Even before opening, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” upset Kazakhstan, which is a real country located in Eurasia.
The country felt it was necessary to hire two major PR firms to counter the offending stereotypes presented in the film, according CNN. With the record box office opening, it remains to be seen if Kazakhstan can escape the wrath of “Borat.”
The character Borat originally appeared on Sacha Baron Cohen’s show “Da Ali G Show.” The film adaptation centers on Borat (Cohen) a Kazakhstani television personality who is touring America to make a documentary to help improve Kazakhstan.
In the first scene of the film, the audience is presented with the home village of Borat which consists of a town rapist, Borat’s sister who is one of the best prostitutes in all of Kazakhstan and a house that Borat shares with a horse. The film then shifts to New York City as Borat discovers all of its wonders, such as the unfriendly world of the subway and the sex appeal of a Victoria’s Secret display window.
Borat catches a “Baywatch” rerun and he instantly falls in love with CJ (Pamela Anderson). This inspires him to travel to California in search of Pamela Anderson.
On his way to California, Borat travels down through the South and Texas. While in the South, Borat manages to encounter every stereotype of Southern people including heavy Southern accents, a hatred for gays and a group of frat brothers from the University of South Carolina who profess that slavery should still exist.
Although the movie has many funny scenes, it still makes one wonder: is it worth it? For one night of laughs the film has managed to insult an entire nation and propagate countless stereotypes of Southerners, Jews and blacks and only a handful of positive images to counter them.
While I try to retain from saying “I” in a review, I will say that I laughed at “Borat,” but it was not worth it. I would prefer that we work as a country to abolish these stereotypes rather than propagate them for mass consumption.
Enough already, “I” am stepping off my soap box. If you see the movie, at least recognize how absurd the stereotypes really are.
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