Two Borat stories

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I'm slow on the pickup again, but 36 hours ago the L.A. Times ran two Borat stories, and portions of each are worth quoting because they lay bare what Borat's star-cowriter-producer Sacha Baron Cohen is essentially up to, which is a cunning mockery of America's rural cluelessness.

The piece by Mark Olsen and John Horn quotes Talladega Nights director Adam McKay as follows: "I don't want to speak for my movies; you could say my movies are just completely silly and dumb, but in the case of Idiocracy and Borat, without a doubt there is a really subversive and sophisticated assault on American culture.

"It's one thing to mess stuff up and break stuff, but [Borat] is really pointing out the ideology of America. It's one thing to break stuff and damage people's possessions, but when you start aiming at the ideology of America, that's dangerous comedy."

The article/rant piece by Carina Chocano points out that Borat -- i.e., Cohen playing a Kazakhstan culture reporter -- hangs out with "normal people" -- i.e., non-actors who aren't in on the joke -- and gets them to happily reveal their prejudices.

"Shopping for a house, in one TV episode, Borat asks a real estate agent about a windowless room with a metal door for his mentally disabled brother, whether he may bury his wife in the yard if she dies, and whether black people will move into the neighborhood. At the wine tasting, he asks if the black waiter is a slave, to which the 'commander' of the Knights of the Vine society in Jackson, Miss., replies that there was 'a law that was passed that they could no longer be used as slaves -- which is a good thing for them.' ('Oh, good for him, not so good for you!' Borat yelps, picking up an undercurrent that may not have even been evident to them.)

"And he does all of it with a wide-eyed, kiss-you-on-the-cheek, 'America is No. 1' insouciance that lowers everybody's guard -- which must be it, because, otherwise, what's going on? Why is it that Borat can boast to a recruiter at a financial services company that he can 'hold down a large woman for three hours' or patiently explain to a career counselor how his last job consisted of masturbating camels, and both men will nod patiently, never so much as cracking a smile or doing a double take, unflappably respectful of their 'cultural differences' until the end.

"Are they media-coached to the point of catatonia? So secure in their cultural superiority and so clueless about the world around them that they actually believe that this nice, besuited television reporter from Central Asia has never seen a toilet before? Are they dead?

"This, I think, is where the genius and horror of Borat's explorations really lie: The joke is not on the U.S. or Kazakhstan or even the fake Kazakhstan of Cohen's imagination. The joke is on petrified, inward-looking nationalism of all stripes. What's funny is a jingoism so blinkered it can't see the joke in a fake Kazakh singing the fake Kazakh national anthem to the tune of the American one. (Or the irony, for that matter, in the malaprop: 'I support your war of terror!')"

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 16, 2006 at 5:48 PM

comment #1

MrClever says ...

I don't think Cohen is accomplishing his goals (putting American prejudice, ignorance, racism and bigotry on display) with the Borat character as much as he or other media writers think he is. It's always been obvious to me that the people witnessing Borat's antisemetic and racist statements are simply at a loss for words, uncomfortable, or too polite to correct him. And for me, that's where the comedy is: people not knowing how to respond when he makes outrageous statements. On all the clips from Da Ali G show, I can remember only one outright racist American.

Posted by MrClever at October 16, 2006 7:02 PM

comment #2

NYCBusybody says ...

The Borat segments on the show were notable for the fact that most of the people he talked to were just polite and mostly ignored him - yes, if you try and seek out racists, you'll find them.

America-bashing has gotten so old at this point that isn't even rebellious. It's just tired.

At let it be noted that Idiocracy creator Mike Judge is a conservative-ish ex-Reagan guy who is responsible for the single most fair-minded, honest, and non-condescending media portrayal of rural people, "King of the Hill".

The people in this country most up for skewering are the clueless, limousine liberal urbanite idiocracy, but since the media is a Democratic Party tool, that won't happen. So Sacha Baron Cohen takes easy, dumb potshots at people no one likes anyway, and tried to pass it off as actually representative of what rural Americans are really like.

That's a real idiot.

Posted by NYCBusybody at October 16, 2006 8:20 PM

comment #3

Larry says ...

I think Borat is hilarious, but clueless people with limited political understanding, such as Carina Chocano (and Wells himself) read far too much into this stuff.

Posted by Larry at October 16, 2006 8:24 PM

comment #4

Arran says ...

Yes NYC, damn that liberal media. Damn it all to hell.

Posted by Arran at October 16, 2006 8:37 PM

comment #5

James says ...

All of Cohen's characters are making fun of a more universal human foible--our struggle to bridge cultural differences. The humor lies in how difficult it is for the often well-meaning Americans and the certainly well-meaning characters Borat plays to find some sort of common ground, wherever that may lie.

I've heard this analysis for some time--that Cohen is making fun of people for being somehow unable to "get it." The idea is that they are too dumb or polite or too something else and that they should be able to see through his act. That so totally misses the point.

