The Borat movie: Awesome, or really, really awesome?

[oustemnow]

/"Do not try to shrink me, gypsy..."

[Initech]

1. One of the funniest movies I've ever seen!

I think the funniest scene in the movie is the dinner party.

[oustemnow]

4. Oh, man, the soiree on Secession Road

They were willing to deal with him bringing a bag of his own feces to the table, and insulting the preacher's wife, but--oh, Lawd--a black woman as his date? No, no, no!

[judaspriestess]

2. I've never seen a movie like this, I think it is brilliantly funny n/t

[not systems]

3. not really

I though it was pretty poor compared to jackass #2.

But for another prospective:

http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon11072006.html

Without a doubt Borat is a funny man. A Kazakh misogynist and a racist buffoon, a primitive vulgar clown as well as a loud anti-Semite. A quick glance at Borat makes it evidentially clear that the man is totally fictional. He just can't be real. Hence, there is no offence in Borat to women, Jews, Kazakhs, Black people or anyone else. Yet, there are some things we better keep in mind while watching Borat and laughing our heads off.

1. Borat and his author, Sacha Baron Cohen, indeed manage to challenge British liberal discourse as well as the deeply deceptive image of multi-culturalism. Yet, I would suggest the application of the 'Khaled Abu Aziz Test'. Khaled Abu Aziz is an imaginary character. He is merely a test case that should be put into play each time the issue of multi-culturalism and racial equality is under scrutiny. The appropriate question to ask is whether Khaled Abu Aziz, a British Muslim comedian from Birmingham, would get away with performing Borat's crude anti Semitism or not. Would Khaled Abu Aziz get away with performing Ali G's retarded Black celebrity? I don't think so. Would Khaled Abu Aziz receive the support of British Television and the entire UK media for acting a buffoon, for being a Jew hater? Not really.

...

4. With the help of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen gives a bad name to anti-Semitism. This is obviously more than legitimate. Borat, the stereotypical anti-Semite is indeed a primitive vulgar creature. He eloquently brings to life the full scope of medieval anti-Jewish stereotypes as well as superstitions. In an old TV clip Borat manages to draw in a bunch of cowboys to join him shouting 'throw the Jew down the well'. In the film it is an old Jewish couple that happens to be transformed into cockroaches and money suckers. Yet, it shouldn't take one by surprise that Cohen, a man who spends his holidays in Israel, would portray anti-Semitism as a primitive medieval adventure.

...

Borat is set to present anti-Semitism as a backward reactionary tendency. By doing so Baron Cohen and his team are there to block or even to shutter any form of criticism of global Zionism in general and of Israel in particular. This is indeed a non-violent legitimate political agenda, yet something to keep in the back of your mind while having an evening out at the cinema.

...

[oustemnow]

6. Bwahahaha, that's awesome!

That critique is absolutely anti-Semantic!

[not systems]

8. The author...

from the link:

Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel and served in the Israeli military. He is the author of two novels: A Guide to the Perplexed and the recently released My One and Only Love. Atzmon is also one of the most accomplished jazz saxophonists in Europe. His recent CD, Exile, was named the year's best jazz CD by the BBC. He now lives in London and can be reached at:

[TheBaldyMan]

10. has the author of that counterpunch article ever heard of

"Goodness Gracious Me" or "The Kumars at No.42" just two of the 'South Asian' flavoured programmes made in the UK that pull no punches about race or ethnicity. They are also two of the most popular comedy shows in Britain, just as popular as Ali G.

There are also Muslim stand-up comics who have no problem taking the piss out of Islam or Israel.

Mr. Atzmon lives in London but he can't get out much or watch much TV. To say that only a Jewish comedian could get away with that brand of humour is nonsense. There is comedy every bit as 'offensive' screened regularly on national TV every week. Most of it makes me laugh like a drain.

Yes it's crude, tasteless and sometimes you wince through the laughter but I'd say that was a healthy sign. There's no shortage of feeble sit-coms and so-so comics. The alternative is never being challenged or shown received wisdom in a new light.

[enigmatic]

5. Brilliant

Secreamingly funny, though very, very uncomfortable in a few spots when he "mingles" :)

Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius...

