A friend asked me to ramble about Borat for an article he's writing, so share in the blabber... I loved the movie, too. I thought about 1/3 of the humor did come from making fun of people from the former Soviet Union. As Americans, it's only natural for us to do this. After all, they were held up as a boogeyman for so many decades during the Cold War and now that they've fallen on their faces politically, economically, and socially, it's our natural reaction to mock them after they scared us for so long. The remaining 2/3 of the movie, though, pokes fun squarely at Americans, and it couldn't do this if Cohen didn't play a Kazak who spews inappropriate and racist language. The knee-jerk reaction to the anti-Semitic things he says is going to be that the actor himself is anti-Semitic. To the contrary, Cohen describes it as a "dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry," (quote from http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/2006 ... 01000.html) (For the purposes of what I'm discussing here, I'm going to ignore the information about him being Jewish. You can be black and hate blacks. You can be white and hate whites. You can be Jewish and hate Jews. I really don't think this is the case with Cohen.) When he interviews the producer of the rodeo who tells him he needs to shave his mustache so he won't look like a terrorist, or the frat boy who believes that Jews control everything, it's pretty plain who the real racist in the scene is. I doubt this would be so easy to do if Cohen was just being himself instead of Borat. He also does a great job of portraying how institutionalized racism sexism can be so deeply ingrained that it becomes part of one's normal belief system. Based on the fictional portrayal of Kazakhstan in the movie, it's understandable why Borat believes Jews lay eggs, or that women have smaller brains than men, the same way we believe plants need sunlight to grow. Can one laugh at anti-Semitism, sexism, or other types of bigotry? Some people can, some people can't. Everyone's comedy threshold is different. Is it right to laugh at anti-Semitism? I think so. Laughing at something is the most effective thing you can do to take away something or someone's power, and to mock people who think this way will only contribute to marginalizing them. Therefore, I think it's a good thing. To this day, people still laugh at Ralph Kramden when he tells Alice, "One of these days, POW! Right in the kisser!" When you think about it, it's a man threatening to beat his wife. Are we laughing because he's going to break her nose or because he's such a small man that he has to physically threaten someone 1/8th of his size? I realize I'm all over the place so I'll end with a joke and some questions: Hitler walks into a bar with a German Shepherd. He announces to the bar, "I'm going to kill 90 Jews, and 10 musicians." The bartender asks, "What do you have against musicians?" Hitler turns to the dog and says, "See? I told you nobody cares about Jews." What's funny about the joke? Is it the fact that Hitler is going to kill musicians? Is it that the bartender doesn't object to him killing Jews? Is it that Hitler is talking to a dog? Is there anything funny about the joke? Is there more sad than funny about the joke? Is it anti-Semitic? Is it anti-German, or is it just anti-Hitler? Personally, I think it's funny, but I doubt most people would feel the same way.
Ha! Borat's speech is even influencing the journalists now. Read that first sentence in his voice: "Two fraternity boys want to make lawsuit against "Borat" over their drunken appearance in the hit movie." The ultimate irony here is that they were all watching the Pamela Anderson/Tommy Lee video at the time, which serves as a perfect example of why you shouldn't do stupid things in front of a camera.
I am offended by all the anti-sematic messages in the movie and in your write up Roger. Be afraid when you sleep tonight! I got my horns on you!
Just got back from seeing this. I havent laughed this hard in such a long time !!! Couldnt quote anything without spoiling it. GO SEE THIS !!! My only question is why was so much in the commercial not in the film ...
sadly that sort of thing is not uncommon. usually they do it on low budget comedies and horror films. makes me feel crappy if that pulled it on "Borat"
This should have definitely been in the movie. It's unbelievable how patient this guy is!!!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=WkE9-RYqkk0
Dont get me wrong the movie was one of the best I have seen in a LONG time a must see if you want to laugh. But it was funny to just see the movie then come home and see a comercial with half of its content NOT in the movie.... It just that with wha happened in the movie I really would have liked to see that foatage evern it if didnt help the movie move along. This guy is just to funny !
I watched Borat 2 this morning as soon as I woke up. Just as much fun as the original, but it would have been nice to see this with an audience. The woman who plays Borat's daughter is incredibly talented. Tutar should get her own movie next time around.
I think you mean "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" and yes, it was VERY NICE! Just watched it. When I saw the previews and learned it was basically "Borat brings his daughter to America for the LOLs" I thought it would be cringe, but it actually worked really well. The actress that plays his daughter really killed it. Everything is so topical and the twist at the end is incredible. I don't want to spoil anything quite yet but if you are a human being with a sense of humor, you gotta watch this movie. So many brilliant moments!
This movie killed me and my friend. We heard it was available Thursday night and watched it straight after the last debate here in the states. We were going between covering our faces in secondhand embarrassment to crying fits of laughter, much like the first. What a breath of fresh air. I came from a Jewish family similar to Sacha’s Ashkenazi upbringing. I guess I can see where it can be offensive maybe but...it’s clear he’s making clear fun of racist and antisemitic ideology. He doesn’t even have to do too much as Borat sometimes. The people he interacts with end up kind of screwing their own reputations over.
