# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/61 "2006-09-27T18:58:07Z")
The best part of the wine-tasting scene, if anyone’s interested, is right near the beginning when the elderly men try to teach Borat how to hold a glass of wine. The first time I saw this I nearly peed my pants. And for those of you who find parts of Borat offensive, THIS part is just about holding the glass. No offensiveness there. I also suggest the scene where Borat goes to the gym. Incredibly, incredibly funny. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/62 "2006-09-27T19:19:41Z")
ruh roh… the thread is borked, can’t click on page 4 :eek: ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/63 "2006-09-27T19:22:10Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] One of the white guys definietely says, “it is a good thing for _them_.” Borat then says “but not so much for you,” and the white guy says “you’re right.” [/QUOTE] That’s exactly how I remember it. I had forgotten that they were the wine tasting guys though. Borat was driving them nuts! ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/64 "2006-09-27T19:46:27Z")
[QUOTE=yellowval] That’s exactly how I remember it. I had forgotten that they were the wine tasting guys though. Borat was driving them nuts! [/QUOTE] No he wasn’t. Those guys _loooved_ Borat! They even kissed him on the mouth without protest when he said goodbye (most people refuse when he tries that). ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/65 "2006-09-27T19:59:01Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] Really? I didn’t know that. I’m serious, not being sarcastic. I looked in Wikipedia (everyone’s favorite information source, right?) I knew about Irish Travellers, I assume it’s the same group? Wikipedia doesn’t list any other group that has anything to do with Ireland…the article says “Irish Travellers are a nomadic or itinerant people of Irish origin living in Ireland, Great Britain and the United States. They refer to themselves as The Pavee…Labels such as gypsy and pikey are common in Great Britain. Gypsy is more properly applied to the Roma people but is offensive to both groups.” The article does have one of those “The neutrality of this article is disputed” tags at the top, but I don’t know enough about the issue to even guess in what direction it could be biased. [/QUOTE] Here’s an [SDMB thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=241434&highlight=Gypsies) with info on both “Gypsy” groups in the US (those being of Eastern European and Irish descent). ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/66 "2006-09-27T20:13:10Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] No he wasn’t. Those guys _loooved_ Borat! They even kissed him on the mouth without protest when he said goodbye (most people refuse when he tries that). [/QUOTE] I meant with the wine glass thing. It was hilarious how they kept going around and around in circles with him about how to hold the glass. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/67 "2006-09-27T21:16:30Z")
I like Borat, but sometimes he goes too far and ruins the joke. One of his best bits was his full speech before the Oklahoma City Council, which wasn’t televised but is online as audio. He tells the story of the Tishnek massacre, asks them to stand and show respect, and only after they stand does he say: “Please we will have ten minute silence.” He stops after about a minute and a half. He keeps them going for a long time with platitudes about how Kazahkstan can learn from “US and A democracy”, stories of his home and whatnot, but then he sort of ruins it when he starts talking about diarrhea and making advances towards a female council member. At that point the aren’t going to call him out, but they know he’s messing with them and they’re angry. Same goes for the bit with the Congressman, it’s great when he’s talking about him being “powerful like Stalin” and so forth but eventually he starts asking for bathrooms and talking about touching the man’s _khram_ and they just stand there staring, looking like they’re going to hit him. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/68 "2006-09-27T22:05:32Z")
wow **riker1384** , the two examples you posted about Borat going overbaord are _my_ two examples as well 🙂 Telling the Ok City woman “I want to make love inside you wah-wah-we-we” does go overboard, and would make me think it was a put on if I was there. Same as with the Congressman- asking the woman if he can speak to the someone who votes, and have her get indignant- priceless (but you are woman)! I even liked “may I make shit in your bathroom please”. He has big hram, I’m still with him, but “you want touch” = overboard. But hey, I think he is the funniest guy on the planet, so my two critiques over such a large body of work is maybe nitpicking on my part. ---
**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, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/69 "2006-09-27T22:24:29Z")
I think he likes to see how far he can push things and sometimes he goes too far and it stops being funny, but (like I said in the Jackass thread) this is an experimental, unscripted form of comedy and not everything is going to work. In general, though, I think his tactics work but there are times when I think he can’t believe what he’s getting away with and he’s almost TRYING to get somebody to see that it’s a joke. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/70 "2006-09-28T02:36:02Z")
