
Having said that, a couple of friends invited me and Elisabetta to the cinema, and we happily obliged – it would have been rude to say no.
I had heard that the film trespassed a few boundaries, but to see the younger generation (sigh!) gulping down the breaking of every imaginable taboo and laughing heartily at it was as much of a shock to me as the movie itself. My first thought was that I must be getting old at twice the rate as a couple of years ago.
I’ll openly admit that I didn’t think it was completely crap, and also that I laughed out loud at some of the clownish bits, but I think good satire should remain above its subject, and I felt that Brüno was always, consistently, well below good taste. So it gets my thumbs-down, for what it's worth.
AG
Indeed... I felt the same way about "Borat," and when the raves were universal I felt as though I'd stepped into some kind of generational taste-warp. I don't mind crassness when it's both funny and subordinated to other aesthetic elements: I find a lot to admire, say, in at least some of the films of Russ Meyer (not to mention Rabelais). But current cinematic comedy-- at least those that are aimed at the teenage market-- treats crassness as though it's identical with humor. It's not.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteAG