Great satire, BUT

Good post, but I think that this movie also, even if by accident, made Americans look extremely tolerant and understanding in some scenes by the way they gave what they thought was a confused foreigner the benefit of the doubt by treating him with pateince, understanding and tolerance.

Regarding #2, I thought at first that you were being over protective of the residents of Glod. After all, they got paid. However, after reading an article were the villagers shown spoke it changed my mind. I believe if you hurt someone and can easily remedy the situation, right or wrong, you should. From the article at Salon.com-

"According to Spirea Ciorobea, represented in the film as the ?village mechanic and abortionist,? had the following to say: ?What I saw looks disgusting. Even if we are uneducated and poor, it is not fair that someone does this to us.?

The disabled Nicu Tudorache, who unwittingly appears in the film with a sex toy attached to the end of his amputated arm, expressed similar concerns. ?This is disgusting,? he said. ?They conned us into doing all these things and never told us anything about what was going on. They made us look like primitives, like uncivilised savages.?

Since they were told the documentary was about the hardships in their village and they had to trust the crew due to language barriers, I feel they were wronged and the $10,000 they received after complaints wasn't enough to make them whole.

I have no sympathy for the others because lies or not, how they reacted to Borat was real. The frat guys sued the studio for unspecified damages for ?humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community.? I only hope they received nil as they deserved all of those things. But I do sympathize with the folks in Goth and hope the studio truly made things right. If not the humor I once enjoyed from this movie is gone. I can't laugh at the expense of (innocent) other's feelings.

1. So? If it doesn't make a difference where it was filmed you should be happy it was filmed in the country where you live in. That way you could relate to it.

2. I don't think anyone believes what happened in the village, it's so over the top that it's clearly a farce. If anything it's a joke about how we view impoverished countries. And it sets the stage for when the joke is turned on America "You think it's funny to laugh at uncivilized people? Well now it's time to laugh at you".

3. The dinner party is one of favorite scenes because it's a perfect example of white man's burden and Borat pushing the limits of what is tolerated.

4. The only part I had an issue with is when Borat talks about his wife and slips in the bit about her going thru puberty. I guess it's a joke about how much people are willing to tolerate if it comes a foreigner, but it's a little much.

Borat is the kind of movie where you can't quite know what to think - at least in a very solid way. You find scenes funny, but some are unnerving and cringy. Others seem like bullying innocent peopple that are just trying to do their job. The 'naked wrestling' scenes... I have no clue what they were thinking. Is there even one individual in the world that enjoys those?

This movie doesn't necessarily have a politigal agenda, and Sacha doesn't necessarily aim to 'point out' any 'hypocrisies' - in his interview, he admitted to being a bit shocked as to how racist people can be, especially so openly, when an 'innocent' character asks just the right questions, or something. So he didn't start out to 'point out' anything. In my opinion, he just wanted to make a funny comedy movie, but just decided to go beyond the 'conventional bounds' to accomplish something a bit more 'real' and maybe 'edgy'.

However, when you think about it a bit more deeply, you realize this movie is basically a 'test'. Sacha, in the Borat-character, is POKING and TESTING people, cultures, and how solid and strong things are - he probably didn't expect people, situations and cultural-political correctness to crumble to little pieces so easily.

He's testing how strong people are if someone says the 'rude' thing - can they take it? Are they adults, or do they expect everyone to tiptoe around 'uncomfortable realities', like one of the woman being uglier than the others?

In my opinion, it's a sign of weakness to be and expect others to be 'polite'. Truth should be able to be said, and people should be strong enough to take it. I have been called names, and I got angry, but later realized it actually served me, and now I am glad it happened, as I was able to improve myself as the result of a direct, honest observation (that -actually- had no malice behind it).

Borat showing 'uncomfortable photos' and exhibiting 'cultural racism/sexism' is a really good test, adults should be able to handle it.