Mostly unscripted, Borat takes 2 the streets of cities in the "U.S. & A."
Borat (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) arrives in America... what happens next is nothing short of true "shock" comic genious, and he makes Tom Green's antics look tame & civilized. But there is something much more revealing about this picture than what is presented on the surface.
Early in the movie Borat goes to a comic instructor, who helps him with what might be appropriate/funny for American audiences. Let the jokes begin, because Borat is obviously not playing that game.
A stop in New York City introduces Borat 2 the subway experience - nearly getting killed by trying 2 introduce himself with kisses 2 some thug types.
Approaching New Yorkers on the streets while moving in for a kiss proves disastrous and hillarious as well.
But one cannot get 2 far into this laugh-fest before realizing that the joke in not about some foreigner clown in a cheap grey suit.
Borat is the eyes of the outside as he steps into a world far, far different from what we expect 2 see in the good ol' U.S.A.
His character, a jew-fearing, sex craved , male chauvinist, big/ot, is actually likeable - believe it or not. The Borat character is more innocently ignorant than are the people he encounters.
He talks with a feminist group and has a little fun with the women on the panel - who obviously are not in on the joke, and didn't take his ignorances 2 kindly. In true Borat style, he manages to offend the panel completely before the session has even ended. Yes, the audience learned something.....we were introduced to feminism...., and why is there such a need for feminism, u may ask - cut to the following scenes.
In his quest to meet Pamela Anderson (he fell in love with her by watching Baywatch on his hotel television), Borat heads west, 2 California, and the fun is surely just beginning.
He travelled to the South and got himself next to some modern-day cowboys, and we learned something there 2. While at the rodeo, one man instructed him 2 shave his moustache, so he is not mistaken for a muslim terrorist... Yes, I'd say we learned something.
A telling moment in this movie came when Borat stopped at a bed & breakfast run by the most pleasant elderly couple you could ever expect to meet.
The laughs here begin when he realizes they are Jewish. Fear sets in, and he and his "producer" are convinced the "Jews" will kill them.
This part of the movie has received a lot of criticism from those who are not capable of getting the joke. The laugh was never directed at the elderly Jewish couple... the joke was entirely on the foolish bigotry many still hold toward anyone who is Jewish.
The sweet little old lady and her husband bring them food and tell them they don't want Borat to go hungry....evidently the joke is on us - very smart!
Also, Christians may want to think twice before ever criticizing other religions for their mores and traditions. We see first hand the, seemingly crazy, bible-thumpers running down aisles, hands raised in air, like methamphetamine-filled teens. They jump and cry and yell for Jesus as if he had just tuned in for the weekly crazy show - EEE-YEEAHHHH, JEEESUS HAS SAVVVVED U!!
Shakespeare was an artist who cleverly wrote plays that would reflect the craziness of the society back on the audience (sometimes literally using mirrors 2 reflect the King's face back to the audience - the King often sat in the front row). The point being that the joke was really not on the stage, but within the society itself. The Truman Show, with Jim Carrey, was another movie that had a similar aim.
Although done quite differently, Borat has cleverly taken society and handed it a very gigantic mirror to look into....the question will be: who will u really be laughing at in this movie?