Lured by $1 beer and the prospect of "hot chicks" and "hardcore fights," thousands of Arkansans were duped last month into appearing as extras in comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's latest staged mayhem. Cohen and his confederates organized cage fighting programs on consecutive days in Texarkana and Fort Smith. Both cards ended with two male grapplers (one was identified as "Straight Dave" and wore camouflage) tearing each other's clothes off and, while in underwear, kissing down their opponent's chest. This man-on-man action triggered Fort Smith fans to throw chairs and beer at the ring, according to one cop present at the city's Convention Center. - Thomas Hawk via Bookmarklet
The new film stars another of Cohen's creations, Bruno, a gay Austrian journalist who interviews subjects about fashion and entertainment. It is reportedly titled, "Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt." The June 5 Texarkana promotion was adverstised as "Red, White, and Blood." The June 6 matches in Fort Smith were dubbed "Blue Collar Brawlin'" - Thomas Hawk
Perhaps this is unkind, but since there's been so much 1938Media talk today, I'll just say it: Sacha drinks Loren's milkshake. THAT'S how you do politically charged comedy. He cuts left, right, and center, but usually hits the mark in a way that is both irrefutable, precise, and hilarious. - Madsimian
The thought of Bruno drinking Loren's milkshake is causing me to LOL. - Clay Newton
The guts Cohen has to stage these things - it's awe-inspiring - Kevin Briody
Someday, Sasha is going to end up dead from one of these stunts. - Justin Whitaker
@Justin, I like the word "stunts" because the first time I saw SBC, I thought My god, this guy is so brave--he does the sociological version of "Jackass," which, in my opinion, takes a lot more "balls" than stapling your scrotum to your leg. And I agree with the previous comments about his brilliance--he's amazing! - Anna Haro
I think the guy is genius he really puts himself into these roles but I agree one day he is going to push it too far. Let me find a clip of Bruno on YouTube which is hilarious... - Joe Dawson
Do you think that someone should tell him that there are lots of people in that part of the country who carry loaded guns? - Paul Denlinger
The forum posts captured by TSG on pages 3 and 4 of their story are interesting. The Arkansans who went to the fight will come out looking like redneck homophobic brutes in the movie, while a lot of their 'anger' was provoked or staged according to the eyewitness accounts. Not to say that the posts aren't homophobic, so in the end Sasha is just holding up a funhouse mirror to the denizens of the flyover states: it exaggerates the picture, but reflects reality. - Alexei Tolkachev
