"I have no connection with Mr. Cohen and I fully support my country's decision to sue that Jew." --Borat

It appears this is a self-fulfilling prophesy, several people in the movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" want to sue Sasha Cohen because the movie was represented as a documentary. We have at least three separate and independent groups wanting to "sue that Jew." The people of Grod, Romania were poor and couldn't speak English but were portrayed as incestuous urine drinking Muslims.

I suppose this movie is funny as a "guilty pleasure." I know people who swear Jack Black is not funny and laugh like hell watching his movies. I suppose some laugh at the sheer level of uncomfortability exhibited by the people in the movie. Having seen videos of Borat this is the only thing funny to me. I liken it to Nacho Libre, Jackass and Napoleon Dynamite.

You'd think the "brilliant comedian" Sasha Cohen would have anticipated this action. The film was misrepresented as a documentary. The real problem is that Cohen's sense of humor is at the expense of the people appearing in the film. I find it odd that most people object to being on the wrong side of it, but in 'Merica it's funny as long as you aren't the victim. The sole point of this character appears to show that everyone is a racist and/or hates Jews. Is this true? He says this is a Rolling Stone interview:

"Borat essentially works as a tool," Baron Cohen says. "By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice, whether it's anti-Semitism or an acceptance of anti-Semitism.

The fact is, most people are taught to equate prejudice or bias with racism. This is simply not true; racism stands alone from prejudice and bias, but can turn into racism. Being social animals, humans have always displayed some form of prejudice or bias. You simply cannot erase it by legislation, which further exacerbates the issue buy making them victims, thus perpetuating the bias toward prejudice and finally hatred. The only solution is by education and showing people the similarity of cultures rather than by inflating our differences. Fact is that anywhere there is a lack of education racism will exist. I know of a police officer who had to retire a police dog because it growled and barked at people of color. Is the dog a racist or was it simply fearful of something it was not exposed to regularly? No, the officer was not racist nor trained this dog to have this behavior. The other dogs did not exihibit this type of behavior.

Think about this; If we enacted a slew of "hate" laws and legislation to make it a crime to show bias or prejudice, it would be a brilliantly sinister form of control. At any time you could claim racism or hate if anyone disagreed with consensus. It effectively makes everyone a criminal. It would apply to anyone. A heterosexual could claim a homosexual's hug was overtly sexual and made them feel uncomfortable and threatened and take them to court. A Homosexual could claim a manager denied a promotion due to their sexual preference, regardless if they consistently showed poor performance. The government could claim a person of the Muslim faith was suspiciously reading the "Catcher in the Rye" at a public library. Sound familiar?

The real issue is that the people are selected to enforce the notion that a large amount of rural or common Americans are ignorant, racist, rednecks. I imagine this movie as viewed by a European will solidify the perception the United States is full of people with these characteristics. Cohen does his best to massage rather benign prejudices in unwitting people, who incidentally handled themselves well in very usual and uncomfortable situation.

Rolling Stone Interview

In actuality, it turns out that Borat is a far more damning critique of America than it is of Kazakhstan. The jokes that Baron Cohen mentions above -- and all the rest about beating gypsies, throwing Jews down wells, exporting pubic hair and making monkey porn -- are clearly parody. But the America that Borat discovers on his cross-country trek here -- rife with homophobia, xenophobia, racism, classism and anti-Semitism -- is all too real.

Hopefully Cohen's attempt is exposing the underlying cause, poor education and an unfamiliarity of other cultures or "Jews." This doesn't appear to be the case. There aren't thousands of synagogues in rural Idaho, so I could imagine residents being unfamiliar or having prejudice with people of Jewish faith in a rural community. Not too many Black people in Idaho either. This type of manipulation could be applied to any racial or ethnic group and achieve the same results. If you visit an apple orchard, you're likely to find apples, but it doesn't mean all apples are rotten.