The people Cohen's characters interact with are not, not, not the butts of his jokes. The situations he creates are where the humor lies.

That bit where Borat sings his version of the Kazakh national anthem at a minor league ballgame is a perfect case in point. The respectful Americans who wait patiently but also uncomfortably for Borat to finish his epic rendition are not to be scoffed at. The situation, in which a foreigner attempts to share a piece of his foreign-ness and everyone struggles mightily to be accepting, is what's funny.

And remember: Cohen interacts with all sorts of people from all points on the political, religious, and cultural spectrum.

Posted by James at October 16, 2006 8:51 PM

comment #6

Mike Schaefer says ...

"limousine liberals"? Good lord, NYCBB, that phrase was already passe before you were born. Talk about something that's so old it's tired...

Agree about "King of the Hill", tho'.

Posted by Mike Schaefer at October 16, 2006 8:54 PM

comment #7

L.B. says ...

NYC, an assault on your cluelessness would be welcome.

By the way, the characters in KING are not rural. They have accents, drive trucks, and whatnot, but that's a small city they live in. Just because it isn't NY or LA doesn't make it rural. Oh, I know, you came from this and that. Which is why your statement surprises me. I would assume you could tell those things apart.

That being said, you shouldn't throw around accusations of things being tired. Your usual whining is way past its shelf life.

Posted by L.B. at October 16, 2006 9:08 PM

comment #8

Mr. Muckle says ...

Well now, NYCBusybody, no one likes you, so maybe Cohen will turn up on your doorstep on of these days.

Posted by Mr. Muckle at October 16, 2006 9:47 PM

comment #9

TKC says ...

Yes, it's truly a tragedy that -- but for the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, Fox News (Colmes excepted), the Washington Times, the New York Post, 99 percent of talk radio, ABC's "Path to 9/11" movie, most things Mel Gibson says even when he hasn't been drinking, the Blue Collar Comedy tour, the books of Ann Coulter, "24", 1/4 of the ladies on "The View", the protagonists of "House" and "The War at Home", Calista Flockhart on "Brothers and Sisters", Sarah Paulson on "Studio 60", a significant portion (though by no means all) of country music, Pax, Trinity, the network affiliates owned by Sinclair, Ben Stein, John Milius, and a handful of other voices, the liberal media really has quashed the voice of conservatives in America. Poor things.

Posted by TKC at October 16, 2006 10:03 PM

comment #10

Argen says ...

It doesn't really help this dopey thesis that the person making the most fuss over being ridiculed in the movie is a feminist.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_179/howiwasduped.html

I guess she didn't get the memo that Cohen is only here to make fun of the right wing. But what do you expect? Those equality types tend to be cuckoo.

Since when have the suburbs become rural?

Posted by Argen at October 16, 2006 11:26 PM

comment #11

MrClever says ...

"The situation, in which a foreigner attempts to share a piece of his foreign-ness and everyone struggles mightily to be accepting, is what's funny."

You're exactly right. With Borat and, to a lesser extent, Ali G, the word that I think of most when I'm watching him interact with people is "awkward." The whole situation is bizarre, and again, that's why I think it's funny.

Posted by MrClever at October 17, 2006 12:45 AM

comment #12

Jesse Perry says ...

The article posted by Argen kills me . . . Her constant invoking of 9/11 is a perfect example of Pretentious Artist Victimhood . . . That piece should have come with a black turtleneck.

Posted by Jesse Perry at October 17, 2006 7:52 AM

comment #13

RoyBatty says ...

"The people in this country most up for skewering are the clueless, limousine liberal urbanite idiocracy, but since the media is a Democratic Party tool, that won't happen."

This is a priceless example of the reverse-victimhood mentality of the right - conservatives control virtually all of talk radio & have the highest rated cable news network, yet continue wail about their "vast left-wing media conspiracy." There hasn't been a minute passed in this country for the last 10 years when "clueless, limousine liberals" weren't being skewered.

Posted by RoyBatty at October 17, 2006 9:56 AM

comment #14

christian says ...

while i adore borat, i always come away with the impression that people are going out of their way to be kind so as not too offend.

sometimes i find it too easy humor for all of us to make such joking humor at expenses of unwilling peasants in their castles.

at least NYC and me can met in the middle on KING OF THE HILL. it's the best sit com on tv -- or was.

of course, i hate to put a damper on the classic talk radio meme about limousine liberals (as if rush limbaugh drives his own fat ass anywhere) but i actually lived in plano texas right near garland, the basis for KOTH's arlen.

as a flaming lib, i loved texas, especially the very kind people. i do get into mini-debates with people when i explain that not all texans are hick racists, but NYC, i sure did have a number of rich white christians commonly refer to black folk as "nigger" and they were indeed bush supporters.

draw your own conclusions. but i ain't got no limo. yet.

Posted by christian at October 17, 2006 10:54 AM

comment #15