his sob story to the newbie, which includes accusing the TV show’s new host of winning the gig by having an affair with the head of programming (both men). He describes them as being “queer.” More uncomfortable than funny.

Episode 6

Des Kaye. In a follow-up to the previous Des Kaye sequence, the head of programming and new host show up at the store where Des works. They acknowledge they’re a couple. Des asks them for money, and then behaves vindictively. Again, more uncomfortable than funny – I personally don’t care for the Des Kaye bits.

Sebastian. Still like a 16-year-old girl out of “Mean Girls.”

Also, a random bit has Walliams playing a guy pitching a whole lot of absurd cereal ideas to a cereal company. One of his ideas: “Sugar Poofs,” gay men frosted with sugar. Odd.

Note, this episode includes full-frontal male nudity.

Episode 7

Daffyd. The title character hosts a “Gay Night” at the pub but clearly doesn’t expect anyone to show up. Then when a whole gang does, he tries to keep them out. Kind of dumb: one of my least favorite Daffyd bits.

Sebastian. While on an excursion, Sebastian tries to seduce the Prime Minister. In fact, we even see Walliam’s naked backside as he tries to go to the bed with the P.M. Unusually amusing for a Sebastian piece.

Episode 8

Daffyd. Barmaid Myfanwy comes out as lesbian, devastating Daffyd’s illusion of being “the only gay in the village.” Unfortunately, the Daffyd sketches are getting a bit old. I like the character and premise, but they need some fresh material.

“Little Britain” is a wickedly funny sketch comedy show centering around a duo of performers: David Walliams and Matt Lucas, who married his long-time partner Kevin McGee not too long ago (1).

The show purports to reveal insights into British culture by following the antics of a series of characters and personas created by Walliams and Lucas. Many of the creations are gay or gay-friendly, including Daffyd (“the only gay in the village”) and Sebastian (an aide to the British Prime Minister, played by Anthony Stewart Head, who’s also infatuated with his boss). The first several episodes reveal insightful satire and clever wit.

Some of the bits are hit-and-miss, as is often the case in comedy; but “Little Britain” hits the mark far more often than not. I will limit my discussion of each episode to the parts of particular interest to gay viewers. On the whole, while I do have issues with some of the portrayals, I am extremely impressed with the inclusivity and gay friendly attitude of “Little Britain.”

Episode 1

In one sketch, we meet one of the most famous of Lucas’ characters: Daffyd, who lives in the Welsh town of Llanddewi Brefi and purports to be the “only gay in the village.” The stock gag is Daffyd’s insistence that he’s the only gay person in his entire village, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. A secondary gag centers around his dress: Daffyd always wears completely outlandish outfits.

In Episode 1, he’s wearing a bright red rubber suit. He moans about being the only gay in the village, when barmaid and Daffyd’s friend Myfanwy tells him that another gay has moved to Llanddewi Brefi. Walliams walks in, wearing a bright blue rubber suit. Nevertheless, Daffyd continues to insist he’s the only gay in the village.

This sketch is stellar: it’s hilarious, brilliant satire. Daffyd’s behavior could have been off-putting, but Lucas imparts a sweetness to the character that makes him engaging. Lucas also manages to keep the performance just shy of going over the top. Well, let me rephrase that: it goes over the top only insofar as it’s clever and not dumb.

The sketch does introduce the viewers to a issue that we increasingly encounter over the rest of the season: most of the gay characters portrayed are shrill and/or effeminate.

For example, another sketch introduces us to Sebastian, an aide to the British Prime Minister. I won’t deny the Sebastian sketches make me chuckle, but on the whole Sebastian annoys me. He’s like Rachel McAdams’ character from “Mean Girls” (2004), insecure, jealous, and vindictive.

In the first sketch, Sebastian is jealous over the attention the P.M. shows Gregory (Habib Nasib Nader) from Treasury during a private meeting. Sebastian acts like a petty school-girl. Whereas Daffyd’s sketches impress me with their clever satire, Sebastian’s just strike me as foolish and vaguely insulting. Daffyd enjoys a good-natured vibe lacking in Sebastian; and I appreciate the parody of gay culture in Daffyd’s sketches. Sebastian’s sketches, on the other hand, strike me less as spoof and more as a taunt to gay culture for its shortcomings.

