Borat = stupid

the other problem is americans are used to slapstick and obvious humour, and miss a few of the subtle areas of the humour. now I hear you all screaming: "Borat? Subtle?"

But yes my yank friends, there is subtlety to the humour. On its own, with just the face value of the punch lines and with his corny accent and bumbling ways, its funny enough. with the whole underlying subtle humour added, its very funny. I laughed my ass off.

brycexlighthall wrote:

Mtn Dew wrote:

[quote]Former Bomber wrote:

I was one of many he made look foolish a couple years ago when he came to town.

Were ypu one of the spring break wrestlers?

that was classic!!! "gay tv. what gay tv?"

the thing with sketch shows is its very hard to transfer to film as theres a lot more time to get through. Ali G is about 20mins worth of sketches wheras with Borat he had to take that concept and make a feature length movie out of it. because of this I expected the movie to be merely good, as I know how hard it is to transfer a sketch show onto the big screen. I was surprised at how good it was. Obviously it was impossible to maintain that level of humour throughout the whole film

but even the best comedy movies ever have slower moments, like perhaps the naked scene going on a bit too long.

I think that Borat is not really who he says he is!

So by your rationale, it's ok to lie to people if you are out to expose their prejudices? I just don't see that as "just". No they weren't forced to do anything--but they WERE MISLEAD. They were told the actor was someone that he is not, they were told the movie would not be shown in america, among other things. It's lying no matter how you slice it.

Why should people anywhere hate for no reason? Who knows!? But it's apparently the way we are built. I don't have any ultimate answers for you--and if you're looking to comedians for the answer, well...best of luck.

I'm not using "the authority" of science...just stating that MOST people don't change their opinions, regardless of the evidence. As an example, evolution is shown time and again to be the leading theory of origins--yet the majority of people in the world would say it's not true. I could go on.....my point is that a stupid movie that is more full of self-indulgence than subtlety is unlikely to change anyone's mind.

Your last sentence is very true...we SHOULD do those things...but we don't. And we never will. We are born to hate people who don't think like us....it is the unfortunate by-product of our genes. Some people rise above it...but most don't....

Humor is based on exaggeration. George Carlin, Bill Hicks, etc all do this beautifully. But guys like Cohen...they hijack peoples prejudices (not a difficult feat) air them for all to see...then expect us to think "wow...what an amazing, ground breaking, funny film!". Again I say: sorry I'm not fooled.

I laughed at Dumb and Dumber, I laugh at the 3 stooges. I even laughed at Spinal Tap....I got a few chuckles out of Borat...but the movie is just not funny. It's just sad.

I just can't get away from Borat. TV, news, letsrun....Borat Borat Borat...proof that mass advertising really works. Never mind that the film may actually suck.

In my little town, people are complaining because "the number 1 movie in America isn't showing in our theatres."

I'm always very leery of anything that is SUPERHYPED. To me, it's a red flag when everywhere you turn, the product is in your face.

How many things that suck have been superhyped in the past?

yeh, i didnt think it was very funny either... i was really disappointed actually, b/c the previews were hilarious and the reviews were great.. the humor was kind of slow and one dimensional, sort of like the blue collar comedy tour people.. i love political satire, but for now i'll have to stick to the daily show.

Chris Rock saw it and said it was funny.

Borat appeals to slightly undereducated people who think they "get" something that others do not.

They are the type of people who slobbered through college because they never understood what was going on. Now, they think they are on the inside, and it excites them.

Want a good look into the faults of our culture?

Read a few books.

On Civil Disobedience and Why We Can't Wait would be a good start.

Trythy wrote:

Borat appeals to slightly undereducated people who think they "get" something that others do not.

They are the type of people who slobbered through college because they never understood what was going on. Now, they think they are on the inside, and it excites them.

Want a good look into the faults of our culture?

Read a few books.

On Civil Disobedience and Why We Can't Wait would be a good start.

Nice.

Humor is subjective. As with anything, there will be those that find it funny and those that don't, across a wide spectrum of people.

That being said, a lot of people with varying backgrounds have enjoyed this film. It's ok.

Trythy got it right.

Thread over.

Trythy is a stupid, "thou art dumber than me" elitist ala coming onto a thread where probably about of half the posters say they thought the movie was funny and whose "slobberdness" is exposed by such an "educated, well informed" human being. Apparently you cannot achieve two ends for a mass market--create a popular comedy that meanwhile presents a respectable satire of the people who unquestionably support Bush ideology.

Dumb and Dumber poked fun at, generally speaking, the poor socioeconomic community and their "naivety". Yet since Jim Carrey and Arach-dude--cute, cuddly, noncontroversial extensions of generally prosperous white America--portray these characters, we ignore this simple fact. Funny--hell yes! But its social implications are hid beneath slapstick humor and "safe" actors.

