Just Looking ...

I must say that I have been completely ambivalent about the so-called "humorous" nature of Borat. Now, I am actually from Poland, so I certainly have a lot to say on this matter; and also, would be more than happy to hear any rebuttable arguments from anyone who wishes to challenge any of this. In class (and I am strictly referring the University setting), we have this tendency to over-intellectualize grave things with the result that we adopt an attitude of levity. This certainly does not apply any less to Borat. With respect to this film, how can Cohen possibly justify his "mockumentary" as someone else put it, as a means to expose the hidden racial, ethnic hatreds, misogyny etc...? I ask this question because in a University setting, I know exactly what you are all going to say. However, if this is the response that they (Cohen and his comedic team) would like to have evoked, then please tell me how rating this a PG13 film is going to help....? Do you think that the adolescents on this North American continent are going to embrace it with the same degree of rationality that we students of a higher education are trying to grapple? Targeting such young audiences appears to be laden with commercial attempts (strictly linked with monetary success), more so, than trying to educate the masses that: "hey, American narrow-mindedness is really a serious thing and lets not perpetuate it by giving nonsensical ideas to kids, who probably never even heard of Kazakhstan to begin with." Here is my understanding of Cohen's reasoning. Since the movie became a huge success (ie: $$$$$), now lets come up with an intellectualized reason why we did it in the first place (so no one actually hates us for our offensive rendition of reality).

So how informative, compared to a documentary like say, Fahrenheit 9/11 was this movie anyway? Sure, I laughed, there is no question. But towards the end, I just couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. The stereotypes were so sharp that, for someone like me, who is a Native Eastern European, they just made me want to scream: "No! We really are not that bad!" It was way too exaggerated, to the point that it started to hurt. Now, as for the stereotype that there are "no real men" in Eastern Europe, ugh...I would say that the men are endowed with far more traditional ideas of "maleness" than a lot of the Canadian men I've met here. I am saying this not because I am trying to be facetious or anything, but just to express my surprise concerning this particular stereotype. When Borat wears his skimpy swimsuit, it was just funny to me...it never made me think that this is how others see our Eastern European men. Whoa! In sum: we should be really careful with the manner in which we intellectualize things in this world. Very sensitive issues such as: anti-semitism, misogyny, and cultural stereotypes in general, should not have been handled a la Borat-style. For this reason, I ask you all to reconsider the things that we discussed in class that may have appropriated the humor of this film for you.