AfterElton.com - Gay Driver Laps Stereotypes in Talladega Nights

Gay Driver Laps Stereotypes in Talladega Nights
by Karman Kregloe, August 4, 2006

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

The inclusion of a gay villain in a mainstream film is typically a yawn (or ire)-inducing premise for most gay viewers. After all, there's a long cinematic history of floppy-wristed gay bad guys being ridiculed, assaulted or worse. But Sacha Baron Cohen's turn as arrogant gay French race car driver Jean Girard in Talladega Nights:The Ballad of Ricky Bobby turns the tables on the gay villain stereotype with a vengeance.

Protagonist Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell, Anchorman and Saturday Night Live) is predestined to "go fast", and we see his early life as a reckless tot who steals his mother's (played by out actress Jane Lynch, Best in Show) car for a joyride and eventually follows in his race car driver father's footsteps.

Ricky's quick ascendance to NASCAR glory includes the typical spoils of a star athlete: a hot blonde wife (played by Leslie Bibb), a tacky mansion, endless endorsements for even the most questionable products, and a second-banana best friend, Cal (played by John C. Reilly, Magnolia), whose love and envy of Ricky are hopelessly entangled.

Ricky is "All-American", and our cues for this are his hilarious prayers to "Dear Lord Baby Jesus," over a dinner spread of fast food, his children's names--Walker and Texas Ranger--and his insistence on their crude and violent behavior, his Wonder Bread sponsorship, and, perhaps most of all, his self-focused, semi-delusional grandiosity ("I'm a big, hairy American winning machine!").

Everyone loves Ricky, except for Larry (played by Greg Germann), the jealous son of the racing team's owner. Determined to bring Ricky down, Larry hires a new driver, Frenchman Jean Girard, who he's certain will defeat the heretofore unbeatable Ricky.

Jean (played by Sacha Baron Cohen, who regularly plays gay "Bruno" on his Da Ali G Show) makes his entrance by playing jazz on the jukebox at the beer-soaked sports bar where Ricky and his teammates are partying. Disturbed and confused by the "strange" music, Ricky and crew are even more suspicious of Jean's French-ness. Oh yeah, and his gayness.

Jean Girard introduces his "husband" (played by Andy Richter) Gregory to Ricky and crew, boldly kissing him and giving his rear a squeeze. While some of the members of Ricky's crew-those who have already been established as less than bright-are put off by Girard's display of his sexuality, heroes Ricky and Cal are more offended by Girard's promise that he will win the big race.

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