Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)

9.5½/10 Chickens

Jagshemash, I like you! Do you like me?

It is hard to criticize a movie when most of its bases are covered.

Sacha Baron Cohen successfully created a character that is not only obscenely offensive, but remarkably likable and seemingly innocent. The audience laughs at his lack of tact, social ignorance, and overall foreignness, but the most staggering beliefs are revealed by his interviewees. Throughout the movie Borat Sagdiyev manages to dig up the part of every individual that has been concealed under years of social conditioning. Some try to mask it with proper dinning etiquette, while others blatantly yell out bigoted remarks in God’s behalf.

Many are calling Cohen’s work racist and anti-semitic. In reality it targets bigots, sexists, racists, homophobes, and Christians to ridicule them through their own actions and words. What better way to get over these global problems than to laugh at those who blindly stand for them?

Regarding the Kazakhstan government getting antsy about the release of this film due to possible negative effects on tourism and image of their country: Who can honestly say they gave two shits about this dingle berry of an ex-Soviet country before Borat came to the scene? If anything they should be paying him for the excessive amounts of advertising and press their country has received.

One of the biggest mistakes of my life was watching David Letterman’s interview with Borat minutes before going to the theatre. Disappointment rained from the sky as I realized that nearly every response from the interview was cut straight out of the movie script. Couldn’t Cohen come up with some original material to promote his film?

David Letterman interviews Borat: Link