A few weeks back yours truly and Mrs P. decided to find out what all the hype was about and went to see the film Borat. I guess unless you have been living on the South Pole or some other remote part of planet Earth, you will not have heard of this film. Borat is a spoof “journalist” character created by Sasha Baron Cohen, the Jewish comedian who also created characters such as Ali G. The basic idea is that Borat goes to different places and countries and tricks folk into either revealing more about themselves and their views than they would otherwise do, or to simply make assholes of themselves. A few of his victims do misbehave although most seem to emerge with most, if not all, of their dignity intact.
I have mixed opinions about the film. Some parts of it were so funny that I laughed along with the rest of the cinema audience. He does want to send up the insanity of anti-Semitism, which seems to be the serious core of this film, if it has one at all. There is always the risk, I suppose, that some of the thicker viewers will not get the joke and think that anti-semitism has been legitimised by this movie, but you would have to be pretty dense to do so. Beyond that, though, I did not think the movie was all that funny, and not much beyond scatalogical humour of a basic sort. Part of the idea is to play on the natural desire of the victims – in this case, ordinary Americans – to be polite to strangers, even a crazy-looking chap with a big moustache claiming to come from central Asia. Some of the victims on the New York subway tell Borat to go away, but pretty much most of the victims put up with it up until the point when the behaviour gets too bad to ignore.
I guess if you want to see a film that makes you want to experience a deep fuzzy glow of superiority to supposedly simple redneck Americans, this is the movie for you. On the other hand, for comedy of genius that does not target the ordinary Joe but tries for genuine wit, I’ll be relying on my beloved Monty Pythons and Blackadder collection. And for the silly stuff, there is always Peter Sellers, Terry Thomas and those supremos, Laurel and Hardy. Their brilliance will never fade.
Richard North shares my opinion, although he is a bit harsher.
With Borat, the basic desire to be tolerant and polite makes people accomodate idiotic behaviour to the point where they look idiotic too.
That’s not especially amusing to watch, or nice to do to people. Ali G’s victims usually had a certain pomposity or fauning desire to connect with da kool kids that made their embarassment more justified.
Borat looks like the kind of thing I would have really enjoyed 5-10 years ago (my early 20s). Now I find acting disingenous to get certain reactions out of ordinary people to be in very poor taste.
I’ve always suspected Cohen was a verbal bully, now I’m sure, check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UboPyXH63K0&eurl=
Like all bullies he can dish it out, but can’t take it, he’s clearly pissed at having his own tactics used on himself.
Should point out the relevant part of the clip is about 6 minutes in.
Very good point Mr P. Still rather sceptical about seeing the movie but my better half maintains that if people want to make complete idiots of themselves then they should be encouraged to so with the maximum encouragement, if only to the amusement of the rest of us.
I do recall Sacha Baron-Cohen (his brother by the way is a very notable psychologist) doing very odd parlour tricks many years ago in Covent Garden Plaza, as well as being notable at parties in a black outfit and top hat with white gloves doing what seemed like bizarre mime routines. His Ali G routine was absolutely brilliant in its showing up racism among the trendy socialists of UK society (watch the re-runs of the 11 O’clock Show), as well as smashing the common racist defence offered by many minorities (the “Is it cos I is black” line). His Bruno the Gay Austrian hairdresser routine levied against muscled, ‘Ole Glory-tattooed southern rednecks worked very well, although aimed at a very simplistic target audience in my opinion. Borat seems to be a tad more sophisticated that those; he seems to have moved on to ridiculing first worlders for their lack of geographical understanding more than anything else, while still being able to open people’s eyes about their attitudes to the rest of the world.
Personally I’d leave it to Khazakstan’s president who said he would invite Borat to tea, but only if he could provide the “sugar” (the inverted commas I believe refer to the the unfortunate Alexsadr Litvinovksy’s experiences with the FSB’s new Thallium tea sugar).
It’s not so much as “having his tactics used on himself” as someone completely stealing his bit. That’s a little different.
Stealing his bit? As if it hadn’t been done before.
He is a wild and crazy guy!
Stealing his bit? As if it hadn’t been done before.
He is a wild and crazy guy!
The comedy of cruelty has always sat uneasily with me.
How far back shall I go?
Well as many people were laughing with Alf Garnett, in his hayday, as at him.
