Mike70
17-Jul-2009, 05:59 PM
first off, i find absolutely nothing funny about sascha baron cohen or any of his characters. his style of humor doesn't do a damn thing for me but i still hate to hear about govts. sticking their noses into something they have no business being involved in.
It was not another elaborate publicity stunt after all. The government of Ukraine has indeed banned Sacha Baron-Cohen's Bruno. Rumors that the government was preparing to do so had spread over the Internet earlier in the week, leading some to conclude that it was all part of a PR effort to boost interest in the film, which was to have opened in Ukraine next week. But on Wednesday, a commission of the Ministry of Culture said that it had concluded that the movie presented an "artistically unjustified exhibition of sexual organs and sexual relations, homosexual acts in a blatantly graphic form, obscene language, sadism, anti-social behavior which could damage the moral upbringing of our citizens." In 2006, Baron Cohen's Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was banned in Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, a message on the ticket-selling phone line of a theater located in the Irish town of Navan in County Meath warns: "Brüno is particularly vile. It leads to a hell of a lot of complaints. It will offend every prejudice [sic] in the book, believe me, so don't come on after and tell us how horrible it was." The message ends, "One or two have enjoyed it, though."
the phrase that most bothers me is the "artistically unjustified" bit. no govt. has the right to make such determinations on art. that is up to the eye of the beholder.
It was not another elaborate publicity stunt after all. The government of Ukraine has indeed banned Sacha Baron-Cohen's Bruno. Rumors that the government was preparing to do so had spread over the Internet earlier in the week, leading some to conclude that it was all part of a PR effort to boost interest in the film, which was to have opened in Ukraine next week. But on Wednesday, a commission of the Ministry of Culture said that it had concluded that the movie presented an "artistically unjustified exhibition of sexual organs and sexual relations, homosexual acts in a blatantly graphic form, obscene language, sadism, anti-social behavior which could damage the moral upbringing of our citizens." In 2006, Baron Cohen's Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was banned in Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, a message on the ticket-selling phone line of a theater located in the Irish town of Navan in County Meath warns: "Brüno is particularly vile. It leads to a hell of a lot of complaints. It will offend every prejudice [sic] in the book, believe me, so don't come on after and tell us how horrible it was." The message ends, "One or two have enjoyed it, though."
the phrase that most bothers me is the "artistically unjustified" bit. no govt. has the right to make such determinations on art. that is up to the eye of the beholder.