Has anyone seen the Borat movie yet? Man, between the blatant piss take of anti-semitism and homoerotic humour, it's the funniest thing I've seen in ages. Kicks the crap out of Ali G Indahouse and firmly marks Borat as the best of Sacha Baron Cohen's characters I think....
have"nt actually seen movie yet peace but watched a few clips on you tube " one were he joins the pigs man " brilliant .................iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Aye, it benefits a whole lot from being almost entirely improvised. That's Cohen's forte I think. Ali G didn't really show off his talents in the same way....
I find him to embarrasing to watch, I'm the sort who always felt the guilt when it was somebody else who done it at school.
Saw this the other day and thought it was great. I can't believe he wasn't lynched for some of it. What did you guys think?
It's pretty good, but he obviously casts American's in a bad light...Which is righteous in my opinion.
Nay, I've merged your thread into the previous 'Borat' thread which had sunk to page 2, mainly because I've never done it before and wanted to see how it worked! Hope that's ok with you I haven't seen the film yet, but sounds like I might have to...
i saw the borat movie and laughed my arse off but then stopped and thought abou the reasons i found it funny and the outcome of the laughter. a week ago i was at a conference in kent and there was a guy working there from kazekstahn dont know how to spell that. but he was so upset with that movie. just got me thinking. couldnt help but feel bad for the guy. you know what its like when you get drunken english yobs yelling and heckelling about something and laughing. just imagined that poor guy getting the same treatment every time hes asked where hes from. i bet he dreads going out. i have some friends that just walked out of the cinema. at the time i thought it a bit much but now i understand why
Not seen it myself, kinda know it will make me uncomfortable after seeing a couple of clips, kinda reminds me in a way of Bernard Manning.
I really have to see this ... your comment Dappy reminds me of a very uncomfortable conversation between Garry Shandling and Ricky Gervais that was on Channel 4 over Winterval. Shandling asked Gervais why he chose to pick on the disabled etc as the source of the characters' mortified embarrassment in Extras and The Office, and Gervais really couldn't answer. While he is taking the piss out of the taboo of joking at the afflicted, there is some element of the taboo still present, if only in priveleging the disabled person to always be the victor. We're laughing at the laughter of those who laugh for the wrong reasons. Irony is a fine line - and it's hard to exactly identify why being ironically self-aware about taboos and being politically incorrect with an ironic twist is ok, while Bernard Manning humour is not. Sacha Baron Cohen has always been on the side of ironic self-awareness, and ridiculing of the bigoted rather than laughing alongside them as far as I'm concerned, but I'll be interested to see what he's done in this film ... downloading it now
Just get the feeling that as long as one wears the guise of a character then it's deemed allowable to abuse anybody. I do understand the distinction you so succinctly put between Cohen and BM but it just sits uncomfortably with me, as did the Office I suppose. Also get the gist of the emporers clothes.
He isn't taking the piss out of Kazakhstan, he's playing on western opinions. Or that's what I got from the film.
i think hes doing both. thing is most westerners have no idea about kezakstahn anyway. hell i cant even spell it
The target of the comedy is not Kazakhstan - the place is almost incidental, it's used because its a place few in the West know anything about (and can't even spell). It's a grotesque version of Kazakhstan representing our assumptions about the place. It's a very, very funny film and I would recommend anyone to see it. Sacha Baron Cohen is a very clever man. The film did make me uncomfortable a few times, probably another good reason to see it - it's right on the edge of what is acceptable. He gives the participants enough rope to hang themselves - and they often do. They are essentially tricked into revealing things about themselves that they wouldn't want to; it's their honest reaction, but they are invited to expose their deepest prejudices. *SPOILERS* I think the best moments of the film are actually the scripted parts - the opening scene in Borat's village, the naked fight which spills out into the lift and the conference hall, the antique shop scene, and the kidnapping of Pamela Anderson. Highly recommended, but be prepared to think about what you're watching and why you're laughing...
