Borat... omg what? - by Oneiroscope
SD on 9/11/2006 at 16:14
Quote Posted by Fingernail
not everyone actually gets it properly, as it were.
But the ones who don't get it for the right reasons are few and far between; I think most people are in on the joke by now.
@ ignatios; the humour really isn't much more than laughs at the expense of the uneducated - but what's wrong with that?
AxTng1 on 9/11/2006 at 16:29
I was going to see it, because I liked Ali G for similar reasons. But then...
Website 1:
SIDEBAR AD: Jagshemash! watch borat now!
Website 2:
BANNER AD: Moustache!!!
TV: Borat is funny!
So I am influenced by advertising. In the wrong way.
Agent Monkeysee on 9/11/2006 at 16:32
I'm with StD for once. Borat isn't gonna change the world, dude, it's just guerilla comedy.
The Internet party poopers all say it's a hollow reflection of the Borat from the Ali G show. Since I've never seen more than about 5 minutes of his show I found the movie thoroughly entertaining and also not quite as awkward as I was fearing. I can only take so much of "lol the interviewer/interviewee isn't in on the joke" humor until it crosses the line to uncomfortable and mean-spirited but this movie tended to cut to a new scene before anything got too bad.
Also I disagree that this movie would offend everyone. The vast majority of the people lampooned are the Midwestern/Southern God & Country types. I can't imagine a liberal finding this remotely offensive unless they didn't get the joke.
OnionBob on 9/11/2006 at 16:32
Quote Posted by ignatios
While I'm all for funny and satire, his intended audience really isn't the one who needs to see it. Do his efforts work to solving the problem he's pointing out? or do they amount to little more than LOL PEOPLE STILL STUPID?
It's a legitimate question; I haven't seen it and I'm genuinely curious. I'm pretty cynical about comedy's ability to break down people's misperceptions, and while I'd love to be proven wrong, Borat doesn't seem like it helps.
Or have I missed the point?
no, you're right, he's not solving a problem as such, but his position is pretty clearly defensible. and yeah he's preaching to the converted, but all satire is like that. :(
Shakey-Lo on 9/11/2006 at 16:36
Quote Posted by Fingernail
also a lot of people do laugh it at like LOL THOSE FUNNY COUNTRIES
not everyone actually gets it properly, as it were.
yep, the description of a torrent for this (not that i, uh, know... but come on its not out in cinemas here for a couple of weeks) said:
"its taking the pi** ' out of an impoverished country ..."
I had a good chuckle about that. It suuurre is. :thumb:
Stitch on 9/11/2006 at 16:42
Borat lifts America's skirt and unearths ugly attitudes and beliefs that we'd rather pretend don't exist. As such, the only scenes in the film that ring out as truly offensive are those where he lets some racist or homophobic American ramble on unscripted, one horrible train wreck of a word after another rolling out as if in slow motion, and those scenes very much play out at the expense of the bigoted dipshit. Borat's behavior, on the other hand, is so ludicrous and over the top that it's difficult to imagine any viewer who shares his appalling views--anti-Semitism, let's say--not perceiving that they're being made fun of.
Perhaps more importantly than all of the above, while watching the film I was practically in tears from laughing so hard.
Agent Monkeysee on 9/11/2006 at 17:31
Quote Posted by Stitch
Borat's behavior, on the other hand, is so ludicrous and over the top that it's difficult to imagine any viewer who shares his appalling views--anti-Semitism, let's say--not perceiving that they're being made fun of.
Part of what helps that is Borat's naivete in his own prejudices. He's anti-Semitic and homophobic because "Khazaks" are anti-Semitic and homophobic. It's practically a physical trait, like brown hair. The movie makes it very clear Borat has no idea what an actual Jew looks like and his own "culture's" notions of male intimacy are so goofily out of whack with Western culture he unwittingly participates in homosexual behavior. His prejudices have no teeth; he's never seen a Jew, he has no idea how to identify gay men, and chances are he's never met an Uzbehk.
Kyloe on 9/11/2006 at 19:15
Hm. Most of the skinheads in Saxony have never seen a Turk or a Jew, either.
frozenman on 9/11/2006 at 20:15
The naked fight/chase was too much arghhh I loved it.
I was a bit worried upon entering the movie because it seemed like the jokes present in the preview were a bit streamlined/tactless..."In America women have the right to CHOOSE who they have sex with"..."WHAT" but I left satisfied. But things like chasing a guy down the streets of New York City, and insisting that the lady with the yard sale was a Gypsy were great.
I also particularly like in Borat interviews where throughout the course of the interview he progresses from Foreigner to Foreigner-who-has-no-idea-what-the-fuck-is-going-on to Complete Retard.
Quote Posted by TheGreatGodPan
I think I'd like the movie, but I never got around to watching Thank You For Smoking or Idiocracy and probably won't see this either.
Thank You For Smoking was shit compared to Borat. There's far less of the overbearing EDGY-WITTY satire feel.
