The glorious nation of Kazakhstan gets it right.
If you've ever seen the infamous HBO hit show
Da Ali G Show
, you're already familiar with the naively offensive reporter from Kazakhstan named Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen). Cohen's gag, executed with terrifying success across the nation of the "US and A," is interviewing real people who have no idea who he is, exposing underlying (and not so
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underlying) prejudices through shocking remarks and actions that blow the top off political and civil correctness.
Take, for example, his session with a joke specialist when Borat tells a story about his sister, "No. 4 top prostitute in all of Kazakhstan," sexually teasing his caged, retarded brother. The specialist replies, "That joke would not be funny in America," but, tellingly, it is. More disturbing is Borat's trip to a rodeo, when his praising remarks for our "Warlord President Bush" and his statement that he "supports our war of terror" elicit huge applause from the audience.
Borat's impossible habits, blamed on falsified Kazakhstan cultural beliefs, create a distance from the reality of what's happening. This distance makes Borat's actions
almost
irreprehensible. Kazakhstan is depicted as a medieval village of bumpkins where the kindergartners carry guns and the town mechanic is also the town abortionist. Borat uses a toilet as a washbowl, and his entire road trip across America is propelled by an infatuation with Pamela Anderson's
Baywatch
character CJ. His portrayal is so completely insulting that the only way to keep
it funny is to go even further with the joke, which is exactly what he does. If you are not prepared for full-frontal nudity of 400-pound
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men, this might not be the movie for you.
The scary thing is how many people actually buy the gag. The thought that the film is predominantly comprised of unscripted incidents is staggering, as is the fact that Cohen isn't in jail. A group of New York feminists try to explain to Borat that, contrary to his nation's beliefs, women do not have smaller brains than men, but they finally kick him out when he asks them to lift up their skirts. At a dinner with Southern "high society," he brings his feces to the hostess, asking where he should dispose of it. She valiantly walks him through potty etiquette but draws the line when he invites a prostitute over.
Borat's journey is one of the most hilarious and frightening commentaries on American culture you will see this year-the moral (according to Borat) being, "While chasing a dream (especially one with a plastic chest), one can miss the real beauty in front of their eyes." Translation: The USA may be the greatest country in the world, but Borat would rather be in Kazakhstan.
