Very Nice!
Like I said in my last post, I got to see this week's episode of Heroes via illegal downloading. Also thanks to illegal downloading, I finally got the chance to see Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan tonight. Geez, that's a mouthful of a title. It's up there with Dr. Strangelove's full title, for crying out loud. But I'm getting off-track. I missed out on the Borat phenomenon back in November when it was all anyone was talking about, but I finally got around to seeing it on my computer just a few minutes ago. And I have to say, I don't know too many movies that are both this funny and this completely wrong at the same time.
It's politically incorrect in the most insane way, and I must admit that I do think at least some of the controversy it caused has a teensy bit of merit. Sasha Baron Cohen's titular character is completely backwards in his way of thinking, thanks to his rather ... *ahem* ... "confused" beliefs regarding women and various cultures. If it were any other movie, if it were any other character, Baron Cohen would be accused of being a racist and the movie would have tanked at the box office. What makes it actually work is that Borat isn't being malicious; he's just stupid. Baron Cohen plays the role with a certain amount of innocence, and that's what makes the whole thing so charming.
This movie sets the bar of politically incorrect humor extremely high. It seems almost wrong to laugh at at times, but some scenes are so awkward and bizarre that laughter is inevitable. (Take the naked fight scene, for example.) But the movie's funny, no doubt about it. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan gets four stars, and I'm sure I'll have a full review of it once I can get around to watching the DVD via Netflix. Oh yeah, it's a total S@TM induction, for sure.
It's politically incorrect in the most insane way, and I must admit that I do think at least some of the controversy it caused has a teensy bit of merit. Sasha Baron Cohen's titular character is completely backwards in his way of thinking, thanks to his rather ... *ahem* ... "confused" beliefs regarding women and various cultures. If it were any other movie, if it were any other character, Baron Cohen would be accused of being a racist and the movie would have tanked at the box office. What makes it actually work is that Borat isn't being malicious; he's just stupid. Baron Cohen plays the role with a certain amount of innocence, and that's what makes the whole thing so charming.
This movie sets the bar of politically incorrect humor extremely high. It seems almost wrong to laugh at at times, but some scenes are so awkward and bizarre that laughter is inevitable. (Take the naked fight scene, for example.) But the movie's funny, no doubt about it. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan gets four stars, and I'm sure I'll have a full review of it once I can get around to watching the DVD via Netflix. Oh yeah, it's a total S@TM induction, for sure.
posted by Matt Sutton at
12:32 AM
5 Comments:
I've never seen the movie myself (and it really doesn't seem my personal cup of tea), but I would call the Borat character more naive than stupid. His un-PC leanings are just not knowing any better and being (theoretically) raised differently.
I will also raise a glass to the wonders of semi-legal procurement though. I just got the MST3K episode "Time Chasers".
On second though, yeah, perhaps naive is a better word.
It's in my Netflix queue, so I'll get to it sooner or later.
Is everyone on Netflix but me?
That makes me a saaaaaad Boffo.
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