Apparently the new Sacha Baron Cohen satire Bruno has offended members of the Hollywood gay community enough to warrant reshoots. While this sounds about as legitimate as the G.I. Joe firing (which ended up being “untrue”), it’s still the hot story of the day and brings up the interesting topic of “queerface.” In an email tipped to both The Wrap and Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily, Baron Cohen’s caricature is likened to blackface and argues that subversive intentions don’t excuse the grotesque level of mocking.

In a way I can see why the film might be unfair and even offensive to gays. Bruno could be the homosexual equivalent of Soul Man, albeit more direct and documentary-like, rather than the homosexual Tropic Thunder. Would it have been better received if Baron Cohen was gay? Probably. Will reshoots help? Who knows. Again, this may not even be a true story, so we’ll just have to see what happens when the movie hits theaters next month.

Find out what the rest of the film blogosphere is saying about this story after the jump:

• Seth Abramovitch at Movieline reminds me that Tropic Thunder had its own queerface, in addition to the infamous blackface:
  

  …most expressed concerns and agreement that what Cohen might be engaging here is queerface. Queerface isn’t necessarily a bad thing, particularly when Australian Method queerface actor Kirk Lazarus attacks a gay role, and so we’ll reserve judgment.

• Alex Billington at First Showing would prefer the film sticks to its guns:
  

  I hope Cohen and director Larry Charles didn’t do any reshoots and don’t recut the film just to appease the gay community. It’s part of the very edgy nature of Sacha Baron Cohen to go as far as he wants no matter what anyone, gay or otherwise, thinks. But maybe the pressure is getting to them?

• Lane Brown at Vulture addresses an alleged reshoot involving a fake-charity song featuring Elton John and Chris Martin:
  

  Did someone actually suggest that a good way to atone for the film’s over-the-top gay stereotypes might be a comedy song by the guy from Coldplay? Surely that can’t actually work, right? And why a fake-charity single? When was the last time one of those was actually funny? Aren’t there now more fake star-studded charity songs in existence than real star-studded charity songs? Will a “We Are the World” spoof blight the controversy by elucidating Brüno’s anti-homophobic message — or by just making the movie seem lame?

• The Playlist doesn’t buy that reshoots happened:
  

  Umm, but when? The troubled reactions just started in the last two weeks. “Brüno” screened last night in New York to long-lead media, it’s cut, finished, locked and loaded. Did they know the reaction was going to be that bad, so mid-way through production shot, “gay-friendly” or did they just use their time travel machines?

• Sasha Stone at Awards Daily isn’t too excited about the modern minstrel show, reshoots or not:
  

  Clearly, the whole gay thing means big laughs and big bucks from the target demo, where fart jokes reign supreme.   It isn’t a film I will rush out to see, however, because those jokes just aren’t that funny.  To me, it’s like black face in the way that it’s become dated to lampoon gay men and women.

• Somewhat related, a few days ago Dodai at Jezebel asked what the movie does for gay rights:
  

  If your movie makes an openly gay man pause, are you treading as carefully as you should? Does kissing a man in a cage-fighting match expose the audience’s homophobia? Or tap into the stereotype that gay men are lascivious, libidinous, promiscuous and wild?

  While Cohen prances in lederhosen, California and other states are banning gay marriage. In a world where civil rights are at stake, does Brüno — played as a “limp-wristed, sex-crazed queen” wearing hot pants, leopard bikini underwear and riding nude on a unicorn — shatter or reinforce stereotypes?

• Kyle Buchanan at Movieline sweeps up the mess that is this story with a discovery:
  

  it’s all thanks to one mystery source who’s determined to advance an agenda against the film…Congratulations, mystery source: You got pickup!