# what do you think about this comedy? (Borat - the movie) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158 "2006-09-26T01:18:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/21 "2006-09-26T19:08:51Z")
I had no idea it was a country until just recently. The more you know. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/22 "2006-09-26T19:44:54Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] It is worth knowing that this wasn’t originally a joke on Americans, but one on _British_ people, for a fairly low-budget TV show. And we were assholes too, and fell for it as much as people in the US. Unsurprisingly, though, in the US Cohen’s character has tapped into a seam of even more extreme opinions than found in the UK. The Kazakh government, and others, are very annoyed, but the vox pop interview held with young (English-speaking) Kazakhs showed it to be extremely popular, since they understood the satire: Borat’s version of their country is totally different from the reality, and really exposes the people who fall for it. Possibly offensive, but very funny. [/QUOTE] Are you saying that the real racist here is **Argent Towers** because he believes that Borat is similar to actual Khazaks? For what it’s worth, I just figure a certain population of all people who live east of Austria throw rocks at gypsies, hate Jews, and fuck their sisters. Nothing against Khazaks in particular. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/23 "2006-09-26T20:05:08Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] For what it’s worth, I just figure a certain population of all people who live east of Austria throw rocks at gypsies, hate Jews, and fuck their sisters. Nothing against Khazaks in particular. [/QUOTE] From the few eastern Europeans I’ve known, I never encountered antisemitism or incest, but the Gypsy thing is totally real, and absolutely horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Wildfire\_MM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@Wildfire\_MM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildfire_MM)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/24 "2006-09-26T20:38:56Z")
from the description it reminds med about UHF > **[UHF (1989) ⭐ 6.9 | Comedy, Sci-Fi](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098546/)** > > 1h 37m | PG-13 ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/25 "2006-09-26T22:19:42Z")
When we went to see Silent Hill at the end of August, there was a preview for the Borat film. A quote from the people sitting in front of me as it ended… > [@Flaming Retards](#): > > I guess it’s one of those films you’re not supposed to get . I’ll see it. Probably not at the cinema, but more than likely when it comes to PPV or Quickflix. SBC’s characters are pretty funny, but what’s better is the people who don’t get it’s a joke, and do take him seriously. It’s interesting to watch people’s reactions when faced with something that is so clearly a pisstake. Something similar was done here in Aus a few years back, but it was with a made up country. That just seemed to fall flat, because nobody knew what this country was, and so everybody just kind of ignored it. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/26 "2006-09-26T22:29:33Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] … Granted most of the people he interviews don’t even know Kazakhstan is a country… [/QUOTE] You said it. Haven’t seen the movie yet, but I trust Cohen-- he is a clever, clever man. If wanted to balk at something racist, I’d watch **Mind of Mencia**. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/27 "2006-09-26T22:44:51Z")
…so my people can be free! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/28 "2006-09-26T22:52:47Z")
[QUOTE=Ghanima] …so my people can be free! [/QUOTE] LOL. (And I don’t use that acronym lightly.) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/29 "2006-09-26T23:04:16Z")
Every time a satire comes down the pike–especially if it’s dark or subtle–this thread happens. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/30 "2006-09-27T00:58:46Z")
Here is Borat getting American’s to sing an anti-Jewish song. [Throw the Jew Down the Well](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6214096892005162339&q=borat+jew) ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/31 "2006-09-27T01:31:58Z")
[Q]Everyone’s a little bit racist… sometimes.[/Q] ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/32 "2006-09-27T01:41:50Z")
Seems to me the point of Borat is to get people to feel comfortable about their own antisemitism. He convinces them its OK to feel that way, then he catches them on tape. Some pretty impressive satire; I don’t see it as net-racist at all. The whole “Kazakh” thing is part and parcel; he takes advantage of people’s prejudices about other thirdworlders–the choice of Kazakhstan is brilliant because I doubt if one in ten of his “targets” could tell you if it’s European or Asian or Arab–and by fulfilling those prejudices, gets people to acknowledge them out loud. I’m votin’ for genius. Plus he’s _hawt_. (Cohen, not Borat.) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/33 "2006-09-27T07:30:30Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] From the few eastern Europeans I’ve known, I never encountered antisemitism or incest, but the Gypsy thing is totally real, and absolutely horrifying. [/QUOTE] Ditto. I had no problem with the movie until I read that. Yesterday I was teaching my 3rd graders how to say “I am Bulgarian” and “where are you from?” and when one of my Roma kids said “I am Bulgarian” one of the other kids yelled “No you’re not, you’re a _Gypsy_!” So pardon me if I don’t think jokes about hitting gypsies with rocks are very funny. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/34 "2006-09-27T08:44:39Z")
