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Emily Upper gives BORAT a high-five
By: Emily M. Upper
Some critics and movie-goers believe that current movies are losing their appeal, as so much recent content has been covered, explored and exposed to such an extent that it is difficult to find a unique method of cinematic expression and depth which can be presented in the film media. Of course, many movies are now using new digital technologies and various cinematic techniques to present different angles to previously explored movie plots. However, it seems that lately movies have resorted to prequels, sequels and remakes of other great classics in order to allow the digitally influenced younger audiences to once again experience the thrill of a realistic cinematic experience. These new films are being countered by that of the also-popular reality shows, like “Jackass” ( one and two) and the documentaries of Micheal Moore that present real views and opinions regarding situations of individuals that allow the audience to think, either positively or negatively, about how society is changing and dealing with modern-day life.
One popular television show, “The Ali G Show” has actually created such a buzz throughout many youth that the show’s star, Sacha Baron Cohen decided to create a movie that would unexpectedly reach out to many viewers beyond the television show’s typical viewer. It seems that since the movies’ release on November 3rd, 2006 that every magazine, newspaper, talk-show, and social gathering is filled with Borat. Through seeing this movie twice, once in Mississauga and once in Thunder Bay, it is interesting to note that the laughter which filled both movie theatres could be taken as a reflection of brutal that Borat presents us with; a reality filled with misconceptions and misunderstandings about culture that seem too ridiculous to even be considered the reality of the present understanding of culture.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s character, Borat Sagdiyev, presents a different type of persona, that of the “mocumentary”-seeking, weak-plot based, falsely-identified Kazak reporter, who seeks to show audiences everywhere a little bit of bathos that has never really been explored. The connotative properties that exist in this movie create a very interesting, thought-provoking, sympathetic self-reflection where the culture that audience members are questioning, is not that of Kazakhstan, but that of America and the members involved in the film. These Americans interviewed, like the humour coach and the etiquette teacher, automatically utilize all ideas of stereotypical cultural boundaries because Borat presents himself as the naïve, anti-Semitic, sexist from Kazakhstan. Just because Baron Cohen says he is this man, and the interviewed Americans actually believe in who he is claiming to be, the interviewees reverse roles with Borat and become the naïve, uncultured ones, causing a brilliant method of self-reflection which, I believe, many people need during this time of a general lack of cultural understanding. The misunderstanding lies in the many people filmed who are quick to stereotype, and slow to try and understand and accept.
The movie, with the outrageously long title of, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” seems fitting for a movie that does not seem to fit cinematic norms. Sacha Baron Cohen, along with Dan Mazer, Peter Baynham, and Anthony Hines wrote the thin plot of Borat traveling to America to create a documentary about American life which he can bring back to Kazakhstan. This overlying plot takes a similarly thin twist when the socially inappropriate character suddenly realizes that he wants to make a “sexy time” with Pamela Anderson. The movie weakly concludes when Borat end ups finally realizing his true love lies in the prostitute which he had called earlier to accompany him to his formal dinner date with members of the local elite, including a Pastor. So, if you are looking for a complex plot and great storyline, “Borat” is not the movie you are searching.
The acting skills of Baron Cohen are what holds this movie together and makes it so very interesting. Since multiple groups are suing due to the movie, it is safe to say that for the most part, Baron Cohen did an excellent job of tricking many into believing that he was not the London-born Jewish man he actually is, but someone who many people believed to be a real Kazak.
Part of the hype towards “Borat” lies in the fact that although some parts seem to be a set-up (it would be hard to conceive Pamela Anderson not having multiple body-guards closer around her during her book-signing, and she also had appeared on the “Ali-G Show” about a year ago, so she was well aware of Baron Cohen’s antics), the reality of Borat tricking ordinary people into believing he is the Kazak makes people want to view the movie due to the numerous legal issues that have surrounded the movie. For example, there are the South Carolina college fraternity members who have sued to try and stop the DVD release of the movie due to the sexual and racists comments that they made while intoxicated, not knowing that the film was to be presented as a full-blown feature film in North America. The case has not yet been closed, but the judge ruled on December 13th that regardless of the legal cases’ outcome the DVD will be released. For myself, however, it was not the plot or the legal issues that this movie presented, but the fact that it really made me think about a groups’ general cultural understanding that was the appeal to this movie.
Despite some parts of the movie which seemed to be placed simply for shock-value, like the painfully grotesque and lengthy nude battle between Borat and his traveling companion, the movie and the very convincing acting has presented the cinematic world with a new look on those who Americans claim as “foreign”. Maybe I laughed because of the sheer outrageous things which people said or did just because Baron Cohen’s “Borat” was “foreign”?
As the Texan man who told Borat to “shave off that mustache” to better fit in, exemplified, there are still members in North America who will say or believe things which may not have real validity in the world which is increasingly becoming more and more diverse. In a round about method, the acting presented, although comical and uncomfortable throughout, really made the every-day viewer realize that it is not the other cultures who are coming to America that are making it a different place, but the attitudes that Americans have towards the stereotypical “foreign” individual that are creating boundaries between what people who are defined as “other” and those who judge them by simple outward appearances are changing the country. While Baron Cohen successfully pulls off his character and makes him, for some inexplicable reason, believable displays how cultures and communities should not jump to stereotypic conclusions and let them get away with anything, but should embrace the diversity of America and really think about how Borat, the fake Kazak reporter, could manage to get away with so much racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism with those being tricked just letting it happen due to their stereotypical fronts they have established over this generation of clashing cultures. Really it seems that the most interesting part about this movie, at least for me, is that I walked away not with a misunderstanding of what Kazak life is like, but what Americans will accept as truth just because someone says they are from a place where very few people know any proper information.
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