# Anybody Seen "BORAT"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869 "2006-11-02T18:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/1 "2006-11-02T18:00:04Z")
Is it funny? And, is the humor intelligent or just silly? I’ve seen a few clips from it-it loks like a decent comedy film. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@The\_Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/2 "2006-11-02T18:30:29Z")
You can check out clips from the HBO show on Youtube. I really doubt it would be much different from that. The reviews are in the 90s on rottentomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/3 "2006-11-02T18:40:35Z")
Saw it. Loved it. The entire theatre gave it a standing O afterwards. There’s a nice mix of lowbrow (fat naked guy) and insightful (guys terrified by the idea of being kissed by a man, racist/sexist frat boys) humour. Pretty much genius all around, and thoroughly enjoyable (I was a big Ali G Show fan before, but even I wasn’t certain Cohen could sustain a movie). ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/4 "2006-11-02T20:10:23Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Is it funny? And, is the humor intelligent or just silly? I’ve seen a few clips from it-it loks like a decent comedy film. [/QUOTE] FYI, it doesn’t open until tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![bucknut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9f8e36/32.png) [@bucknut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucknut)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/5 "2006-11-02T21:04:21Z")
I respect an artist who never breaks character in his public appearances. Ali G, Borat – does he have any other characters? Just wondering where he could go next. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/6 "2006-11-02T21:19:12Z")
There’s still [Bruno](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_%28character%29). And there will be a Bruno movie coming out at some point. ---
**Author:** ![iluvurmom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iluvurmom/32/7276_2.png) [@iluvurmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iluvurmom)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/7 "2006-11-02T21:35:37Z")
Going tomorrow can’t wait! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/8 "2006-11-02T21:58:19Z")
[QUOTE=Kid\_A] There’s still [Bruno](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_%28character%29). And there will be a Bruno movie coming out at some point. [/QUOTE] Yep. 20th Century Fox just bought the rights to it and paid a crapload of money. It should begin filming in 2007. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/9 "2006-11-02T22:11:35Z")
Bruno has the potential to create some even more explosive situations than Borat. People make somewhat of an effort to be polite to Borat but Bruno provokes some insanely violent reactions, especially in the segements that have been shot in the south. The homophobia shown in the Bruno segments is frightening. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/10 "2006-11-02T23:19:42Z")
[QUOTE=bucknut] I respect an artist who never breaks character in his public appearances. [/QUOTE] He actually did the Daily Show once as himself. It was a couple of years ago. But you’re right that it’s rare. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/11 "2006-11-02T23:28:52Z")
It doesn’t open here until tomorrow. I’ve already got tickets for the first evening show. ---
**Author:** ![A.I.Wintermute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@A.I.Wintermute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.I.Wintermute)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/12 "2006-11-02T23:56:53Z")
I’m pretty sure he did an NPR interview out of character as well. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/13 "2006-11-03T03:26:03Z")
[QUOTE=A. I. Wintermute] I’m pretty sure he did an NPR interview out of character as well. [/QUOTE] He also does all of the commentary on Da Ali G Show dvd’s out of character. It’s fascinating to hear him talk about how he came up with the characters and what not. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/14 "2006-11-03T03:31:15Z")
It’s almost jolting how different his real personality is from any of his characters. He’s Oxford educated, very intelligent and well spoken, very interested in discrimination and civil rights issues (he says in his NPR interview that he did his thesis at Oxford on Jewish involvement in the American civil rights movement) and he’s an observant Jew. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/15 "2006-11-03T04:05:17Z")
[QUOTE=bucknut] I respect an artist who never breaks character in his public appearances. [/QUOTE] Why? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/16 "2006-11-03T15:15:25Z")
Briefly caught a bit of him in character on The Daily Show last night. Heh, definately interesting enough to make me want to see the movie, although I do wonder if you’d get worn out after a coupe of hours of his high energy schtick. For some reason, he reminds me of Kaufman. I’ll be interesting to see how his career develops. Right now, he’s fairly compelling. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/17 "2006-11-03T16:33:52Z")
I love Bruno. Looking forward to that. Borat feels a little 'sploitation but I’ll check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/18 "2006-11-03T16:41:40Z")
Ali G makes me uncomfortable. It seems to me he makes fun of people who just want to help him. When he comes on, I switch channels. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/19 "2006-11-03T17:42:57Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Ali G makes me uncomfortable. It seems to me he makes fun of people who just want to help him. When he comes on, I switch channels. [/QUOTE] I saw it at a screening\* a week ago. Borat is similar, though not for the entire movie. While there are definitely scenes where he’s making fun of people trying to help him, there are a few in which the real people make their own beds to sleep in. He just highlights their preexisting prejudices/shortcomings/whatever. There are still other scenes where he’s not so much making fun of people trying to help him, but people are trying to help him and the situation (not the people) is funny. Overall, though I usually don’t like “put people who are unaware of the situation in odd positions” type of shows, I found this one pretty hilarious. YMMV. \*I also got to see the new Will Farrell movie coming out next week – I didn’t think it had a chance to measure up after I’d just seen Borat, but it was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869/20 "2006-11-03T23:21:12Z")
Just saw it…hands down, the funniest movie I’ve seen in ten years. Impossible to tell the staged scenes vs. the unstaged. The hotel room fight had the entire audience in hytserics for several mintues- my sides actually hurt after that scene, no exaggeration. The only thing unfunny was the scene in the Pentecostal church, which was downright scary. I will be seeing it again tomorrow. God, I hope this makes money so there will be a sequel, or at least a Bruno movie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-seen-borat/378869.md?page=2)