I have not seen the movie, but I have seen various videos of Cohen as Borat. I think his portrayal of Ali G is more palatable and better performed. Ali G is the brunt of the joke not his interviewees. As Borat, Cohen tries to destroy stereotypes by creating new ones or at least enforcing current ones.

The smart thing to do would have been to interview them first and then inform them of the context of the movie. Let them "IN" on the joke and offer them the choice if they wanted to appear in the movie (not 'documentary'). He may have well had no movie, but apparently he financially benefits more so than his "interviewees." I am certain this movie did in fact expose a few people as unapologetic and blatant racists. They really do exist. I often wonder if someone who hates another race is a greater victim of their own ignorance or has issues with validation and use it as tool to inflate their egos.

The reality is that Westerners in general and Americans have the idea anyone not "civilized" by our standards are ignorant savages. Having been outside of the country in the distant past, I had asked people why they hated Americans. It was usually due to the perception that citizens of the United States were better than everyone else and tried to shove our culture (or lack thereof) down everyone's throat, kind of like the French but swayed in red, white and blue. This was 9 years before "the day that changed everything" so I can only imagine what it's like now. We have been raised to believe everything American is better and feed the idea that "god has favored our undertaking." The U.S. has made great contributions to the world, but we're primarily descendants of Germans, Irish, Scots and a multitude of ethnicity's.

The U.S. seems addicted to entertainment. Reality TV is as far from reality as you can get but has a dedicated, ritualistic following. Americans entertain themselves at other people's expense. This isn't comedy but a indictment of our values, laughing at the expense of others. Laughing at ignorance and claiming superiority because it's the 'cool' thing to do. There are a lot of kind people in rural America that would get you the shirt off their back. There are far fewer than would kill you for being Gay or Black. Racism is a real threat but let's not exacerbate it. Rather than marginalize everyone and stereotype our rural cousins, let's convict the people who commit the crime of murder. Why would one murder victim have more weight than other? Wouldn't the Black murder victim be as equally heinous a crime as an Asian one?

I have seen several forums where people staunchly defend the movie and ridicule the people attempting to sue Cohen and his production company. The victims are accused of being ignorant and deserving. 'Why didn't they read the release! It's comedy, fuckers can't take a joke!' I'm sure if it were them or their Grandmothers they'd be on the other side of the argument.

I think I get it. Muslims, Christians, Americans and Kazaks are Anti-Semites and Jews are devoid of racism. Is this the message Cohen is telling or is it saying Cohen, as a Jew, has no respect for Gentiles?

Why is it acceptable for Borat to be portrayed as a Muslim? I find it odd the US has been fed propaganda that Muslims are savages for 30 something years by the Movie Industry, Christian Fundamentalists and Uncle Sam. Shouldn't Cohen, as well as Americans be taking steps to eradicate this type of "Anti-Semitism?" Arabic people are consider Semitic peoples, but Anti-Semitism doesn't seem to apply to them? Are you as confused as I? I recommend a fine DVD covering Edward Said's "Orientalism" for a concise view of how Arabs and Persians have been portrayed in this century. There are Muslim's who react violently to being called violent.

Racism and fanaticism have no borders or boundaries, anyone, regardless of race, religion or color can be a either of the two or both. It appears it's also an equal opportunity employer.

Update: My review

Having seen the movie after the hype, I can say it should have been released as a YouTube video. It's something a teenage age prankster with a video camera could have done with a $500 budget seeking their 15 minutes of fame. The story appears to have been written in the way a poor Saturday Night Live skit fails, an uncomfortable time filler with SNL's least famous cast members.

The fact Cohen gets accolades as Borat shows that the art of comedy is in a death spiral. It's really a YouTube video meant for fans of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. It's quite amazing Cohen took a character from a small skit and managed to make money off of it. You can thank the legions of teenagers (or those with the maturity of one) with no practical idea of what comedy is to appreciate it. It's almost as if the MTV generation, weened on the stupid antics of Tom Green, needed something to fulfill the void between the void of non-humor.