I find Mr Cohens stuff from Ali G to Borat to be uncomfortable viewing. As the viewer, I know the pay off, but the marks dont. You may feel that celebrities deserve ridicule and many do, but what we mere mortals often forget is how much shit these people are asked to do in the course of their working day.
Things like, just slip into this kangaroo suit and follow me to the trampoline, from some producer or assistant, and your average celeb will comply, be they Nicholas Parsons or an ex Spice Girl. Nonsense is what they do for a living.
I could never see the point of Allan Partridge, when there is a real life Terry Wogan, and I couldn’t watch The Office, because I have worked with too many real Ricky Gervais characters to feel comfortable.
I liked Extras a lot though. Much more depth .
I guess I am saying that it’s not my kind of joke (and you all must know by now, that I like a laugh more than most people).
Along with Johnathans list, I would add Steptoe and son which had as much bathos and pathos in it as it did jokes. Those series told the truth about Britain back then, in a way that stuff like Borat can never do now.
I fear we are descending into cruel fingerpointing practical jokers, and there is nothing cruder or more cruel than a practical joke.
I agree. That imitator is totally lame. Borat handled it quite nicely by saying he does not understand his English.
As for the movie. I went to see it tonight. Well it’s not Monthy Python, no. But if you would have seen him on one of the (literally) hundreds of talk show he’s been on the last couple of months, you would know not to expect a lot of “genuine wit”.
I particularly liked the part where just after a lady talks about “cultural differences that can easily be overcome”, he comes back from the bathroom and presents her with a bag of shit, asking her what to do with it. It’s almost a quite literal depiction of the whole multiculturalism ideology.
RAB,
I don’t follow you. Both Extras and The Office are about the comedy of embarrassment. Both are almost painful to watch though I thought Extras was considerably more painful than The Office. I loved both, but I was almost hugging the cushion at times in Extras – especially about the guy with “the big shoe”.
I’m vaguely surprised you didn’t mention Brass Eye. I didn’t see the infamous peadophile episode but I’ve seen enough since to regard it as genius. Especially if it was even half as good as “cake”.
I have to agree that Borat’s schtick of sending up Joe Public is nowhere near as amusing as sending up celebrities as Brass Eye and Ali G did.
Steptoe and Son – nah, mediocre compared to the true brilliance of Porridge and Dad’s Army.
Born free – until somebody caught me…
Boor. And unfunny – listening to his barely-coherent rambling speech is painful.
The movie is a display of traditional Ashkenazi anti-Slavic humour, similar to the many anti-Polish jokes told by 60’s New York Jewish comedians. What it boils down to is disdain for the peasant by the sophisticated town-dweller. While this can be very funny, there is a condescension and cruelty behind it all which is not very edifying. In Borat’s case, the production team and Cohen exploited a impoverished Romanian town for cheap laughs:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23374170-details/Borat%20film%20%27tricked%27%20poor%20village%20actors/article.do
In an interview in Rolling Stone, Cohen claims he doing the film to refute antisemitism, which is odd in two ways. Firstly, having a rich Jewish man go to Eastern Europe to exploit peasants is hardly going to refute antisemitic stereotypes. Secondly, given that antisemitic pogroms and sterilization are past historical events, whereas anti-gypsy pogroms and sterilization are still occurring, it’s strange that he chose to focus on antisemitism, while at the same time exploiting gypsies.
Jonathan- if you’re fan of Terry-Thomas, L & H and Peter Sellers, I sincerely apologise for calling you an idiot last week, (even though it was in response to you calling me one. )
Borat is just a nasty, nasty film, taking the pee out of some very easy and predictable targets- foreigners from the former S.U. and American rednecks. And to pay impoverished Romanian gypsies only £5 for humiliating them in a film which as grossed millions, was not very nice either.
Sadly, Borat – and tv shows Little Britain reflects what passes as comedy in Britain today- nasty, sneering and malicious. Unlike the comedy of true greats like Sellers, Ronnie Barker, Laurel and Hardy, Hancock and Arthur Lowe, who didn’t rely on cruelty to get laughs.
Neil, my idiot tag is also removed. Sorry, I was rather rude but you old-style socialists do rather bring it on yourselves, you know. I tend to take it for granted that apart from the lunatic fringe, few people any more believe in state central planning, punitive taxes, the closed trade union shop, protectionism, etc, etc.
