Obscanity: You'll know it when you see it

[Cross-posted at my epinions account.]

Let me preface this part by saying that I am not a fan of “stupid humor” and crude comedy. If a movie is only funny because it exploits sex and bodily functions, odds are I’m going to spend most of the duration rolling my eyes. When I went to see Borat, though, I laughed so hard I thought I was going to throw up. I saw it with my mom, and both of us laughed hysterically throughout most of the movie (I laughed even harder when I learned that the guy sitting next to my mom in the theater got up and walked out halfway through the film!)

Unlike many of the people I know who went to see this movie, I had absolutely no experience with Borat before stepping into the theater, having never seen his television show, and I really had no idea of what to expect, save for the few brief scenes revealed in the previews.

The basic plot of the story is that Borat comes to the USA to make his documentary, but winds up on a detour to Hollywood to track down his new wife to be, Pamela Anderson, who has yet to be informed of her fate. As Borat makes his way to Los Angeles, he catches Americans across the nation with their proverbial pants down. This isn’t just a stupid spoof flick. The thing that makes this movie so great is that the joke is so clearly on us.

Example #1: It’s clear throughout the movie that Borat is intolerably anti-Semitic – which you already know if you’ve seen the clip on YouTube of him singing in a country western bar, as all of the audience sings along with him, “Throw the Jew down the well!” What you don’t know unless you happen to be fluent in certain other languages (which I’m not), is that when Borat speaks in his native tongue, he’s actually speaking Hebrew, sprinkled with some Polish words for good measure. (I didn’t know this until my Israeli friends pointed it out). I’m sure I don’t have to explain why this is hilarious.

Example #2: I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the young men who picked up Mr. “Borat” are now suing him for making them look like idiots. The lesson that should be taken away from this situation: If you don’t want to be shown on film making ignorant, racist comments, don’t make ignorant, racist comments in front of filming cameras. And that, of course, *is* the punchline to that particular joke – people are willing to show their true colors when they think they are influencing the development of some far away country. They’re a bit shamefaced now that they’ve been “outed” here in America. It is absolutely mind-boggling what people will say when they think they can get away with it. Sascha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” character reveals that no matter how much effort some people make to conceal their bigoted views, those hateful sentiments are still there, brewing right beneath the surface. All it takes to stir them up is a charming but socially inept journalist from Khazakstan.

Even more mind-boggling is how other people in the film are willing to tolerate behavior that is at BEST grossly inappropriate and offensive, and at worst violative of human rights, simply because they are naive enough to believe that this is really how things are in “mah cuuuntry.” The running of the Jews? Keeping handicapped siblings in cages? Capturing wives in burlap sacks? Are Borat’s unwitting co-stars so convinced of western (or American) superiority that they really believe civilization ends at the border and the world runs amok outside of North America? Watch this movie and find out!

Be warned – there are scenes in this movie that you don’t want your children to see. There is nudity. Close up, and not pretty. Freaking hilarious, but really, not an image you want to stick with you. Kids may find it really funny to watch a silly guy in a moustache amble around making fools of people, and you may already hear your grade-school kids doing Borat impressions, but I promise – this is not a movie for young kids.

Want to purchase Borat – Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan? Buy from Amazon.com, or buy from Barnes & Noble.

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