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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
August 9th, 2007
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'Borat' is one of the most outrageous comedic experiences I have ever had, nothing is sacred or taboo in this vulgar, but surprisingly sincere "mockumentary', which is presented with such exacting realism and seriousness one might mistake this fictional creation of Sascha Baron Cohen for an actual Kazakhstani reporter. I find it hilarious and disturbing, as it shows that bigotry and prejudice is very much alive in modern America. Of course, Borat himself is an anti-Semitic, misogynistic, homophobe. He thinks of Jews as demonic creatures who can turn into c*ckroaches and rats, who conspire to kill him, and care only about money, and prey on others like parasites. He thinks women are less intelligent than men and are fit only to be wh*res. You can marry them and have sex with them without their consent. This is a view shared by frat boys who pick up Borat as he walks along a freeway; one bluntly states that he has no respect for women and sees them only as sexual objects.
Borat engages in a lot of homoerotic behavior himself, nude wrestling with other men, including his plump friend and partner Azamat. There is a lot of male nudity in the film. Borat's privates are never shown without a (perhaps intentionally) oversized black bar blocking them, and he and Azamat run naked through a hotel, into an elevator and a crowded lobby where a conference is being held. It is shameless and humiliating, but Cohen and Ken Davitian (as Azamat) do things that few other actors would, save the guys from Jackass. Borat meets with feminists, who disagree with his views on women. He meets with African-Americans "in the hood" and emulates their slang and their dress. He is horrified to learn that a small bed and breakfast he is staying in is run by an elderly Jewish couple.
He hangs out at the rodeo, and attends a Christian Pentecostal service. All of this happens as he heads to California to meet and marry Pamela Anderson, whom he has fallen in love with. Cohen introduced this character on his HBO series, Da Ali G Show, and it quickly became a favorite. He is always fully convincing, in what I see as a masterful performance. His accent never falters. He is Borat from beginning to end, and is never out of character, which is a remarkable feat. Is the movie offensive? Indeed.
The "Running of the Jew" segment early on, with gross Jewish caricatures running through the streets, is quite troubling, and there are moments when Jews are openly compared to insects and vermin, which is how they were portrayed in the most insidious of Nazi propaganda. Cohen, of course, is Jewish himself, and he is perhaps trying to make light of these old anti-Semitic stereotypes, but it does not seem that way at times, though he does exaggerate them to the point where they are rendered ridiculous, which shows them for what they really are.
'Borat' made me feel uncomfortable, but I laughed harder at it than most any comedy in recent memory, and maybe that is all that matters. Cohen does take cheap shots at the people of Kazakhstan, and they have every right to be upset with how he portrays them and their country (as backward and hateful, marrying relatives and children, but sadly such customs are still practiced in certain parts of the world). You have to give Cohen credit for going where most would not; he is ballsy and demented, but also a genius, as anyone would most likely attest after watching this film.
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