Borat and Azamat's Excellent Adventure

Alright. Before I begin, I too admit that there has been an onslaught of press recently about this supposedly great movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." And initially I must admit I was more than a bit recalcitrant against the entertainment-industrial complex's saturation of its adherent, drunken vassal: The Media (à la man capris, Britney Spears, and of course Titanic). My lack of HBO furthered my Borat darkness.

That is of course, until I saw the most hilarious preview for 'Borat.'


If you haven't seen it, I'll won't spoil the surprises, but just know that despite appearing inane to its core, its actually quite the scathing satire of a vast swath of America; Civilized Southern Society, thoroughly inebriated college men, and the belly of the beast itself, the Upper East Side. Some would say that the character 'Borat' created by the British Comic of Ali G fame, Sach Baron Cohen, is a startling misogynist, anti-Semite, racist, with the acumen of a dim-witted Abramoff Republican. But contrastingly his benignly ignorant interaction with (somewhat) everyday Americans lures these poor souls to reveal their own startling misogynist, anti-Semite, racist, sides with Abramoff-esque dim-witted acumen. Sharply hilarious and scathing.

However, Cohen has been chastised by a number of rights groups, most aptly the Anti-Defamation League. This NY Times review sums it up best when it writes:

"...some people are definitely not in on the joke, though only because some people are too stupid and too racist to understand that the joke is on them."

Such is America. Sigh.

In any case, the only criticism with any teeth that it definitely portrays Kazakhstan, the nouveau-oil riche nation with a per capita income of about equal to the Kelly Blue Book price of a 1999 Buick Park Avenue, in a very, very....very poor light. Apparently, and not surprisingly inaccurate. Even the opening scene showing Borat's 'home village,' was filmed (stunningly) in Romania; remind me never to go to Romania. While at first the Central Asian nation tireless worked to block his website borat.kz, calling for a public apology, and vaguely insinuating imminent legal action, they've tried to take a cultural offensive and taken out ads in US newspapers, funding culturally accurate movies, and goodness knows what else.

In any case, take the film for what its worth: a hilarious critical look at the American Contradiction.

Borat, I support your War of Terror.