If you’re a Muslim (note: while Borat wasn’t Muslim some Muslim groups were concerned that he would be confused for one) or a Kazakhstani who hated the way Borat stereotyped your people, then prepare to get upset all over again. It seems that even though Sacha Baron Cohen wasn’t the least bit afraid of you, he’s scared to death of gay people.

When Muslims bitched and complained about Borat, when people sued and when civil rights groups of all type threatened to protest, when Khazakh officials pissed and moaned about the way they were being portrayed, Sacha Baron Cohen and 20th Century Fox simply gave them the middle finger and then released their horribly offensive movie anyway. They were rewarded with huge box office numbers and critical praise. It was a rare, shining moment for free speech in this country.

Enter Bruno which by all accounts is, at the least, just as offensive as Borat and we hope just as funny. Though by the time we see it, the film may be less funny. Or at the least, it won’t be the movie Cohen and his team originally intended because The Wrap is reporting that Cohen has conducted significant reshoots to Bruno after gay audiences at sneak peek showings told him that he crossed over the line.

Apparently those reshoots happened this spring and included an ending shot with cooperation from Elton John, whose presence will undoutedly take care of quite a lot of placating. Word is they’ve shoehorned in some sort of pro-gay marriage message along with Sir Elton. Meanwhile people who haven’t seen the movie are already overreacting, in spite of the reshoots. It’s being compared to a white actor appearing in blackface… which seemed to work out pretty well for Robert Downey Jr. Maybe Sacha Baron Cohen will win an Oscar.

At issue is whether this is satire or simply getting laughs at the expense of gay stereotypes… I guess. Frankly I had no idea that Cohen cared what people thought. He certainly didn’t when he made Borat, but I guess gay people have more powerful lobbying groups.

I haven’t seen the movie and neither have any of you, so we have no way to know what the film’s content is like. Maybe they have a point, maybe he really does go too far. Who knows? Again, I thought the whole point of his movies was crossing the line? Borat crossed the line at least once every sixty seconds. It’s Khazaks though who should be really pissed here. Why do gay people get their way while Cohen was allowed to take a big dump on an entire country? If I were Khazakstan, I’d declare war on San Francisco right now… assuming they haven’t already. They are Khazaks, after all.