That...is...awsome

So, has anyone seen this movie? Is it as good as all the buzz makes it out to be?

I've never seen him not be funny...

so he's not just a bigot?

heheh nope.
Have you guys seen the tv show Borat? He did this one where he, as Borat, was allowed to sing at a country and western club. He sang "Throw the Jew Down the Well." The audience responded very enthusiastically, singing along and making up their own actions to lines like "Grab him by the horns".

Was a real 'Cabaret' moment. Terrifying, and brilliant.

Borat
 

I saw it last Sunday. Sure, it was funny, but I was surprised how quickly I got used to the character and his "shtick" [sic?]. Several amazing guffaws for me, and the audience really helped me to laugh. Evidently, many of the scenes were basically set ups of "real" people, so in that sense it really did reveal unsavory aspects of America and Americans.

See it. I gave it 3 stars out of 5, but I'm hard to please.

Regarding Khazacstan [sic?], I don't think he should have done that; why not just make up a country. That country is actually fairly progressive for a former Soviet Republic. Also, Borat actually used several Polish phrases in the movie, so he's pretty loose with trying to be acccurate. Funny guy without a doubt.

It was really good. Lots of hilariously shocking moments. Not as good as Little Miss Sunshine.

In fact, he is so deliberately inaccurate that just believing he's legit is part of the commentary he's making.

He's trying to make the OPPOSITE point that he's displaying, duh... He's so RIDICULOUSLY anti-kazakh, that its not anti-kazakh except to idiots. He's so RIDICULOUSLY anti-semitic, that its not anti-semitic except to idiots.

I've only seen enough of him to see a British Jew portraying a Kazakh as an anti-semite.

Can Kazakhstan declare a fatwah on Borat and put him in hiding like Salman Rushdie?

That is the core of the problem. Kaz has no voice in our media, aside from their clumsy government. The comedian playing Borat is, as we chat here, creating the picture of Kstan that will inadvertantly be the dominant media view. KStanis do not have a media savy voice to explain who they are to the dominant culture. Borat represents the dominant culture. He is saying it is unacceptable in Western society to be a misogynistic anti-semite. Groovy. His profound popularity has made his the dominant voice in defining what Kstan is to the English speaking world. Not groovy. In short, his transition from small-time comedian to major media force has caused him to become what he decries, someone whose voice defines a group of people. Back and forth discussion in media is important in developing understanding between cultures, but this is a one way conversation. I'm not calling for any anti-free speech movement here, I just want folks to consider that bumpkins can be unfairly labeled and not everybody knows a bunch of folks from Kstan to balance their view.

Oddly enough, what really chills my blood is the depictions of Americans going along with his antisemitism. The portrayal of Kazakhstan is so absurd as to be ridiculous on the face of it. The Americans shown in the film (to my knowledge) were in agreement with his sentiments. :worried:

Good job Borat, an entire generation of Americans will believe that Kazakhis have their cars pulled by burros.

On ther other hand everyone was laughing just as hard at the scenes in Kstan as they were at the scenes in southern US. Maybe they get it?

Right. Stupid people are going to believe stupid shit no matter what you do. Have a laugh.