So the secret is out. Brϋno, the new comedy from Sacha Baron Cohen, is offensive. But hilariously so. The film (released on July 10), say the reviews leaked online, “pushes boundaries further than Borat ever did” (according to the BBC). With the aim of exposing hypocrisy, the movie sends a straight man (Baron Cohen) under cover as a gay man (Brϋno) into the heart of the American psyche, armed with rubber vibrators, PVC hotpants and campy putdowns. Hilarious, yes? Well, not according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation which, after a private screening of the movie, issued a statement saying that it had “mixed emotions about the movie,” which often “hit the gay community” instead of defending it.

What makes a movie offensive? The well-noted irony is that from within the parody comes the validation of the very stance that was originally up for ridicule. And Baron Cohen is not alone in falling into this trap. For decades, movies from Pink Flamingos to Life of Brian, have toyed with offensive material. And yet today, from the constant stream of gay jokes in the comedies of Judd Apatow, to the daring racial gag in Tropic Thunder (Robert Downey Jr goes black!), the free-for-all aesthetic is proving increasingly problematic. When, for instance, does a gay caricature stop being inherently laughable and become a vehicle for exposing hypocrisy? And why do racist jokes cease to be racist jokes just because we know they’re racist jokes?

The defence, naturally, is that of irony and awareness — we’re all in on the Brϋno joke. We know that not all gay men are like that. It’s just a film, don’t get so het up! But many movies, the ringleaders listed below, are still guilty.