I keep a list of all the things I need to review for you, most glorious readers. And I'm almost caught up! Go me!
"Borat" is so, so foul. It is so, so wrong. And it is so, so funny.
I've been a fan of Sasha Baron Cohen since "Da Ali G Show" was on HBO. (Check out the Ali G movie!)
"Borat" pushes the bounds of decency and good taste -- and then gleefully crosses them. There are parts that are horrifying in their lack of taste (the wrestling scene) -- but I was too busy laughing to be offended.
I have no sympathy for all the people suing and complaining about their portrayals in the movie. People let Cohen get away with stupid shit as Borat because he's "foreign." Because they think none of their friends will see them like this. Because it doesn't matter. And unfortunately, maybe because that's they way they really think.
There's a Borat bit in "Ali G" (not seen in the movie) where he gets an entire bar full of people in Arizona to sing a "traditional" Kazak folk song that recites different ways to kill all the Jews. And they do it. No one stops him and tells him that's hateful, or bigoted. They sing along.
The sad thing is, you can't fix stupid. "Borat" holds a mirror up to America, and we don't always like what we see.
Some of the "Borat" bits are obviously set-ups -- do you think he could have done that to Pamela Anderson without her bodyguards kicking his ass? Or that bears are common items for purchase? So yes, it has a *healthy* dose of fiction in its "reality." No more so than most reality shows on TV.
One warning -- if you've got problems with shaky camera work, like I do, you might want to pop an anti-nausea pill before you go. The production values are "authentic Kazak" -- which means they suck. It was appropriate for the film, but by the end, I was getting a little queasy. Or maybe it was the wrestling scene that sent me over the edge. Who knows?
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