talkmagic.co.uk

For the love of God, get a sense of humour.
http://movies.uk.msn.com/features/Borat ... ticle.aspx

This film is hilarious. The character's portrayal genius. A few people within the film were displayed as bigots and idiots. This was not Cohen's fault, they were merely "being themselves" unaware that this was satire.

The sequence in the TV station with the disrupted weather report was one of the funniest things I have seen for a while. He was not poking fun at them directly. He is now being sued by the former producer amongst others. She lost her job due to depression, I cannot believe for one second that the primary reason for this was because she took part in a prank. A prank I may add that those on screen seemed to find incredibly funny. I know I would have too, even after finding out the truth.

He was picked up by some "frat boys" who were making sexist and racist comments and were to be quite frank apparently rather stupid. They have since claimed to have been made "the object of ridicule, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress.". This would seem to me to be par for the course, however, they are also taking Cohen to court.

Calls for his head from Jewish groups are also hilarious, considering the man himself is a kosher Jew.
He is not attacking any one group, it is indiscriminate (if attacks at all), even towards his own faith.

I went to see this film with my girlfriend who is from the carribean.
I was curious as to her response to him saying he is meeting with "genuine chocolate face". She was laughing her backside off. Incedentally, I cannot believe the pure honesty he managed to portray in asking at this interview about the intentions of the people with the rubber fist. Anyone who has seen it will know exactly what I mean.
The guy deserves an oscar, for keeping a straight face alone during the interviews.

Ok, now that's off my chest all that remains is for me to be told I mispelt Humor

you did! here's the extra letter for you mate...u

i agree by the way, Borat's a very funny film, dips a bit in the middle, but overall it's a good 80 minutes of fun...

abraxus wrote:you did! here's the extra letter for you mate...u

lol, the latter was intentional, the one in the first line should be to your (and my) satisfaction

yes, i enjoyed the first spelling immensely...

people usually are offended by the wrong things in life...plus it's the intent behind the comment isnt it...

Oh good, short film. I tried to plough through that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest recently and it went on, and on, and on, and on, and... It was like the contracts called for every possible combination of characters. If it had been compressed into 90mins it would have been great, on a par with Raiders of the Lost Ark. Well, perhaps not that good, but a lot better,

abraxus wrote:you did! here's the extra letter for you mate...u

i agree by the way, Borat's a very funny film, dips a bit in the middle, but overall it's a good 80 minutes of fun...

Umm, you talking about that hotel bit? lol

The film is a great example of dual reality.

Well, aside from the fact that I general detest this form of "comedy" what irritates me most about this Borscht is the fact that it is a direct rip-off of an act that was made very popular a few years ago with Yakov Smirnoff (http://www.yakov.com/bio.html)

Yes, there have been other acts of similar ilk over the years. Even the Beverly Hillbillies touches upon the idea of being a stranger in a strange land but at least it was done with taste. In this instance I believe that 90% of the "taste" involved exists only in the man's mouth; his "success" stemming solely from well placed PR & Marketing dollars over the past year, leading up to the film's release, etc. Like BARNEY (yes, the big purple dino) Borat is proof that anyone can become a celebrity in an instant, if they want to buy their fame... sadly, this is the direction show biz has been heading for some time; true talent and hard work counting for very little now days. Especially when the public is so willing to waste their money on garbage like this or the latest Jackass film.

It will be nice when people start looking at talent again along side integrity.

You really didn't get this Craig, I'm surprised. I consider it a work of genius, satire at its finest. Something similar may have been done before but not at this level.

And as for buying fame, Mr. Cohen has been working quite hard for many years in comedy starting in cable T.V., then to appearing on the 11 o'clock show in 1998 ( along side Ricky Gervais ), actually delivering the alternative christmas message in 1999, several series of Da Ali G show, two series of Ali G in Da USA, appearing by request in a Madonna video, several christmas specials, starring in his first film Ali G Indahouse, appearing in Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell... need I go on.

So I think its safe to say that far from buying his fame this Cambridge graduate has most definitely earned it, and with a lot more still to come you haven't heard the end of him by a long way.

