I got into an argument with one of my friends a while ago over the Borat movie.

He kept pushing me to watch Borat and I was like "I just don't find that guy funny." And then he kept trying to convince me that Borat is hilarious and "how could you not find it funny...what's wrong with you"
I replied "I think the character is very disrespectful to
Muslims and central asians in particular...I know I couldn't stand it if they made a movie with an asian version of Borat" "And then he was like "No, no, no. Borat's not offensive, you just need to learn to laugh at yourself...you like Chappelle right how could you now like Borat"
"Listen I think Chappelle makes fun of racism whereas Borat tries to do that but ends up just mocking the ridiculous backward Muslim guy more than anything else"
I forgot what my friend (tall blonde white boy...don't think he was ever on the receiving end of racism/prejudice) said after that but I ended up telling him not to try to force his views on me.

Anyway what do you guys think of Borat? The comedian, who is a Jew, says that he uses Borat to expose the anti-Semitism and racism in his unsuspecting victims...but I don't think he needs to take a dump on people from developing Muslim countries in the process

Man, this is way too serious a topic for me to make a sensible comment, but I'm going to try. It seems that you've got an issue with Borat the character being disrespectful to central Asian Muslim nations, but I think that Borat the character is just playing the stereotype of what we perceive central Asian Muslim nations to be, i.e. third world, developing medieval societies. Therefore if we think Borat is offensive towards those people then it also means that we've already had a pre-conceived notions of what central Asian Muslims are like, i.e. dirty, uneducated, incestuous, medieval peasants. But the truth may be that not all central Asian Muslims are like that and if we think they are then we are in fact racially prejudiced. So in order for us not to offend our central Asian Muslim brothers and sisters we should embrace Borat the movie and herald its message of peace and tolerance.


Man, I've gotta stop smoking this $hit...

personally i find him wayyy overrated and his accent bugs the shyt outta me.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6723074

If you have thirty minutes to spare listen to the interview. He explains a lot of things in this indepth interview. Apparently the insipration for the character came after meeting some Russian Doctor. I always thought Ali-G was a little more racist.

You might have a point. Sacha Baron Cohen always seems to portray Muslim characters (i.e. Ali G and Borat) in a negative light, which shouldn't be surprising considering that he's a Jew (and as we know, Jews and Muslims don't seem to get along). Nevertheless, quite a lot of Muslims actually enjoy watching his shows, although there are some who also feel offended.

I don't think Borat was a muslim. Most likely a ethnic Russian. I have to agree with the ali g part thought. In the Interview I linked he refused to answer if Ali G was a muslim.

Borat is most likely an ethnic Kazakh (or another Turkic minority from Kazakhstan), since he often uses Turkish music, and his character also seems to have been inspired by a Turkish comedian Mahir. I heard Ali G was meant to be a Paki who thinks he's black (which is quite common in Britain).

Borat is awesome...especially his background

umm, no. In that that interview he says that Borat is inspire by a russian doctor he met. Maybe you should take a listen.

he is a jewish.

i can't agree with you there cuz by implication that means that if they had an Asian character on the big screen with say a tiny d!ck, william hung features and accent we'd have to accept that cuz if we find that offensive that means we're racist

furthermore characters portraying blacks as retarded gorillas should be embraced as a social commentary

you really should stop smoking that $hit

no, but on a serious note i just don't agree with your whole "takes one to know one" argument, i don't think criticizing stereotypes makes you a believer in those stereotypes, neither does calling out racism make you a racist

Borat might be inspired by a Russian doctor but I think he's meant to be a Khazak reporter...whatever the case unless you actually heard that interview you'd have every reason to believe he's a Central Asian Muslim...I mean come on, how many people are gonna think "oh, a reporter from Khazakstan...he must be a non-Muslim ethnic Russian!"

i also read that when approached by the Khazak embassy about how the Borat character...Sasha Cohen gave a sarcastic reply as his Borat character...i think that's kinda being an @$$hole...he could've given them a serious reply that Borat's purpose isn't to $hit on developing Central Asian counties rather it is to promote awareness, and this and that and world peace and blah blah blah, instead he kinda just brushed them off...in my book i think he was being an @$$ in the name of anti-Semitism and chasing the greenback...raising awareness about anti-Semitism is fine but I think the Borat character causes too much collateral damage as to render Cohen's agenda selfish and inconsiderate

Being inspired by a Russian doctor doesn't mean Borat himself is a Russian. Borat's Kazakh pride clearly implies that he is an ethnic Kazakh, and that was Sacha's intention. Although he may deny Mahir's influence on Borat, it's quite clear there are similarities between Borat and Mahir, but Sacha won't admit it or otherwise he would risk being sued by Mahir.

moved... and make sure not to bust out racial slurs lol

t's just a pro zionism film
nothing more. kazakhstan is just the casualty

The character Borat is Central Asian. Why was it moved to the non-Asian section?

You people take life too serious -

HE'S fu-kIN HILARIOUS!

He's funny but ugly.

He's not ugly - he's sexy

He's frickkin ooglie.

Went to go watch the movie expecting huge laughs. This movie sucked balls. I don't care if he's racially insensitive or not, it just wasn't funny.

boring....

I started watching some Ali G shows, and I thought it was alright. Almost similar in some jokes from the movie.

One of my favorite episodes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_la5XiQJdk

The guy is too funny, i laughed almost non-stop throughout the entire movie... damn!
been watching Ali G since it started long time ago...

I'm one of those people that don't find him funny...more like annoying...but I can't understand why.

I think he's hilarious. I just don't like to see ugly guys naked.

i like Ali G a lil more

Borat... i like!!!!!!!!!!!!

passsss...

Stalin

I saw that in another thread, it just makes me laugh whenever I see it .

Ver' nice~