What do some fraternity boys and a Romanian village have in common?
There are lots of things I don't understand and don't really care that I don't understand. But the currently-famous comedian Borat is one thing I very much don't get. And it kind of bothers me.
First, I must make the disclaimer that I haven't seen his movie and have no intention to do so, thus I'm posting this with only a vague sense of what his schtick is about. I know that he poses as a reporter from Khazakstan who is touring the US and interviews people and basically makes fools of them, all in good fun. But the other thing he does is go to a desperately poor area of Romania, which is used as the setting for his homeland in this movie. He basically makes them out to be poor saps who do crazy things like live with cows (in their homes) and marry their sisters and such. He pays them anywhere from $3.30-$5.30 to do things like put cows in their homes and act like Third World stereotypes that the First World's citizen's already believe. Without telling them this is going to be a movie that US (and other) movie-goers will see and laugh at. And apparently it's... funny?
I guess no one should pick on anyone in front of a global audience without their express permission, so I should feel bad for all the Americans as well as the Romanians (Gypsies, actually) who were duped. Two fraternity brothers have sued him for defamation, claiming they had no idea what his intentions were. I'd be quite annoyed if it were me. But my heart really goes out to the Romanians. Picking on frat boys whose lives, let's be honest, are far from drudgery, is silly. But making people out to be chumps when they already have nothing is plain mean-hearted. These are people who scrounge for food to eat, don't have electricity and live in tin-roofed shacks. Does he end his day thinking, "I really made the world a better place today"? Or perhaps, "I really made a zillion dollars off of that guy's pathetic situation"?
Will someone explain what's so funny about this guy? Have I completely lost my sense of humor?
First, I must make the disclaimer that I haven't seen his movie and have no intention to do so, thus I'm posting this with only a vague sense of what his schtick is about. I know that he poses as a reporter from Khazakstan who is touring the US and interviews people and basically makes fools of them, all in good fun. But the other thing he does is go to a desperately poor area of Romania, which is used as the setting for his homeland in this movie. He basically makes them out to be poor saps who do crazy things like live with cows (in their homes) and marry their sisters and such. He pays them anywhere from $3.30-$5.30 to do things like put cows in their homes and act like Third World stereotypes that the First World's citizen's already believe. Without telling them this is going to be a movie that US (and other) movie-goers will see and laugh at. And apparently it's... funny?
I guess no one should pick on anyone in front of a global audience without their express permission, so I should feel bad for all the Americans as well as the Romanians (Gypsies, actually) who were duped. Two fraternity brothers have sued him for defamation, claiming they had no idea what his intentions were. I'd be quite annoyed if it were me. But my heart really goes out to the Romanians. Picking on frat boys whose lives, let's be honest, are far from drudgery, is silly. But making people out to be chumps when they already have nothing is plain mean-hearted. These are people who scrounge for food to eat, don't have electricity and live in tin-roofed shacks. Does he end his day thinking, "I really made the world a better place today"? Or perhaps, "I really made a zillion dollars off of that guy's pathetic situation"?
Will someone explain what's so funny about this guy? Have I completely lost my sense of humor?
posted by Left Coast Sister at 2:51 PM
11 Comments:
Ok, I will admit, the first clip I saw of that it seemed funny. It was a clip of him taking a driving lesson in the US. He took out a bottle of alcohol and tried to drink it during the lesson and other such antics. It was kinda funny. Also, having spent a short stint in a different country, there is definitely humor in cultural barriers and the accompanying awkwardness, if done right. That said, I am HORRIFIED by what they did to those villagers. The frat boys not so much but still. I don't understand how anyone could go into a place like that and not wonder, hmmm is this the right thing to do? The villagers are suing them and I'm hoping they make 10 mil+.
I've seen a few clips as well and some of them made me laugh. He has a couple little things he does that I find highly amusing. However, there were definitely parts that made me uncomfortable and that I found very unfunny. One of my most hated things is humor at the expense of someone else. I hate the thought of people being made fun of and either not knowing it or finding out about it later...
