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"Borat" is the name of a person whose family name is Sagdiyev. Being a TV personality gives
him hero status in his tiny village in Kazakhstan . In a project funded by "the Minister," Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his producer-friend Azamat (Ken Davitian) travel
together to America to make a documentary of Borat's exploration of American culture. Settling into his New York City hotel room late in the night, he discovers the TV show Baywatch and
is mesmerized by a blonde in a red bikini. He soon learns that she is a woman named Pamela Anderson who lives in California. The skinny Borat wants this voluptuous blonde
but he's afraid of his grossly overweight wife who has threatened to "break his cock" should he fool around with another woman. The next morning, Borat receives news of his
wife's demise--she was attacked by a bear. And so it becomes Borat's obsession to meet--and marry--Pamela Anderson. He prevails upon his compatriot and producer Azamat
to drive overland to California--a trip that proves to be life-changing for Borat.
The complete title of the film alone--Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit
Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan--should give the viewer a clue as to the kind of movie Borat is. It is a vehicle for real TV personality Sacha Baron Cohen to
project on the big screen one of a trio of his popular characters from his Da Ali G. Show. Borat is a satire lampooning America--slapping it with the right hand while
stroking its bruises with the left. Taking digs at American culture, it could be perceived as anti-Semitic, while it also pokes fun at popular notions of Pentecostal
Christianity. But of course, its humor would be unjust if Borat did not also expose Kazakhstan to ridicule. Besides Cohen's sincerity in delivering his comedic antics,
kudos go to the supporting actors whose performances make you wonder if they're at all acting or just being their best American selves--the respectful, poker-faced car salesman,
the antique shop owner who remains unruffled in the face of disaster, the hospitable and well-meaning Jewish couple, etc.
Good satires are often masks concealing serious thought. Borat
shows that what is genius in one culture may be called moronic in another, but that the moron has greater capacity for honesty while the genius has regard only for conformity. Borat demonstrates how funny cultural ignorance can be--or how lovable innocence is--depending on which side of the fence you're on. Borat the character is ignorant of First World refinements--something intolerable to some First World citizens--but he is also innocent in his honesty and trueness to self. By circumstance of birth he grew up in an insignificant village in Kazakhstan ; he is what his culture has shaped him, his is the only self he knows, the only culture he lives by. In the village that suckled Borat, gender and genitalia are nothing to be squeamish about--they are part and parcel of being a human animal. Borat himself thus becomes an amoral but not uncommon Third World species: adoring virginity, taking lust in stride yet valuing marital fidelity. The viewer will not but react to
Borat--it's a love-it-or-leave-it thing. Some may find him and his situations hilariously funny; others will be offended by his vulgar and uncouth ways. In the
end it's not Borat but the viewer who is judged, based on how well he has accepted the person of Borat.
(Date Reviewed: 10 November 2006)
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