The most regrettable waste of my twenty dollars happened last Saturday evening when my husband and I unwittingly went to see the movie, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." Why unwitting? Because of reviews such as these. Most misleading perhaps was David Ansen of Newseek, with whom I agree nine out of ten times. He gave it a glowing review. Even though I knew what the movie was about and to expect immature scatological humor and gross nudity, Ansen made the movie sound hilarious, scathing and smart. Well, it was none of these. I can bear some amount of juvenile humor and unnecessary nudity but I can't sit through boring. And this movie was a crashing bore - at least for my taste.
In Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen apparently set out to make some clever points about America, none of them flattering. Well, I guess I was already aware of those shortcomings and didn't need to see this stupid movie to be educated. I don't have HBO, so I am not familiar with Ali G., the other comic character in whose guise Cohen is known to the viewing public. As Borat, he is nowhere near either Richard Pryor or John Cleese with whom he has been favorably compared. The only truly funny scene in the entire movie is the rodeo scene where Borat attempts to entertain a patriotic crowd. The most chilling scene is when Borat asks a gun dealer about the best weapon and ammunition with which to kill a Jew and the dealer calmly proceeds with his recommendations. (But he didn't sell him a gun because Borat lacked a permit - the system worked.) As most of you know by now, the majority of the movie's jokes are at the expense of unwitting folks who thought they were helping a genuinely hapless foreigner. Now that the movie is out and Borat is making oodles of money at the box office, some of them are miffed. I don't blame them. Halfway through the picture I was so irritated with the mindless antics of the Borat character, I was wondering why no one had taken a well aimed swing at his jaw. Well I am pleased to report that finally, someone did.
Update: Now here is a review I wish I had read before I wasted my time and money on this worthless movie. The reviewer echoes my opinion which in a nutshell reads: "Borat is NOT funny even when you get all the jokes!" (Thanks Confused, for the pointer.)
The Rumanian villagers are undoubtedly the saddest story of the lot of people swindled during the making of this movie, having sold their dignity for a paltry $5/- or so that they were paid. And yet, the worldwide release continues to rake in the millions. I wonder whether any of the victims of this nasty joke passing for a movie will ever get restitution for their humiliation.
Posted by: Sujatha | November 14, 2006 at 05:34 AM
I can't say that I enjoyed the movie much, either. Humiliation through unfair advantage has never been my favorite form of humor. And what's so revolutionary about the message that leading questions can make people conform to ugly stereotypes (the racist Southerner, etc.)?
No doubt it was simply a matter of identification, but I felt particularly bad for the octogenarian Jewish couple running the bed and breakfast, who eagerly pressed sandwiches on mysterious strangers, only to have them flee screaming into the night. As someone with similarly earnest octogenarian Jewish relatives, I don't think it would matter to them that Sascha Baron Cohen, as a Jew, was making ironic use of anti-Semitism for its humor value; I think that they would not be amused.
Sujatha, if you read the article about the assault on Cohen to which Ruchira linked, you'll notice at the end that the Romanian villagers from Glod, where Borat was filmed, are in fact suing. Of course, this begs the question of the amount of further restitution to the villagers, which may well be simply another $5 each. But, some lawyer is getting rich off avenging their humiliation, in any event.
I think the villagers have a better claim to mental anguish and reputational loss than the frat brothers. More on that later, perhaps.
Posted by: Anna | November 14, 2006 at 06:07 PM
Well, I guess you have saved a lot of people 20 bucks!
:)
Posted by: confused | November 14, 2006 at 06:27 PM
Borat managed to accomplish the impossible - make you feel almost sorry for the bigots, except for the frat boys in the RV who didn't look like they needed words put in their potty mouths.
The funny thing is that if Sacha Cohen wanted Americans to come out looking like uncouth boors, he didn't succeed. His victims, including the bigoted, actually showed remarkable cool and polite patience with Borat's crude and crappy (literally, in case of the hosts at the southern dinner party) behavior.
Now that Cohen has made his kill at the box office, I hope he goes home and doesn't bother with a sequel.
Posted by: Ruchira Paul | November 15, 2006 at 11:26 AM
I so agree with you. I used to like the short interviews Borat used to do on the AliG show. But the movie is clearly distasteful, silly, offending and far from funny. I almost left. I cannot understand the rave reviews. Sascha Baron Cohen killed his Kazakh by bringing him to the big screen.
Posted by: maya | November 20, 2006 at 03:47 PM
This movie was completely hilarious. Sure it's bad that people were made fun of, but I'm sure they'll bounce back. In the mean time millions of people will have a good laugh and move on with a smile.
Posted by: GPC | November 22, 2006 at 07:02 PM