What I like about Cohen (with Borat and - to an increasingly lesser degree - Ali G) is the way he openly allows people to expose their ignorance. And it's not just a matter of having them agree with offensive assertions, the genius comes with the realisation that so many people will tolerate some of the most inmappropriate and offensive comments and behaviour, in the belief that 'that's what these foreigners are like and who am I to judge?'. Cohen was accused of misrepresenting the nation and people of Kazakhstan, but again the point was missed - the purpose of the exercise is to show how readily we in the UK and USA will accept the image of a tactless sexist, racist, homophobic bigot as being a typical example of 'them over there'. Borat challenges and highlights misconception and bigotry in our own culture.

And no, I don't think I'm reading too much into it.

As for the lawsuits, I think they're motivated more by the movie's colossal box office takings than by genuine embarassment.

Pete

Exactly pcwells, very well put. You get it. People who are idiotic, ignorant racists will tend to agree with one another when they think they have met another like minded person. He was pretending to display his own disagreeable characteristics on order to expose them in others, with a bit of hilarious slapstick thrown in

Well, I was looking forward to Borat, as I have to admit I used to giggle at Ali G.

What I actually thought was that the movie showed nothing more than some cheap-shots at less fortunate souls, and although I did laugh a couple of times, I came away from the movie feeling slightly guilty and dirty.

I've heard this film described as a 'social commentary'. I rather more found it to be a 'how close can I get to having a movie banned' exercise.

Cohen walked quite close to the line as Ali G, mocking just about any celebrity or dignitary foolish enough to extend him an interview.

But with this movie, which has the underlying theme of showing the cultural and economic differences between countries, what we actually see is a unstructured set of 'skits', each seemingly as offensive as the previous, aimed mainly at either minority groups, misfits, or stereotypically defenceless individuals.

Add to this full-frontal male nudity, racism, sexism, bigotry and the rest, and I guess what sums it up is that this is a very dark and perverse record of how an individual's mind and views, plus their own sense of humour, can go a step to far.

It's no surprise that Anthony Hines was involved with the story/screenplay. The chap was involved with the Ali G show AND the (un)forgettable 'Dennis Pennis'.

Now... subjectively, I can say quite honestly that I hated the film. It's doing nothing more, though, than playing into the hands of a niche target audience who expect to be shocked.

However, I do know very intelligent and well-rounded, rational people who've thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

And obviously, the political references and social issues which are strewn across the storyboard will appeal to diffent people, and offend others.

I find the anti-semetist thread in the movie to be somewhat old-hat to be honest. It simply reminds me of an Irishman telling a joke which mocks the 'stupid' Irish. British joke theorist Christie Davies argues that political correctness has 'hijacked' harmless gags.

He also notes that such gags 'aren't demeaning... they are mocking the STEREOTYPES'.

As to whether this is rational, truthful, or theoretical is beside the point. The Borat movie doesn't just MOCK stereotypes, it DEVOURS them and spits them out one after the other, in an attempt to break taboo after taboo.

So, as you can tell, I was pretty disappointed to waste £11 on myself and Mrs Seige's visit to the cinema. I don't quite know what we expected, but what we got was a big let down in terms of entertainment.

There were about 30 people in the cinema when the movie began, and even though we stayed till the end, I would estimate there were 15 people left when the credits rolled. So, I guess we weren't alone in our opinions.

Now... had this movie been played to me with the 'lads' round when I were younger, with a few beers and some laddish remarks, I guess we'd have all found a funny side to it.

But, we're all entitled to an opinion, and I respect that other people will love the movie, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. In some ways, I wish I was a bit more liberal, but I just found it nothing more than an experiment to see how far the broadcasting companies can be pushed, and how easy it is to make money from mocking others.

BUT if you like this sort of thing, then this is certainly for you!

In a way, the Borat approach reminds me of Mark Thomas, but without the political activism.

That said, I'm a much bigger fan of Mark Thomas than Mr Cohen. But at the end of the day, if it makes me laugh, then I call it funny.

I think the split in people who like this film and who don't might show some interesting characteristics, especially age wise . Perhaps some people would prefer listening to the archers on the radiogram

StevieJ wrote:I think the split in people who like this film and who don't might show some interesting characteristics, especially age wise . Perhaps some people would prefer listening to the archers on the radiogram

Oddly enough, my brother-in-law's parents went to see Borat... they're both in their 50s, and they thought it was hilarious. They especially liked Borat in da hood...