Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Sunday, August 05, 2007I like the fact that so many people tried to get themselves removed from the Borat film. Look, you got caught being a sexist, or a racist, or a gigantic pussy – just live with it; that’s the whole point of Borat, to expose people’s prejudices and idiocy with a sly wink of complicity. Sure Sacha Baron Cohen helped put the noose round your neck, but you chose to hang yourself.
The scene that makes me laugh the most in Borat is the dinner scene where the Kazakh reporter is invited to a posh Southern dinner party. At first he embarrasses himself in a minor way by asking whether one of the guests is a retard and by questioning the attractiveness of one of the women, but despite this the hostess is still optimistic. When Borat excuses himself to go to the toilet, she confidently states that it wouldn’t take much to civilise this uncouth individual – he could be Americanised in no time. But then Borat returns with a pile of shit in a bag – his shit. This causes red faces aplenty, but still the hostess tries to muddle through. She even shows Borat how to take a crap. But it’s only when a black whore comes a knocking at the door that the hostility begins. Somehow shitting in a bag, calling someone a retard and calling a guest ugly is acceptable (albeit in an exasperating kind of way), but the presence of a black person in this Southern haven is beyond the pale. Nothing is more offensive than this.
Another scene that jabs at
Another painful truth is the misogyny that is present in certain sections of American society. The frat boys, for instance, spout nonsense about men being better than women. Indeed, after the tearful revelation that Pamela Anderson is not a virgin, they tell a distraught Borat that he’s better than any female. For all the progress that Western society has made, it still hasn’t really got that far. And also in the frat boy sequence, the drunken idiots claim that the minorities have the most power. What the fuck are they smoking? Doubtless, later in life, when their marriages fall apart and their careers go nowhere, they’ll blame the Jews, the gays and the blacks for their failures. They’ll do anything but take a hard look at themselves.
A less insightful sequence that had me chuckling was the one on the
Something else that put a smile on my lips was the naked wrestling scene. There are few things less joyous in life than two men fighting in the buff (‘my moustache still tastes of your testes’, says Borat later on). And I love the way that Borat’s penis is obscured by a massive black letterbox. You just know that Borat has been in the editing room, trying to make himself look as good as possible. But although the homoerotic grappling garners laughs aplenty, there’s a wonderful little moment that is easy to miss. The fight spills out into the hotel and they even get into a lift. But while most of the people run out in horror, one man remains – he stares passively forward, desperately trying not to lose his dignity.
But although the film points its finger at the numerous freaks and idiots it encounters along the way, it also points its finger at the audience. Just how willing are we to buy into this myth of
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