But Sebastian’s sketches must be read in context. First, given the nature of the series, it’s hard to take any bit too seriously: they’re all ridiculous, in the end. Second, if only the gay characters were flamboyant and over-the-top, that’d be one thing. But all the characters are like that. Still, I wish there had been a little more balance in the portrayal of the gay characters, because that’s what’s missing for gay people in the media in general. I would have liked to see one of the foils (the deadpan characters, like the P.M., around whom Walliams’ and Lucas’ act out their sublime ridiculousness) as a gay person. And/or a character who spoofs the hyper-masculinization of portions of the gay community, rather than just characters who trend toward the girly end of the spectrum.

Episode 2

Daffyd.

Another favorite sketch involving Daffyd: he goes to his neighborhood convenience store to pick up his copy of “Gay Times,” only to discover it’s already been sold! Daffyd is in a rage: he’s the only gay in the village; no one else should be buying his magazine!

Daffyd deduces the blacksmith bought the issue, and he races to the smithy to confront him. He arrives to discover the blacksmith is super-hot hunk Rhys (Graham Beasley); but the revelation of who bought the magazine sends Daffyd fleeing.

Very, very funny; and Beasley is jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Sebastian.

While going over an opinion poll with the P.M., Sebastian slips in his own opinions: that the P.M. should be seen in shorts and should wrestle a man. In walks the P.M.’s wife, and Sebastian’s jealousy begins to rear its ugly head again. In the end, however, Sebastian ends up on top. Inane.

Episode 3

Daffyd.

Bored, Daffyd wishes there were more activities for gay people, but there aren’t, because he’s the only gay in the village. But friend and barmaid Myfanwy whips out a newspaper and proceeds to read through tons of local events for gay people, including a gathering of gay Trekkie’s in her own bar going on right then! Daffyd chases them out: “They don’t want your sort around here!” Cute but lackluster compared to the first two Daffyd sketches.

The whole character of Daffyd reveals a fairly insecure and otherwise unremarkable person who has seized on his outsider status as a badge of honor and source of identity. Consequently, he feels threatened whenever his place on the pedestal as “the only gay in the village” comes into question. He provides a fantastic blank slate on which to skewer a lot of stereotypes about, and behaviors within, the gay community. But sketches like this one also begin to suggest a certain internalized homophobia.

Sebastian.

Reading unfavorable newspaper headlines to the P.M., Sebastian grows very upset. He wants the P.M. to remain in office “forever.” They end up embracing, but Sebastian won’t let go. Sebastian’s sketches are mildly amusing, but the government aide has the emotional maturity of a 10-year-old, and I find watching his vapid jealousies play out time after time to be tiresome.

Bernard Chumley.

Episode 3 introduces a new character played brilliantly by Matt Lucas: “theatrical legend” Bernard Chumley. Unfortunately, despite his past fame, Mr. Chumley is living in poor housing. In this bit, he meets and tries (very ineptly) to seduce young aspiring actor Joe, who really just wants money.

This bit is only mildly funny; the character is more pitiable than humorous. In some ways, this is more of a dramatic short play. It’s amazingly well-performed, multilayered, and clever.

Episode 4

Daffyd.

Probably my least favorite of the Daffyd bits thus far, because it teeters on the edge of a negative portrayal without the compensating benefit of much humor. Daffyd goes to the local hair salon for a cut, but his normal stylist is out, so new stylist Yfan, or “Fannie,” will cut his hair. Fannie, played by Walliams, is a very flamboyant and effeminate gay man, who kisses his leather daddy boyfriend during the bit. Again, we’re talking about a comedy sketch show in which <em>all</em> the characters are over-the-top, so I can’t take it too seriously. Rather, it’s important to recognize the ways in which stereotypes about the gay community are spoofed by the sketch. At the same time, I return to a comment made earlier in this review: I wish the show had offered more balance in terms of the gay characters portrayed because they all tend toward effeminate and/or flamboyant.

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(1) “Little Britain star Lucas ‘weds’,” BBC.co.uk, 18 December 2006, <a href=”http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6188161.stm”>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6188161.stm</a> (8 August 2007).

Overall Quality 3.75 / 5.0
Gay Content 2.0 / 5.0 (mostly hetero, but significant gay references)
Gay Positivity 3.5 / 5.0 (mixed but mostly positive)

Sacha Baron Cohen plays Borat Sagdiyev, a high profile television journalist in Kazakhstan, whose Information Agency decides to send him to the U.S. to study our customs. This satire posits the lead playing a naive and outrageously ignorant and prejudicial foreigner stoically confronting unsuspecting strangers with his, and their own, prejudices. The film incorporates anti-Semitism, homophobia, racism, sexism, classism, sexual mores, and international politics into its scathing, hilarious, and uncomfortable Candid Camera-esque comedy.