I hadn't heard about the villagers suing (heard about the frat boys). Imagine what some of that money could do for them---seems only fair they should get some of it.
I will allow that since I haven't seen the movie, there might be something I'm missing. Maybe someone will fill us in?
It's so weird to see your post here--my colleague was just telling me tonight about this movie and that he was going to go see it--but he was describing it as this guy who goes in and ends up making fun of people like Donald Trump and racists and so on. Hmmm...I agree that making fun of Romanians doesn't sound that interesting, though...
i've seen the actor (sacha baron cohen) as borat and as other characters -- i found him very funny, talented, sometimes provocative.
sounds like he may have crossed the line with the villagers thing, tho, don't know.
how about this: i volunteer to make the valiant sacrifice to go actually see the movie and report back.
no, don't thank me -- it's a rotten job but someone's gotta do it...
Thanks Bryan, we're all grateful. ;)
Just to mention, didn't mean to sound like a total drama queen... as there are cerainly more *horrifying* things in the world.
I'll be interested to see you comment after you do the difficult task, Bryan. I have seen a few clips which I thought were pretty OK-funny (haven't seen anything that made me roll off my chair or any thoughtful humor, but a good chuckle nonetheless. I think this has made me re-think my irritation about this guy. Like Jay Are, I am uncomfortable laughing at someone else's expense... but especially so when their situation is so dire. Like when one of the villagers commented that she was so grateful for the three bucks she made. To think people pay three TIMES that just to see the movie seems a little yucky. Anyway, like Jay Are said, I just think that they deserved to know what they were getting into, AND a little cash in hand, or perhaps a social benefit program established... a good laugh at American largesse seems fine and all, but to laugh at someone's poverty is quite heartless. Hmm. prrrof, tell me what your colleague thinks too...
From an article on CNN where he defends his creation:
"The joke is not on Kazakhstan," he said. "I think the joke is on people who can believe that the Kazakhstan that I describe can exist..."
He said he always had faith in the audience to realize this was a fictitious country and the mere purpose of it was to allow people to expose their own prejudices.
"I think part of the movie shows the absurdity of holding any form of racial prejudice, whether it's hatred of African-Americans or of Jews," said Baron Cohen, a devout Jew who keeps Kosher and observes the Sabbath when he can.
BTW: I saw SBC do a thing as Borat where he's singing at a truck stop cafe. The chorus of his song, which the audience sings along to, is something like
Go get the _____, and throw it in the well...
Each verse he changes it to something different, like Taxes, or The Government, or whatever. Then he says
Go get the Jew, and throw him in the well...
and a lot of the folks just keep on a singin' and a smilin'...
I'd say there's definitely some good at looking at ourselves in the way the movie wants us to. But why couldn't they have paid actors to do what this village did- as I think that was it was just supposed to represent his village. Like LCS said, paying impoverished people a pittance to act in degrading ways that they donn't even understand is not "kosher".
Interesting . . . glad your blog is back "on" or whatever - I couldn't see it for a few days, I was worried!!!!
Carrie
official field report
=====================
crude humor factor: high
people making fools of themselves: yes
my opinion of the frat boys' case: low
my opinion of the villagers' case:
not much better
how much i laughed: quite a bit
how embarrassed i feel about that: quite a bit
i basically felt like for the most part the non-actors who consented to be filmed were probably pleased to be on camera; in general people like attention, they like the idea of being semi-famous, and if they're getting paid for it, so much the better. i thot the romanian villagers displayed those traits in about the same proportions as the americans in the film, and weren't made to look any stupider than the americans, many of whom seem to have appeared happily for free.
it just seems a stretch to believe that anyone would actually believe that was Kazakhstan (altho some of it actually looked like some Ukrainian villages I've seen, except that the Ukr villages were more neatly kept).
it's also a stretch to think the villagers were duped in any big way. if they pay you to put a cow in your house and film it, why do you come back later and say "hey, he made us look silly by having us put a cow in the house!"
it seems more likely that when cohen's risk paid off and he started making big bank on the movie, that's when the villagers suddenly found they were offended by the $3 he'd given them.
just my two cents.
Post a Comment
<< Home