Post #266829 by monkeyskull on Tue, Nov 14, 2006 11:46 PM

For anyone not familiar with Cohen/Borat and on the fence about going to the movie, I'd search for "Borat" on YouTube and watch some clips from his HBO and BBC shows. Watch him salt out the bigotries and elitist silliness from the people with whom he interacts -- from Cambridge to Tucson. If it bothers you or if you don't find it funny, don't go. If it's not unusual for you to feel offended by a comedian, by all means don't go. If your girlfriend or wife suspects that she'll dislike it, she will -- virtually guaranteed. If you could barely stand to watch the BBC version of "The Office" because it was so mean -- even if you knew it was just actors -- don't go. If you think people's religious beliefs should not be mocked, don't go.

I'm not suggesting that everybody that dislikes the film falls into the above categories, but even people who love the film are a bit shocked by parts of it. On the other hand a lot of us are laughing our asses off at the same time.

But do NOT confuse "Borat" for "Jackass." The latter is just dumb; I don't mean that necessarily in a pejorative sense -- but rather in the way that "Benny Hill" is just dumb. The Borat character's ignorance, on the other hand, requires the nimbleness of a very clever mind. And while not all of his "victims" are bigots, he does try to aim primarily for bigots, elitists, and bullies of various stripes. The anti-semitism he both exhibits and exposes and the condacension his character engenders are all the more funny because we viewers, of course, all know that he's Jewish and Ivy League.

Cohen's work is not high brow and it's primary aim is simply to be funny -- but it is also immistakably satire. I tend to believe that exposing the ridiculousness of bigotry does more to mitigate it than any number of speeches and marches. Any film that does that and makes me laugh half as much as "Borat" is quite welcome in my view.

[ Edited by: monkeyskull 2006-11-14 23:53 ]