Is it offensive? Eh. Keep in mind this movie is very deliberate in both its offensiveness and its subversiveness. Hard to watch? Oh, yes. I literally turned my face away from the screen several times. Did it also keep me laughing? From the moment I saw the DVD menu.

Some people have expressed concern that viewers who lack a certain level of worldliness or sophistication will take the movie at face value and find their own prejudices reinforced. First, I find that hard to believe because the movie is just so obviously ridiculous. On the other hand, there are some awfully dumb people out there. Of greater concern would be younger viewers whose ideas and understanding of the world are still being formed. Should they see this film, I hope they ask themselves a few questions about it. What is this film trying to say? Does it succeed in conveying that message? Or is it just being outrageous for its own sake?

Unfortunately, satire – whether subtle or brazen – rarely invites as much introspection as it probably intends or might be hoped. A movie like this, which is not unlike watching a 90-minute train wreck (if train wrecks were humorous), makes it easy to point fingers at the dumb-asses of the world and laugh at them. But all of us, every one, harbor our own prejudices and biases, often very subtle. Does a film like this invite us to soul-searching to see how our own ideas about the world may overlap those foolish frat boys or ignorant rodeo-goers?

Speaking of whom, let me address the gay content in Borat.

Despite Borat claiming, “We hang homosexuals in my country,” the whole point of the comedy is to elicit other people’s prejudices. And he does just that.

• Bobby Rowe, the rodeo’s producer, replies to Borat’s statement about hanging homos, “That’s what we’re trying to do here” (1).
• Alan Keyes explains to Borat that he fell in with some gay folks; note that Keyes infamously disowned his lesbian daughter.
• There’s also a naked wrestling scene between Borat and his overweight producer Azamat (Ken Davitian), during which they end up in several intimate poses. After the fight, Borat chases Azamat through their hotel, buck naked, brandishing the “cake-topper.”
• Before that, Azamat takes care of Borat’s private parts while dressing him, with hints that “care” occasionally involves sexual contact.

While the humor in those scenes is a little gay exploitive (“look, straight guys doing gay stuff, ha ha”), it’s mostly just dumb. And confrontational. Borat habitually greets men by kissing them on each cheek, which clearly makes more than a few uncomfortable.

So the question is, does this movie portray gay folks and issues in a positive light? On the whole, I think it’s positive, although I wouldn’t recommend this movie if you’re looking for laughs that don’t involve homophobia or humor that exploits gay life, behaviors, or situations. But you can’t take a movie like this seriously, and Borat’s homophobia doesn’t bother me at all because it’s so caricatured and cartoonish. In some ways, I’d almost judge the gay positivity of this film like a documentary exploring homophobia in middle America. The gay negative themes are there because that’s the reality, but the presentation isn’t really for or against. It’s just saying, “Look.”

Then there are two aspects of the movie’s gay positivity that I like. First, it’s clearly exploiting not just gay behavior and situations for humor (which isn’t so cool), but homophobia itself (which is a little bit innovative). Second, the film paints the cartoonish Borat as an example of extreme ignorant foolishness. Because he’s also attitudinally homophobic, the movie casts homophobia as ignorant and foolish. “Borat” actually invites the viewer to laugh AT Mr. Rowe’s hatefulness toward gay people.

The humor of Borat is to find the uncomfortable place and then push, push, push. His complete unself-consciousness and ignorance provides a blank slate for his victims to paint their own prejudices and biases. But for every ignorant cowboy or frat boy, the film portrays people behaving with dignity when confronted with increasingly outrageous behavior, such as a genteel southern group trying to teach Borat American dinner table manners. During such moments, the humor seems to try to exploit basically genial people. Yeah, you’ll still chuckle, especially knowing all these people signed off on being included in the film. But those moments are less incisive, cutting satire than those showing Borat at the rodeo, or at a Pentecostal church where Borat is the LEAST outrageous person present.

Many of the claims about Cohen uncovering deep-seated middle American prejudices are overstated. For example, gay rights activist Peter Tatchell states,

“Borat has done a public service by showing that there are sections of US society who have not truly accepted their black brothers and sisters” (2).