[fleabert]

7. haven't seen it yet...

but I plan to. My best friend just adopted a Kazakh child about two months ago. She sent me this after we talked about Borat and how it was hard for her to know her kiddo will have this character being the most famous 'kazakh' in the US. But we both 'get' Borat as well.

I don't have a website for it, or I would link and sample, here is the full text.

My 'Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'

By Gauhar Abdygaliyeva
Wednesday, November 8, 2006; Page A27

I'm a Muslim Kazakh woman who arrived in the United States two months
ago to work on my master's in public administration. Almost every
time I meet people and tell them where I come from, they ask me about
the "Kazakh journalist" Borat, "the sixth most famous man" in
Kazakhstan. I answer that Borat is a satirical fictional character
who has nothing in common with Kazakhstan or its people.

Many of my new American friends find Borat's adventures in "US and A"
hilarious and his remarks about my country amusing. Unsurprisingly,
not many of the people of Kazakhstan are equally amused. So I want to
tell you the inside story about Kazakhstan. And, to steal a line from
Borat, please read my article, or I will be execute.

Kazakhstan is the world's ninth-largest country in land area. It is
in Central Asia along the famous Silk Road, which once stretched from
Venice to Beijing. We "walk on oil," but that's not the only thing we
were blessed with. Our social and economic achievements in the past
decade have been remarkable.

But I would rather speak of my people. I am in my mid-20s and am
myself a good example of what today's Kazakhstan is about. I was the
first of three children born to an average Soviet family in the year
of the Moscow Olympic Games and the Oscar-winning movie "Moscow Does
Not Believe in Tears." My dad worked at the Space Research Institute
of the Kazakh Academy of Sciences, while my mom taught computer
science at the National Technical University. The tradition of
education in my family, which led me to degrees in international law
and business administration and now has brought me to this country,
is strong in Kazakhstan. That is why its people are among the most
educated in the world and have a 98 percent literacy rate.

Borat says women can now ride "inside of bus" in Kazakhstan.
Actually, men and women enjoy equal opportunity, and our women are
more likely to be driving the bus. Before arriving in the United
States, I worked for the best local law firm and then a U.N. field
mission, and I had a car and an apartment in Kazakhstan's capital,
Astana.

People in Kazakhstan take pride in their ancestors, the nomadic
Turkic tribes that managed to unite and retain a territory the size
of Western Europe for centuries, despite their vulnerable location
between the Chinese and Russian empires. For many years the mostly
Sunni Muslim Kazakhs, first as part of the Russian empire and then
the Soviet Union, welcomed Russians, Ukrainians, Germans, Koreans,
Jews, Chechens and Uighurs to their land regardless of their
religious beliefs. Those people either chose to come or were deported
to Kazakhstan by the communists for various reasons. At different
periods my country has been affected by wars, famine and repression.

With the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the economic turmoil
brought hardship. Many of my Russian, German, Korean and Jewish
friends left for their historical homelands, but many others chose to
stay and build a modern, thriving Kazakhstan together. Today those
troubles are a thing of the past, and our people look to the future
with great optimism.

The Kazakh flag Borat uses in the movie, with an eagle soaring in the
blue sky under the sun, is our symbol of independence and pride. If
your eyes have ever welled up when you saw the Stars and Stripes, you
will understand how we feel about it.

The "moviefilm" by Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of
America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," is playing
well in American theaters. One can only applaud the humorist's
talent, but the movie is entertaining only because the world is so
unfamiliar with reality.

Perhaps that will change. The movie has already created unprecedented
interest in Kazakhstan. Not only has Borat promoted our name and
flag, he has also indirectly fueled a great wave of patriotism among
my fellow citizens.

Please take an opportunity to visit us one day and hear our real
language, not Borat's:

"Kazakhstanga kosh keliniz!" -- "Welcome to Kazakhstan!"

The writer is a student from Kazakhstan doing graduate work at George
Washington University.

[Arkana]

9. Yagshemash!

I like-a you! I like-a sex!

Seriously, this whole movie I was nearly pissing myself.

[pnorman]

11. "Throw the Jew down the well"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t07trNBusU0

That's the first time I had ever come across Borat, and it was about a year ago. I think of that video clip, whenever I hear a red-state creep like DeLay spout on about "our traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs". Anti-Semitism has always been DEEP in that culture, and you can see it slowly (and gleefully) reemerging on the faces of that crowd.

pnorman