Whereas on the other hand it is much easier for us to conceive of "Borat" in a questionable light, particularly the efficacy and of its political message. The character Borat and Cohen's acting in themselves would make this movie hysterically funny, in my opinion. He shits in a bag and brings it to a dinner table of elitist white southerners, asking them what he should do with it. Is that not similar to the Dumb and Dumber duo showing up to a charity dinner party in ridiculously unacceptable suits? You're right, the former is funnier. But its controversial aspects make you say it is stupid?

I guess I'm a slobbering idiot for appreciating the movie, especially as it is released to coincide with the midterm election (that's just smart marketing). This, one would think, would make moderates in America want to swing even moreso to the left. Did we know people like this existed? Yes. Do we know that Bush is an f'ing moron? Yes. But he seems to do a pretty good job of covering his tracks, now doesn't he?

There. Is this "the thread to end the thread"? So ridiculous how one person can be the decisive word simply based upon his elitist stance.

Ha. Those posters that dislike Borat are just sour because he's making fun of stupid americans. Hell, if he was doing the same thing to England you would be laughing your ass off. Face it, americans are super sensitive everytime it is them being made fun of but they are the first to find the mocking of anyone else humourous. Double standard. Americans are such ignorant hypocrites.

I think I made it clear why I think the movie is stupid...and it has nothing to do with being over sensitive. Nme ONE culture that likes being mocked....why just pick on americans? You are as biased as the accused my friend.

running and colds wrote:

yes cohen is intelligent, yes this movie was funny.

the kind of people who didnt like this probably like bill cosby, or dharma and greg.

yes it was offensive, yes it crossed lines. but hell yes, it was funny. end of story

I love it when people, trying to defend their position, limit those we should be allowed to enjoy by condescendingly package them as "the kind of people who". The pitiful unspoken assertion is that you are much hipper, insightful, intelligent and cooler than those who would enjoy someone like Bill Cosby. What if there are some who actually like the Cohen brothers and Bill Cosby? Like say the Cohen brothers, for example. Might they not mock you as a simpleton who tries to artificially categorize people into naive and arrogant groupings?

Dude, I hear what you are saying--but you're missing one critical difference between dumb and dumber and Borat: borat is made with REAL people, dumb and dumber was completely fictional. Big difference. In all honesty, if the people in borat were actors, I'd find borat a lot more funny.

Borat is NO different than "jackass", "tom green" or any other "reality-type" show that thinks it's funny to be cruel to people. Taking a bag of shit into a poor household is just as rude as doing it in a wealthy household. Why is cultural ignorance funny? If someone made a film about a "fake" american who goes to an African nation and over and over offends everyone he encounters, something tells me the world would not think it was funny (actually the actor would probably be killed).

I should point out that I am most certainly NOT a republican, a bush supporter, a christian, or a right wing bigot of ANY kind. I really just think the movie was stupid and cruel. When a male walks up to complete male strangers on a public street in a city known for violence, disease, and danger--and tries to KISS them, let alone that a camera is right there filming it...what the f*** kind of reaction do you expect to ilicit? Why is it funny to see people get angry at things they SHOULD be angry about? That's not humorous, that's self-preservation.

I started another thread about this movie that never got any traction. I like to think I'm fairly bright and reasonably well-educated, with a few years' experience for good measure. I LOVED this movie, and I thought it was brilliantly subversive satire. I put this film in the same category (in my head) with Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, in that they both poke devlishly good fun at a similar mindset (fear, hate and suspicion of anybody different vs. fear, hate and suspicion of those dirty commies).

I don't think the movie makes fun of Americans, specifically. There are bigots everywhere. I think the movie simply makes fon of bigotry, which knows no boundaries, race or religion.

I can see why many people wouldn't either "get" (being a relative word - everyone is free to take whatever "message" they like, or none at all, from the film) or enjoy the film, and that's their perogative.

Nobody can make ME not like it though. Damn near split a gut watching it. Haven't laughed that much or that hard in a movie in a long long time. Got a little uncomfortable in many places, too, but that added to the experience for me.

I saw it and personally I didn't think as a film overall it was funny, although it had some vaguely funny parts. Mostly though, it was quite sad.

I think you could make the same thing in England or elsewhere and it still wouldn't be funny - the country it is shot in doesn't matter.

The people who spoke in it, and understood the questions, fair play. Although it's going to be seriously biased - he's not going to include many people being reasonable that don't fit within what he wants to show. I think my problem with it was how they portrayed Kazakhstan - it was offensive. Maybe this is the point like the reviews say: the USA, England, etc think of Kazakhstan as backwards but then are forced to see the attitudes which abound in their own part of the world. However, to me this doesn't justify making people look like f***ing idiots who have little way of come back. FWIW I know those were actually Romanians. I know Borat is meant to be sexist and racist as a person - that isn't what I found disturbing. That's one person. It was more the jokes and stereotypes about Kazakhstan. Maybe the point was to show everyone stereotypes in a way. I doubt SBC and the production team truly view Kazakhstan as backward given their views on racism. But it didn't seem all that logical to me.