Peter Sellers’ performances in Dr. Strangelove and I’m All Right Jack have never been beaten, IMHO. Sellers’ pisstake of union militancy was so good that it annoyed the TUC, if memory serves.
Yeah its been done before Candid Camera, You Been Framed etc etc. He is a boor and I was pleased to hear someone beat him up in LA. Not funny, not clever comedy of the bully.
Johnathan Pearce wrote:
‘Peter Sellers’ performances in Dr. Strangelove and I’m All Right Jack have never been beaten, IMHO. Sellers’ pisstake of union militancy was so good that it annoyed the TUC, if memory serves.’
If memory serves, a BBC rerun of I’m All Right Jack was actually cancelled in the run-up to a UK general election – 20 years ago or more, now. Which goes to show just what an excellent piss-take it was. Nothing worries the powers-that-be more than to be made fun of.
llater,
llamas
Miller,
The one armed man was asked to run around with a huge fist dildo as an arm, surely he was not seriously thinking they were making “a documentary about their hardship”.
David
If Borat can fool media-savvy Americans, you can bet he can fool poverty stricken villagers.
Jane Galt/Asymmetrical Information has an interesting discussion going on about this…part of my comment:
Re: calling out racists/etc., well, I let most things pass because I don’t have an influential relationship with the person offending me. Why should I presume that my opinion should be so influential in their lives, when the entire educational establishment and employment opportunity structure has failed to do so? Flipside of coin: I had longstanding, heated, earnest, desperate arguments with my mother and my best friend about some racist attitudes they had, because I loved them and had influential relationships with them, had a chance of being heard and respected, and I loved these people too much to let them stay stinkin’ racists. Sure they had a right to their opinions, live and let live, and all that, but they were far better people with bigger hearts and minds to stay in the pigsty of racist attitudes.
Speaking of which…while SBC is trying to show up others’ racism, to what extent is he revealing his own racism? I mean, he’s acting racist and enthusiastically seeking a racist response from others. To me, that makes him a racist despite any protestations he may have about the matter. To profit so massively from the encouragement of racism makes him a racist.
Sod’s law innit!
The only time I do a post longer than a couple of paragraphs and it goes straight down the swannie.
Bugger it , I cant be bothered to do it all again.
Suffice it to say, that perhaps you are too young Nick M to appreciate Steptoe and son. Galton and Simpson(also the writers of Hancocks Half Hour) intended it more as social drama in the vein of a play for today, rather than a laugh a minute sitcom. Corbett and Brambell were straight actors, not comedians after all.
Steptoe and Son is a superb comentary on the 60’s. Left verses right, youth verses old, class war etc Have another look for me!
Yes Johnathan I’m all right Jack is one of the finest British comedies. Sellars was pretty damn good in Heaven’s Above and Two way Stretch though too!
I thought it was pretty funny, but then again I like Jackass.
I think it’s closer to “Bumfights” than Jackass. Bumfights was the reality video which paid the homeless to fight each other. The producers of that show were sentenced to several months in prison. I hope the law catches up with Cohen and the Borat producers eventually, though I doubt Romanian law is particularly efficient – particularly in dealing with the complaints of mere gypsies.
Well I thought it was funny – was it trying to get a message acroos – no not really but if its satirising anything I think its satirising islamic fanatics – borat is clearly a muslim sterotype in terms of morality – hates jews, women second class, bi polar attitude etc. Goes to USA/UK and yet in the name of politness this is all tolerated as sort of cute.
There was a program on about 10 years ago called Topttenham Ayatollah which jokinlgy followed hamza round london. He came across pretyy much like borat – funny if you didnt take him seriously. Perhaps a bit like hittler when he was in Vienna. Unfortunately it turned out he was serious.
Anyway that’s my take.
Sacha Cohen is a talentless retard. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: even Pauly Shore is funnier than Cohen.
Tex has delivered the ultimate comedic putdown.
I have a dead cat buried in the back yard who is funnier, today, than Pauly Shore on his best day.
I’d agree with many of the more poignantly observed opinions posted here, IF the film – apart from anything else – wasn’t such a big bag of utter fucking “***** – LOADED” “***** – FHM” shite.