Year: 2006
Director: Larry Charles
Page: 943
Sacha Baron Cohen’s irreverent, offensive comedy Borat attempts to poke fun at American culture and attitudes through a mockumentary-style film that blurs the line between what is a fictional story and what are truthful pranks.
The film follows the character of Borat, a Kazakh television presenter, who is on a journey through America to help the Kazakhstan government learn how to improve their country. What follows is an offensive, eye-opening, shocking, crude, rude, disgusting, and mildly humorous trip through the American big cities, and the Deep South.
Borat is an odd film. It presents itself truthfully, and in some cases this may be true, but in other cases it’s clear that it is fictional. The obviously fake aspects of the film all surround Borat and his life in Kazakhstan. It’s fairly obvious when we are shown his village that the people surrounding him are unaware of what they are being made out to be. It’s somewhat shameful in the way that Baron Cohen makes use of a foreign villagers as “the town rapist” or the “town mechanic and abortionist”, when they would likely have no idea what they are being named. Despite these Kazakh scenes being obviously fictionalised, it still manages to incite some sort of offence. Anti-Semitism and persecution of gypsies is immediately in your face, and within the first five minutes the viewer is bombarded with so many awful racist comments. The “Running of the Jew” is particularly disgusting.
Yet these are the fictional segments of the film. It is the truthful interviews with American people that is really eye-opening. Baron Cohen as Borat has a wonderful affinity to make people uncomfortable just by pretending to be a clueless foreigner who is unfamiliar with the American culture. It is through this that the viewer becomes aware of the true attitude of Americans. Many of those he interviews try to be understanding and try to avoid being insensitive to this supposed foreigner, and it is this that creates the awkward hilarity such as the driving instructor choosing to agree to be Borat’s boyfriend rather than try to explain homosexuality to him, or the dinner party host having to explain to Borat how to go to the toilet correctly and that “the only person that touches you is you”. However on occasion Borat needn’t say a word and people will go on their insensitive rants. The most shocking revelation of certain American attitudes is Borat’s involvement with a Southern American rodeo. He is explained to by one man, with no provocation other than a few simple questions, that Muslims and homosexuals should be wiped out. Then Borat is welcomed to the rodeo with cheers as he speaks of America’s “War of Terror”, before finally singing a fake Kazakh national anthem in which he proclaims “all other countries are run by little girls” and that “other countries have inferior potassium”.
The film sets out to offend, and nothing is held sacred. Everything and anything is made fun of, yet for the most part it is the American culture and all its niches that takes the brunt of Borat‘s jokes. Ultimately the film’s simple, vague plot is merely a vehicle for Baron Cohen’s usual shenanigans which were first exhibited on Da Ali G Show. Whilst there are moments of gold, most of the film is laden with crude, insensitive remarks that seem for the most part unnecessary, and as such Borat‘s humour is cheapened. What could have been a very funny, thoughtful take on American culture became a plethora of offensive material. Yes, the film attempts to highlight the prejudices of others, but it does this in a way that almost reinforces the bigotry it tries to condemn, and as such the film’s message is a failure as it becomes overwhelmed with the character of Borat and less focussed on the prejudices of its subjects.
