Borat

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is a 2007 mockumentary film released by 20th Century Fox. The film stars British comic Sacha Baron Cohen in the title role.

In the film, Borat Sagdiyev is an ignorant, anti-Semitic, misogynist Kazakh journalist who goes to America to learn about the country's culture. In America, Borat falls for Pamela Anderson on television, and goes all the way to California in an attempt to marry her. Along the way, he meets up with a lot of people who think that Borat is an actual foreigner with no knowledge of U.S. customs.

This film has a lot of gross sexual references and toilet humor. Many critics believe this film is anti-American because Borat talks to many racists and sexists. Sacha Baron Cohen just says he made this film to show "just how dumb racism is". Many Jewish people also objected to the film, most notably the Anti-Defamation League, since the main character is anti-Semitic. Ironically, Cohen is an observant Jew, and during the film while supposedly speaking Kazakh, is actually speaking Hebrew.

An example of the anti-American nature of the film occurs in a scene at a rodeo. Borat gets the audience to sing along to the American anthem and then he sings the supposed "Kazakh" national anthem, which contains highly offensive verses. The crowd, on the belief that he is well-intentioned, sings along until they realize what he has gotten them to say—a sing-songy skewering of traditional American values.

Many people that Borat met in the film have filed lawsuits against Cohen and 20th Century Fox. For example, a businessman who ran screaming from Cohen when he attempted to hug him is filing a lawsuit. Also, the fraternity brothers who supposedly made misogynistic remarks while talking to Cohen sued Cohen and Fox, claiming that he tricked them into making the racist and sexist remarks. The case was eventually dropped.

Links

• Borat at IMDB.com