‘Borat’ offensive, obscene, hilarious
November 13, 2006
Those living in the great country of Kazakhstan are fortunate to have a man like Borat Sagdiyev representing them.
He is a man who loves his family, especially his sister Natalya who he makes out with on occasion. He is very proud that “she is No. 4 prostitute in whole of Kazakhstan.”
Borat, a television reporter for Kazakhstan, is also a man who is keen to learn the customs of those living in America. He learns many things while making his “movie-film” about American culture.
His take on the concept of homosexuality: “You mean the person that put plastic fist in my anus is homosexual?”
His take on a woman’s right to choose who she has sex with: “WHAAAAT?!”
His response to any female he sees: “Very nice. How much?”
He is a man who supports President Bush and his War on Terror. Before a singular rendition of the national anthem at a Virginia rodeo, Borat announces to the audience, “May George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq!”
Finally, Borat is a man who is loved by everyone he meets. In the space it takes to make a mocumentary about the hilarity of misplaced prejudice, he is verbally assaulted, arrested, kicked out of houses and left to fend for himself under the weight of an obese man with very bad-tasting testicles.
He should know after all. During a strangely choreographed fight sequence, the testes in question end up in his mouth. And, as he later accuses their owner, “My mustache still tastes of your testes!”
So it goes with “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” The film is wrong on about every level imaginable. Just ask the various countries who are banning, or seriously considering banning, “Borat.” This includes Russia and, not surprisingly, certain areas of the Middle East.
There’s not much of a plot, but there’s enough material to offend just about every race and sexual orientation imaginable and, frankly, the film is about the most obscene piece of work I’ve seen. Ever. (And this is coming from someone who has seen “Pink Flamingos” on more than one occasion.)
And I loved it. I’m pretty sure that, during a recent viewing of “Borat,” I literally almost died from laughter-induced hyperventilation.
Thank God that didn’t happen or I wouldn’t be able to tell you that, unless you are easily offended, this is a movie to go see. If only for lines like “Although Kazakhstan a glorious country, it have a problem too: economic social and Jew,” and “My name Borat. I like you. I like sex. Is nice!” These and others like it are sure to become part of the rhetoric at conversations that occur when people who have seen “Dumb and Dumber” or “South Park” episodes again and again get together. Those who are in this category will know exactly what I’m talking about.
Larry Charles, a man many may know from his days as a writer on shows like “Seinfeld” and “Mad About You,” directed the film.
The story line is as follows: A television reporter, Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen of HBO’s “Da Ali G Show”), comes to America to make a documentary. Along the way he buys an ice cream truck and a bear, runs away from two cockroaches that he believes to be Jewish terrorists, falls in love with Pamela Anderson and gets arrested after trying to kidnap her.
The lesson he learns from all of this? “I had to come to America to learn that if you chase a dream, especially one with plastic breasts, you miss the real beauty right in front of you.”