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Lana Ulrich is a junior majoring in English and is a columnist for The Daily Collegian. Her e-mail address is lmu5000@psu.edu.
  The Daily Collegian Online	 - Published independently by students at Penn State OPINIONS
[ Monday, Nov. 6, 2006 ]

My Opinion
Controversial Borat movie provides a different view of America

If you are easily offended or have no sense of humor, then the mockumentary, Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan, is not the film for you.

However, if you're like me and agree that capitalizing on the ignorance of stereotypes in comedy always makes for a good laugh, then I'm sure this movie will have you on the floor.

The premise of the film involves an awkwardly hairy and inquisitive foreigner named Borat who travels from his home country of Kazakhstan in order to make a documentary about the United States for Kazakhstani TV.

Shamefully, I have not yet had the chance to see Borat in theatres.

But I've seen all of Da Ali G Show skits on DVD so much that I've committed most to memory, and I have to say that Borat is definitely British native Sacha Baron Cohen's golden persona. (Bruno comes in a close second).

Sure, by all modern standards, Borat is a xenophobic, misogynistic pig.

His character's views on sexuality, religion and social behavior leave much to be desired, and his one-liners and interview dialogues are politically incorrect enough to offend the entire cast of The Aristocrats.

For example, in one skit of Da Ali G Show he seeks to learn more about American relationships.

"Yakshemash! In U. S. of A., if you want to marry a girl, you cannot just go to her father and swap her for 15 gallons of pesticide. Here you have to do something called dating. I find out more. Chenkuye."

In another interview, Borat is looking for a job.

He inquires, "If I work here, can I work in a room with a light?"

The employer responds, "Yeah. Everyone gets to work in a room with a light."

Borat: "Great success!"

From Borat's crazy quips and how he portrays it, the country of Kazakhstan makes 1950s East Berlin sound like Disneyworld.

At heart, I'm certain Borat is a mere victim of circumstance.

His "Guide to America" seems to be an ironically genuine desire to learn more about the American way of life, and his hilariously absurd antics serve as an expose of how a majority of the American public has total lack of comprehension and awareness when it comes to other cultures.

Perhaps this is why his skits involving rodeos and country music are the most brilliant; as a Cracked.com "Top Ten Borat Skits" countdown stated, "We think a safer argument is that he's good at exposing ignorance, and the American South makes ignorance an art form."

According to a November Newsweek article, Borat's producer Jay Roach admits, "He's quick to bust someone's chops, even with people he's just met.

But you feel slightly flattered that he bothered to make fun of you."

As with any TV show or movie that can be relegated into the category of extremely provocative comedy, the success of Borat depends wholeheartedly upon the audience's recognition that Cohen is not really advocating throwing Jews down wells or making nonconsensual "sexy time" with random women.

Really, he's just joking.

And like my other favorite un-family-friendly comedy, South Park, no man, woman or child is too great not to be made fun of.

By making fun of everyone and everything equally, Cohen's type of humor paradoxically reinforces the absurdity of retaining gender and ethnic stereotypes to begin with.

Don't get me wrong; Borat: The Movie is hardly the best venue for learning about the Kazakhstan way of life.

It took me the entire first season and Google to realize that Kazakhstan was actually a country. Half the time he's not even speaking Kazakstani, but a mixture of random languages like Hebrew, Polish, and at times, utter gibberish.

More likely, it critiques diehard U.S. nationalism and the sporadic bigotry of redneck America.

Under the offensive exterior, Borat's journalistic pursuits are a subtle and subversive examination of contemporary multicultural issues.

If you still find it to be useless, gratuitous trash, think about this fact: Cohen is acting; his interviewees are not.

From the YouTube clips I've caught, the movie looks stunning.

Moreover, the overwhelming success of the movie's premiere grossed nearly $30 million in the first weekend.

At this rate, it could potentially rake in over $200 million, becoming one of the most popular comedies of all time.

So don't miss out.

You may laugh, or you may be offended, but undoubtedly you will learn something from the movie.

In the words of Borat, I go and see movie to find more. Chenkuye.

 

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