Borat

The first 4 minutes of Borat's new movie.



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I’m curious what other people think of this character. Do you find it offensive?

I think it’s bloody hilarious, because the commentary isn’t really on Kazakhs. The whole point is that everyone watching knows that Sacha Baron Cohen is an English Jew who’s putting on a not-remotely Kazakh-like character to expose people’s ignorance about the rest of the world—and he inevitably uncovers a fair bit of anti-Semitism with pretences of Jew-hating, too. I don’t think the gay German Austrian (thanks, Mr. Shakes) character, Brüno, that he plays is a commentary on Austrians or gays, either—but on homophobia and ignorance. And, again, playing on others’ perceptions of Austrians as anti-Semites is what’s at work, not an attempt to reflect something honest about Austria.

Anyhow, I know the government of Kazakhstan is decidedly unthrilled about Borat, and I certainly don’t want to minimize that, even though I think their worries that people will think Cohen’s Kazakh character is representative of Kazakhstan are unfounded. It’s easy to say that as an American, though, whose country has enough wealth and power to not give a crap about who mocks it, or invokes it to mock someone else, even if the representation is unfair. So, I’m not totally insensitive, but maybe I’m not being sensitive enough, either.

I’m open to criticism and complaint for my amusement at Borat.