Yeah, right, that’s news. Is anyone honestly surprised that there’s prejudice in America, or in the world? Is anyone surprised that people say dumb things in response to provocative situations, especially when they’re drunk? The film has greatly upset the real nation of Kazakhstan, concerned about its portrayal as backward, ignorant, and prejudicial. And no, I in no way believe Kazakhstan is really like that. But are they going to try to convince me that there’s not a grain of truth in Borat’s parody of them?

To my mind, the most sublime moment of satire in the movie was when Borat declares at the rodeo that his nation supports America’s “War of Terror” and the audience roars its approval. That’s a powerful statement. If Borat had said that to an individual, he might have gotten a mildly befuddled “thank you” or “good.” But there’s an equal chance the person would have gently corrected him, “War ON terror, not war OF terror.” They might try to explain that they’re not really interested in annihilating Iraq. But instead, the crowd just cheers wildly and applauds. It’s more ridiculous than anything. Most of them (unfortunately, I can’t say “none”) probably (unfortunately, I can’t say “definitely”) have no interest in waging a war of terror on other parts of the world. They’re just applauding because they didn’t really listen, or think about what was said, and everyone else is applauding too, so maybe they just misheard. It’s not particularly meaningful.

And yet, I think that’s exactly the mentality that leads to war in the first place: an unwillingness to listen to objective evidence, or to think critically about the information that’s presented, and then the individual or group pushing for war manages to build enough momentum to reach critical mass, at which point enough people support the war just because everyone else is and because we have to “support our troops.” The same group-think principle morphs from a silly moment to a terrifying one.

As a side-note, the film does contain a moment of full-frontal nudity. In one scene, Borat proudly shows off photos of himself with his teenage son, played by Adrien Cortez, AKA gay porn star Stonie. In the snapshots, revealed onscreen, Borat poses with his face alarmingly close to the son’s naked penis.

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(1) David Marchese and Willa Paskin, “What’s Real in ‘Borat’?”, Salon.com, 10 November 2006, http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2006/11 /10/guide_to_borat/ (7 May 2007).

(2) Peter Tatchell, “Borat – Parody or Prejudice?”, PinkNews.Co.Uk, 3 November 2006, http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/opinion/2005-2904.html (7 May 2007).

Overall Quality 4.0 / 5.0 (recommended)
Gay Content 2.5 / 5.0
Gay Positivity 4.0 / 5.0

A fresh and funny film that offers an over-the-top presentation without taking itself too seriously.

Scriptwriter Charles Busch plays Angela Arden, a former singing sensation, whose voice and family life are cracking. Her husband Sol (Philip Baker Hall) and daughter Edith (Natasha Lyonne) hate and abuse her; only her son Lance (Stark Sands) offers support, but even that turns out to be conditional. Then Sol dies, and a clever, endearingly melodramatic whodunit follows, with a surprisingly clever twist ending.

Busch plays Angela to perfection, with a strong supporting cast including Hall and Frances Conroy as housekeeper Bootsie. Sands and Lyonne are a bit more inconsistent, but both offer strong moments. Lyonne in particular enjoys some of the movie’s best one-liners, impeccably delivered. Jason Priestley, as the mysterious and sexually freewheeling Tony Parker, didn’t quite get the memo for the movie’s tone, though. The movie as a whole succeeds in part because it parodies Old Hollywood without condescension or too much self-seriousness. Priestley didn’t quite manage that balance; his performance could have been just fine; but in this case was jarringly out of sync with the rest of the cast.

Regarding gay content, Arden’s son Lance is gay, and Tony Parker could perhaps be described as omnisexual trending toward hetero.

On the surface, the treatment isn’t terribly positive. Lance ain’t exactly a role-model and incorporates a number of derogatory stereotypes. He’s kicked out of the school for allegedly inciting a homosexual orgy among the math professors, with himself on a lazy susan. And in the scene where he comes out to his mother, Angela asks, “Son, are you a cocksucker?” He also dresses as Angela at one point. And yet, it all fits into the movie, and in the context of the ridiculousness of the characters and the plot, this treatment of the gay content becomes part of the spoof and satire.

In fact, it’s really not a gay movie at all. Rather, it’s an extremely gay-friendly movie, with a drag queen at the lead playing an over-the-top femme fatale (which gay men seem to adore in droves), with some minor but clear gay content. Oh, and throw in a little full-frontal nudity, and we have a film tailored for a gay audience.

You have to take this film for what it is, but if you can manage that, it’s a terrific 90 minutes.