I’d seen this video clip before- and I’m still not 100% sure what it proves. If you watch it again, you’ll see and hear the audience clapping and hooting BEFORE Cohen gets to any offensive lyrics. NOT because they think the Kazakh country singer is good, but because they’re being good sports, and cheering on a seemingly clueless, talentless foreigner who’s trying his best. In other words, Cohen is patronizing those cowboys, but the cowboys were simultaneously patronizing the little foreign guy on the stage. Now, MIGHT those good ol’ boys have been genuine Jew-haters? Sure, anything is possible. But in this case, I suspect the hoots, claps and cheers were far from sincere. By way of analogy, I have absolutely no musical talent… but if I got up in front of a bunch of drunk rednecks at a karaoke bar and sang a horrible version of “I Got Friends In Low Places,” the crowd would surely give me the same treatment- clapping and hooting sarcastically, and singing along loudly. - Ironically, to date, Pat Buchanan is the only person I’ve seen come off well in a Cohen/Ali G segment! Buchanan obviously had no idea who Cohen was, but he caught on fairly quickly that the whole thing was a put-on, and decided to play along. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/71 "2006-09-28T13:49:40Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] If you watch it again, you’ll see and hear the audience clapping and hooting BEFORE Cohen gets to any offensive lyrics. NOT because they think the Kazakh country singer is good, but because they’re being good sports, and cheering on a seemingly clueless, talentless foreigner who’s trying his best. In other words, Cohen is patronizing those cowboys, but the cowboys were simultaneously patronizing the little foreign guy on the stage. [/QUOTE] If the cowboys were just clapping along and hooting occaisionally, I’d be inclined to agree with you, and I’m sure alot of people were just going along patronizingly. However, there’s more than a few that were actually singing along, (even the one woman doing motions to go along with the song), and getting into it more than you would if you were just being polite. ---
**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 28, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/72 "2006-09-28T15:26:56Z")
Have you ppl seen the clip where an american hunter agrees that he would like to kill and hunt jews? It wasnt shown on tv, but you can probably find it on youtube. Thats about the craziest thing I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/73 "2006-09-28T15:41:13Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I think he likes to see how far he can push things and sometimes he goes too far and it stops being funny, but (like I said in the Jackass thread) this is an experimental, unscripted form of comedy and not everything is going to work. In general, though, I think his tactics work but there are times when I think he can’t believe what he’s getting away with and he’s almost TRYING to get somebody to see that it’s a joke. [/QUOTE] I think this is one of the most amazing things about all of his work, as Ali G, Borat and the rest of his characters…there is no going back. He can’t just call cut and ask all the dupes to pretend they don’t know they are being duped in take 2. He gets one chance to pull off what he wants to do and then that’s it. As soon as it goes to air he burns even more potential targets. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/74 "2006-09-28T15:43:37Z")
I have to ask - why are all the ads in this thread for recipe sites? ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/75 "2006-09-28T23:16:15Z")
My wife is a dead. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/76 "2006-09-29T02:20:33Z")
I think the Borat character is in part a piss-take of the rather, um, old-fashioned attitudes still widespread in eastern Europe and beyond. I shared a house once with a couple of Ukrainians. Lovely, funny guys, well educated, but occasionally prone to jaw-dropping Borat-esque comments about Jews and so on. They seemed to find it hilarious that there were so many black people in Britain, just walking around the place like regular people. ---
**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 29, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/77 "2006-09-29T15:37:32Z")
It seems that Borat is [fighting back](http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-09-29T124641Z_01_N28213372_RTRUKOC_0_US-LIFE-BORAT.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2) > [@](#): > > Borat denounced an official Kazakh publicity campaign running in U.S. magazines as “disgusting fabrications” orchestrated by neighboring Uzbekistan. > > “If there is one more item of Uzbek propaganda claiming that we do not drink fermented horse urine, give death penalty for baking bagels, or export over 300 tonnes of human pubis per year, then we will be left with no alternative but to commence bombardment of their cities with our catapults,” Borat said. Brilliant. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/78 "2006-09-29T18:01:32Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Now, MIGHT those good ol’ boys have been genuine Jew-haters? Sure, anything is possible. But in this case, I suspect the hoots, claps and cheers were far from sincere. By way of analogy, I have absolutely no musical talent… but if I got up in front of a bunch of drunk rednecks at a karaoke bar and sang a horrible version of “I Got Friends In Low Places,” the crowd would surely give me the same treatment- clapping and hooting sarcastically, and singing along loudly. [/QUOTE] Now hold on! Haven’t you people ever _been_ to karaoke? Those claps aren’t sarcastic! They may not be applauding a person’s phenomenal performance skill, but they are applauding a fellow man takin’ a crack at that song they all love! ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/79 "2006-09-29T19:15:49Z")
He’s a funny guy, but MAN did he suck in Talladega Nights. He leeched the humor out of every scene he was in like a laugh vampire. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158/80 "2006-10-18T16:12:44Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] Of course not, as Jews have been the target of specific racial hatred for generations whereas Khazaks have not. Not that I’m saying what he’s doing is OK, just that the comparison with the Jewish vilification situation is not valid. [/QUOTE] That’s not the comparison being made. If a specific form of racism wouldn’t see the light of day for one group, then it shouldn’t see the light of day for any group. If the experience of the Jews plays in part of the calculation, it’s to show the evil of the specific form of racism and serve as an object lesson why it is not acceptable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-about-this-comedy-borat-the-movie/374158.md?page=5)