You know, you people who are offended by it, you deserve to be pitted. What now, we can’t make fun of anything, even if it’s blatantly wrong? Do you maybe think wasps are the only group that it is allowed to make fun of, or is that even too much? Is it ok by you to watch any other entertainment than Thomas the Tank Engine? The worst part is, what he talks about is not satire of Kazakhstan, it doesn’t even have anything to do with Kazakhstan as it is. Honestly, you Americans and your political correctness. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/35 "2006-09-27T09:48:45Z")
Hundreds of American high school and college students who have NO IDEA what Kazakhstan is or what its culture is like are now going to be left with “Borat” as their only representation of the Kazakh people. Yeah of course the character is completely over the top - the point is that the Kazakhs have a right to be unhappy about their only exposure in the entertainment world being through this mockery. I’m not one of those people who has prudish attitudes about movies. Cohen is trading on cheap stereotypes about European peasants, and then giving them a nasty sharp edge by throwing in this anti-semitism angle. Argue and debate about it all you want - the Kazakhs have a right to be offended by this. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/36 "2006-09-27T10:12:57Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > Hundreds of American high school and college students who have NO IDEA what Kazakhstan is or what its culture is like are now going to be left with “Borat” as their only representation of the Kazakh people. I can’t help feeling that you’re insulting high school and college students one hell of a lot more than any slur levelled at the Kazakhs. Really; what sort of idiot gets their world view from a film which is sold from the word dot _as satire_? Do you really believe it’s possible to watch Borat for more than 30 seconds without realising that this is not, in fact, an anthropological documentary? > [@](#): > > Yeah of course the character is completely over the top - the point is that the Kazakhs have a right to be unhappy about their only exposure in the entertainment world being through this mockery. He is not mocking Kazakhs. How many times does this need to be repeated? He is mocking western perceptions. For god’s sake, he turned up to the premiere in a cart pulled by four “Kazakh” women. Do you really think his point is that this is what Kazakhs are like? Should he really be beholden to the possibility that somewhere there is an idiot who might actually believe that this is what Kazakhstan is like? > [@](#): > > I’m not one of those people who has prudish attitudes about movies. Cohen is trading on cheap stereotypes about European peasants, and then giving them a nasty sharp edge by throwing in this anti-semitism angle. Argue and debate about it all you want - the Kazakhs have a right to be offended by this. Only if they don’t get it. He is not mocking Kazakhs; he is mocking western perceptions of countries with funny accents that they couldn’t pick out on a map. The choice of Kazakhstan is almost entirely incidental. See if you can spot the difference between these two sentences: “Ha ha, Kazakhstan is silly and backwards.” “Ha ha, these fools will believe any crap I tell them about a foreign country.” Then, please tell me who is the butt of the respective jokes. Then, see if you can guess which one the film is based upon. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/37 "2006-09-27T10:46:08Z")
Ok, Argent Towers, so in your opinion lots of people are going to see the movie, thinking its some sort of documentary all the way through, and thus learning some surprising things about Kazakhstan. But isn’t this a problem with all entertainment? Should catch-22 be put out of print because some people might use it as their only source of information on how the military works? Would you prevent your children from watching Disneys Peter Pan, fearing that they will think that native americans will act like this? ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/38 "2006-09-27T10:55:03Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] Ditto. I had no problem with the movie until I read that. Yesterday I was teaching my 3rd graders how to say “I am Bulgarian” and “where are you from?” and when one of my Roma kids said “I am Bulgarian” one of the other kids yelled “No you’re not, you’re a _Gypsy_!” So pardon me if I don’t think jokes about hitting gypsies with rocks are very funny. [/QUOTE] Actually, Im NOT going to pardon you. It seems you think that it is not allowed to make fun of real problems. So, for instance it is bad taste to make fun of: - Corrupt politics in africa (hurting the population, as oppression hurts the gypsies) - USA going into war in Iraq on false premises (since it hurts the Iraqi population) - Nazis and their race ideology. Do you agree? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/39 "2006-09-27T14:08:44Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] Here is Borat getting American’s to sing an anti-Jewish song. [Throw the Jew Down the Well](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6214096892005162339&q=borat+jew) [/QUOTE] I just watched this & I think a lot of the bar folk got the joke & decided to go along with it. I’m as philo-Semitic as they come (I’m one of those Christians who believe in Magic Jews), and I’d be singing along if I’d been there. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/40 "2006-09-27T14:13:32Z")
Cohen has said that they _didn’t_ get the joke. They had no idea who he was. He says that he’s amazed at how easily people let their guards down around Borat and let their bigotry out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158.md?page=3)