Any opinions on 'Borat'?

[Torsten]

So, have you seen Borat with Sacha Baron Cohen? His humor is rather strange and some of the scenes are simply disgusting.

By the way, do you have any idea how they made the film? I mean in some scenes it must have been extremely difficult to place a hidden camera. For example, when Borat is taking the driving lesson or when they that Jewish couple are waiting outside of Borat's room with that food tray.
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[Skrej]

I haven't seen it, and refuse to. I just don't like that kind of so-called humor. He makes me think a lot of Adam Sandler early in his career where they seemed to think it was funny to say a profane phrase in different accents. Akin, also, to the Jackass series and movies.

I'm not bothered by the profanity, as they don't say anything I don't use myself. I just don't see how it's supposed to substitute for wit. The 12-15 year old kids I worked with every summer thought he was hilarious. It's a kind of humor that only teenagers, or those with a permanent teenage mindset can find funny.

Simply affecting a bogus accent and cursing in English, plying on stereotypes generally isn't funny to me. That's not to say I haven't heard some great humor on stereotypes (listen to any of George Lopez's stand up routines, for example), but that's approached with wit, insight, and based on underlying truths.

Simply doing an over the top parody of somebody, making fun of them just for laughs, I don't find humorous. I've heard arguments that Cohen is making some points about how we perceive stereotypes, but I don't buy it. He's just purposely trying to make people look stupid on camera for laughs and cash.
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[Prezbucky]

Sexy-time!

It wasn't great but it had its moments. Their national anthem was hilarious, IMO.
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[Jamie (K)]

That movie seems to have stayed alive in Europe much longer than in the United States. Here it's already disappeared from the DVD clearance racks.

I was lent the movie about a year ago by a Mexican man who said it reminded him of his problems adjusting to the United States. The movie had me laughing hysterically, and for the next three days I would burst into laughter again and again throughout the day. I enjoyed it immensely, and at the same time I was very ashamed that I liked it so much.

But I have to say that the Borat character really did remind me of some vulgar characters I've met who come from backward places in Eastern Europe, and his naiveté about the West reminded me of most of the Romanian nation when I visited it during the time of communism. Of course, these Romanians were nowhere near as vulgar as Borat, but before Romania was a free country again, they had crazy ideas about the United States similar to his, and they similarly misinterpreted the few small bits of American culture that they'd had exposure to. His interview with the old feminists was extremely hilarious to me and reminded me of how a poorly brought-up Czech would behave in the situation. His problems with women were moderate exaggerations of those that some less-educated Arabs have when they come to the US. Of course, none of these people are nearly as vulgar or obscene as Borat, but Borat's predicaments remind me of their predicaments.

Even his linguistic misunderstandings were ones that newcomers really sometimes have in the US.

Most Americans who have seen the movie tend to remember only the scene where the two men are running around naked, but I didn't find that shocking or amusing. The "misunderstandings" are the really funny parts, including the ones at the dinner party.

I also wondered how they made the film, because Pamela Anderson appears to be truly terrorized when he tries to put that bag over her, and the security guards who chase Borat down and beat him really seem to mean business. I often wonder if a deal was worked out with Anderson's agent to do the scene and if she simply wasn't told what was going to happen. Certainly she's not a good enough actress to look so convincingly terrorized.