Friday, December 15, 2006

BoRAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heard a lot about this movie and was made to believe it was a riot..! Well not quite in my opinion. If humiliating others, chasing and bugging them, taking advantage of people's kindness thereon further filming them to suit personal whims in the quest for a successful film.. if thats humour, im sorry to say maybe i dont understand what humour actually is then. I'd say No its not.

People having seen the film some believe, all's fair in humour while some others may think the way i do. People or should i say "the cast" unknowingly included in the film, on its release may have been surprised to see themselves appearing in the movie aired worldwide and possibly were hit most by the original claim to get them talking that the crew were filming a documentary for the government of Kazakhstan and the Kazakhstan tourism department, questions asked to them blatently some even leading to people being frank and fooled into the fact this wasnt a movie.

Firstly the Movie title itself mainly BoRAT: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan..takes off half of one's breath, so sticking to BoRAT's a better option. According to me its more RAT than Borat.

The Kazakhstan town, home of BoRAT (Sacha Baron Cohen) was represented by a poverty stricken village in Romania where giving a meagre sum of £3, villagers were enticed to appear in the screening with one ending up being greatly humiliated. He was a guy named Nicu who in his life lost his arm in an accident and was given a replaced rubber sex toy. He claims he had no idea what it was and now undoubtedly feels deeply humiliated and ashamed. Would capitalising on someone's poverty and misfortune be "oh! its all in fun"?

Taking another instance in the same movie, a TV producer with WAPT network in Jackson Mississippi lost her job and ended up being in thousands of dollars of debt just because she fell for the talk dished out to her and unwittingly booked BoRAT to appear on the show. Sacha (BoRAT) made matters from bad to worse as he kept standing up thoughout the interview insisting to go to the toilet, made sexual references and ended up disrupting a live weather forecast leaving the weatherman in hysterics unable to complete his report. The result being having to be borne by the TV Producer losing her job, income and being under massive depression.

One part of the movie takes Sacha centre stage in a rodeo show where before the rodeo begins a packed stadium of unaware people is addressed by him offering his nations support to Bush's war of Terror, thats followed by his recital of the national anthem to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner declaring all other countries are run by little girls and Kazakhstan boasts the areas cleanest prostitutes with a lot more. Nice when countries are brought in the picture and condemed.. humour after all eh?

The ultimate was the poor elderly couple who run a bed and breakfast and give BoRAT and his friend shelter for the night unknowingly. These guys are mean enough not to acknowledge the kindness and instead digitally implant cockroaches in their house where Sacha throws money at the cockroaches claiming "the jewish couple have used their evil to change shapes and become insects.." thereafter fleeing from their home. . did it not come to the film makers mind that this just about might ruin their business and reputation. Didnt come as a surprise to me that Sacha himself is Jewish and found nothing wrong in poking fun at his own community in more than one instances.

Not to mention the college kids giving a lift, the driving instructor put through the perils of BoRAT's road mania or the car salesman whose reputation in car dealing's maybe affected by the stances in the movie.

Some of these enraged people have decided to sue the film makers but how good is that now? Wouldnt the Trust factor they may have in people disappear making them more wary to strangers in future? Or is this really a lesson to learn for people to be more careful.

I dont think im going overboard condeming these antics. I've seen television gags and comedy shows and within this movie enjoyed couple of stupid nonsensical humour too but i still feel humour at the cost of someone else's self respect and life is a strict no no.
No one knew BoRAT would be this big, or this popular. Amazingly for his performance Sacha is nominated for numerous awards too for what ever the reasons right or wrong, good or bad.. all the same the movie has been successful though at what cost?