Absolutely Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (16 January 2007)

The brilliance of Borat is lost on so many because so many people are ready and waiting to be offended by something rather than take the time to look a little deeper. Yes, Borat is offensive, disgusting and outrageous, but what it also is is one of the greatest satires to ever be put on film. By creating a totally likable and outrageous character, Cohen allowed people to let their guard down and reveal their own hidden (or not so) prejudices and in doing so disarms it by proving once and for all how how stupid that kind of narrow-minded thinking really is. People ripping the film on behalf of its "victims" are completely oblivious to the fact these are the very type of racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic people the movie is trying to expose, and acts as a reminder these qualities are, even in the 21st century, alive and well, and all around us. Just because we haven't wanted to notice them doesn't mean they're not there and Borat, gross jokes and all, makes us face what we don't want to face: our own prejudices.