Courting controversy

By Patrick Kevin Day, Jevon Phillips, Todd Martens, Emily Christianson and Denise Martin, Times Staff Writers

Religious organizations, civil rights groups, PETA... Sean Penn. Savvy filmmakers and marketers know there's always someone to offend. Once provoked, it's hard to forget. Just take a look:

'Bruno'

Who was offended: Gay people

...but maybe not all of them? "Bruno," starring Sacha Baron Cohen as a flamboyantly gay fashion journalist from Austria, hasn't even opened yet, and already many in the LGBT community are concerned. “Some people in our community may like this movie, but many are not going to be O.K. with it,” Rashad Robinson, senior director of media programs for GLAAD told the New York Times. “Sacha Baron Cohen’s well-meaning attempt at satire is problematic in many places and outright offensive in others.”