2008 Woodie Awards
Borat satire fuels fire for the humorless
Nasi Easton
Issue date: 9/22/06 Section: Forum
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In a time of overwhelming political correctness, when gender neutrality is king and you can hardly make reference to any religious affiliation without being thrown to the hounds, it seems strange that a movie focused on doing just the opposite would get very far at all.
Seems strange… but it's true. Tickets for a screening of "The Borat Movie," the latest creation of Britain's well-known comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, sold out in less than three minutes. In case you've been dwelling in a cave for the past few years, Cohen is the creator of Da Ali G Show, a deliciously offensive British comedy show in which he portrays three separate characters who interview various people.
One of his characters is Borat, a native of Kazakhstan with little idea of what acting politely in foreign cultures means. The movie has Borat, still completely unversed in American customs, coming to America as a journalist to make a documentary. The opening scene shows a "lustful" goodbye kiss between he and his sister … and it goes down a continuously more offensive slope from there.
Tickets for the screening of Cohen's genius may have sold out in an incredibly short period of time, but does that mean that the film has been welcomed with open arms?
No, of course not. The media immediately took this chance to point out how Cohen's character is "racist," "sexist," "crude," and countless other equally angry terms. Rumors sprung up that President George W. Bush would be hosting talks with the president of Kazakhstan about Americans' views of Borat's "home" country-and this is all before the movie's even officially been released.
Now, I'll be honest. There's no denying that Borat is a racist, bigoted character with a penchant for insensitive remarks. That's part of what made him so famous-the fact that he says aloud what everyone else will barely admit to thinking.
So the question many ask is: is that okay? Is it okay for Cohen to make crude, crass, and even anti-Semitic remarks, relying on his character's stupidity to make it humorous and not racist?
Seems strange… but it's true. Tickets for a screening of "The Borat Movie," the latest creation of Britain's well-known comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, sold out in less than three minutes. In case you've been dwelling in a cave for the past few years, Cohen is the creator of Da Ali G Show, a deliciously offensive British comedy show in which he portrays three separate characters who interview various people.
One of his characters is Borat, a native of Kazakhstan with little idea of what acting politely in foreign cultures means. The movie has Borat, still completely unversed in American customs, coming to America as a journalist to make a documentary. The opening scene shows a "lustful" goodbye kiss between he and his sister … and it goes down a continuously more offensive slope from there.
Tickets for the screening of Cohen's genius may have sold out in an incredibly short period of time, but does that mean that the film has been welcomed with open arms?
No, of course not. The media immediately took this chance to point out how Cohen's character is "racist," "sexist," "crude," and countless other equally angry terms. Rumors sprung up that President George W. Bush would be hosting talks with the president of Kazakhstan about Americans' views of Borat's "home" country-and this is all before the movie's even officially been released.
Now, I'll be honest. There's no denying that Borat is a racist, bigoted character with a penchant for insensitive remarks. That's part of what made him so famous-the fact that he says aloud what everyone else will barely admit to thinking.
So the question many ask is: is that okay? Is it okay for Cohen to make crude, crass, and even anti-Semitic remarks, relying on his character's stupidity to make it humorous and not racist?
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