Is the tide turning on Borat?

Writing for Media Guardian, American film critic skewers those who adore Borat:

Borat is now slowly starting to get a closer examination. Baron Cohen may have thought the entire planet would eternally turn a blind eye to his sexism and homophobia and obsession with bodily functions and hatred of Americans while he hid behind his alter-ego. As in: "I'm not a scumbag. Borat is a scumbag. I'm a witty satirist."

But now the honeymoon may be over.

The rest of this must-read piece is here.

Comments

[Stephen]

Come on, Borat is fucking funny. Why can't we laugh at Americans?

[Matt Hickey]

I saw the Borat movie earlier this week. Whilst moments of it had me howling with laughter, for the most part these were not the scenes which, I suspect, were supposed to make some form of social comment on America and Americans.

As the film progressed I found myself more and more uncomfortable with the unecessary cruelty of misleading the unwitting participants, some of whom (the Georgian Dinner guests for example) showed incredibly good grace and poise when met with such awkward situaions. (I don't want to be more specific for fear of spoiling the movie for others.)

On the whole I thought Borat falied to live up to its potential and I think a mind a as sharp as Sacha Baron Cohen's should have known that would be the case.

Laughing at cultural pecadillos CAN be funny - laughing at suckers who've been duped into signing releases and then editing the footage to show them in their poorest light is a form of intellectual bullying in my view.