Borat said that in honor of his new movie, all the children in Kajistan were given the day off.
The factories practically came to a standstill.
Is anyone offended by this guy?
It’s one of those cases where a person can get away with offending the particular ethnic group he is a member of. Except he’s not a woman.
well personally i think its really really funny.
if you cant take someone taking the mick out of you, then you need to rethink about yourself. People these days are too proud, and should come back to earth (well some of them)
Except for unicyclists who fear someone might think they are clowns, and they will suffer a severe drop in social status as a consequence.
I think he’s funny too, just his appearances on TV shows. I haven’t seen the movie yet.
I saw him when the other guest was Martha Stewart–hysterical!!!
well i still think the interviews with him as ali G are funnier, but they are very good with borat too.
Watch ali g and posh and david beckam, damn thats so funny!
Accoording to a radio intrerveiw I heard ( I’ve not seen the movie) with professor who works with lots of students from kazackstan (sp?) they think its funny and Its teh Americans who should be offended. Sasha Baron Cohen isn’t from that part of teh world so not sure how your last but one sentance works.
He’s British, not Kazakhstani. And the real Kazakhstan is pissed about the movie.
You know he’s really a British orthodox Jew named Sacha Cohen?
That all being said, it’s still funny - and he uses this as tool to expose racism in people that he interviews. People are too easily offended these days.
I do wonder about the hypocrisy though. Do you think the same people who fought to get the hilarious show The book of Daniel off the air will be offended by this? After all, jokes against one religion are just as bad as joke against another religion, right?
On a side note, any Atheists get offended by their very negative portrayal on the last two South Park episodes? I thought it was hilarious.
Borat is so over-the-top about a wide range of things, taking him seriously is really a bit of a stretch. We know he’s not from Kazakhstan, we know he’s actually Jewish, we know he doesn’t actually believe any of the ridiculous stuff he pretends to believe as his Borat character.
Should Kazakhstan be offended? I think yes. But not take it too seriously. If they play into him, at his current intense level of publicity and visibility, they’ll just be pumping him up further. They might use it as an opportunity to show the world what the real Kazakhstan is like.
I understand that whoever is responsible for the movie is also being sued by a pair of frat boys in South Carolina who were liquered up and “misled” into telling racist jokes on camera.
Yeah I was going to say this, but you beat me to it. The real country of Kazakstan(sp?) is sueing the pants off Cohen.
im going to watch it tommorrow with 2 of my fweinds 
I think Borat is one of the stupidest things I have seen a preview too. Its all over myspace, tv, people talking about it. I dont like it. Doesnt seem funny, and I am not gonna go watch it.
Excellent film. Thought the nekkidness was a bit over the top for that 10 minutes. But all together, I really enjoyed it.
Don’t watch if you get offended easily.
Mike
but…but…but…im ALMOST 15:(:(
awwww
no fair!..hmph cosses arms and looks grumpily
Just saw it with the wife. We were both highly amused but found the experiencing quite uncomfortable.
My own feeling is that he portrayed a view of the US as fairly two dimensional and for the most part at its worst. Kind of the way the west views the “third world”.
A few observations. The scene in the ghetto was very reminescent of Lars Clausen’s description of riding through neighborhoods he was warned against. That Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court needs to recuse himself on every case even remotely having to do with religious issues. I have to wonder if the satire behind throwing money at Jews who have shape shifted into cockroaches isn’t lost on some people.
I think he does a pretty good job at catching people in their natural racist state. It’s important to expose people who are like that.
On the Ali G show he did a segment as Borat where he went into a country western bar and sang “Throw the Jew down the well.” Eventually all the people in the bar started singing along with him.
I agree in principle though that aspect is what made me most uncomfortable.
On the one hand I think that the expression, you can’t cheat an honest man applies here; you can’t get someone to say racist/sexist things who isn’t at their core racist/sexist.
On the other hand I don’t think you will create a better world and defeat racism and sexism by humiliating people. That tends to anger them and drive them further from the common ground.
And frankly racists/sexists are our neighbors, customers, the lady at the convenience store who always rounds your change so you don’t have to deal with pennies, and the crossing guard who looks after our kids on their way to and from school. We will do much more being good examples than trying to beat the error of their ways over their heads.
You make a good point. Several of my coworkers in construction are racist and claim to want to “kill any gay person that looks at them funny.” and I just hold my tongue because I have to work with them. My good example of not being racist surely isn’t going to make them change their ways, however.
The fact is racists aren’t going to ever change their minds. Once a child is raised racist they are racist, period. Unless we sterilize all racists or somehow overcome their bad parenting in the school system there is nothing we can do. Perhaps a little public humilitation will make them wonder why they are ashamed of their behavior in the first place - and perhaps show their children that their parent’s behavior is not ok.
I disagree that racists never change their minds. But on the point overall I can not disagree with you.
I remain deeply unsure about what the best plan of attack is on the matter.
For the second time in less than a month I find myself quoting Woody Allen’s Manhattan (the first time was more of a paraphrase, though from the same scene.)
Isaac Davis: Has anybody read that Nazis are gonna march in New Jersey? Y’know, I read this in the newspaper. We should go down there, get some guys together, y’know, get some bricks and baseball bats and really explain things to them.
Party Guest: There is this devastating satirical piece on that on the Op Ed page of the Times, it is devastating.
Isaac Davis: Well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but bricks and baseball bats really gets right to the point.
Borat is almost like a satirical piece with the impact of bricks and baseball bats.
i just got back from seeing the movie and i thought it was hilarious
You know, I think what it comes down to is what the root causes of racism are. Whether it’s out of fear of the unknown, low self esteem, too much pent up anger, mis-education, economical strife, etc. I’d bet that some racists are cureable if they have causes that are cureable, and that some are not.
I think this discussion would be a 20 page thread in itself.