It's because anyone can get offended by "Borat" that no one should ...

Rating: 9/10 (3 June 2013)

In the Holy Trinity of comedies with extensive titles, I name the Father: "Dr. Strangelove or How I Stopped Worrying and Love the Bomb", the Son "Everything you Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask), and finally, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan", adapted from the titular TV character created by Sacha Baron Cohen.
Like its glorious predecessors, the title wraps up the general idea of the film. Like Woody Allen's film, "Borat" is made of little vignettes, outrageously offensive and politically incorrect, like Stanley Kubrick's, it's one of the most brilliant political films. I use the word 'political' because the film delivers, beyond its gags, a brilliant testimony subtly denouncing the level of racism and bigotry that prevailed in the Post-September 11 era, fallaciously disguised as patriotism. If there ever was a film that defined the Bush-era, like "Strangelove" did for the Cold War, "Borat" is the most eloquent, endorsed –and it's not surprising- by Michael Moore, himself.
But it's not just about America, there is the second titular country too, "Kazakhstan". If the merit of "Borat" is to have put the ex-Soviet Union Nation in the map and print an indelible mark in American Pop-Culture, should Kazakhs be proud of this tall and lanky mascot with a cartoonish mustache carrying a bag with a chicken inside? I guess not, but the alternative is no better. To attack Borat is to take it seriously, now, are we such naive fools to believe that Kazakshtan is such an underdeveloped countries women would win prizes of prostitution. If you're smart enough to get that it's a joke, then you should take it as a joke. After all, Borat turns into derision some aspects of America as well.
The film follows Borat's journey to America, with his sidekick Azamat. His mission is to collect all the necessary information that can help to improve the standards of the glorious nation of Kazakhstan. The most appealing aspect in Borat is that he's physically odd enough to appear like a foreigner, even an Arab, and his accents made with Russian barbarism, 'very nice' and 'woowoowewa', complete the hilarious caricature. Yet his gray suit and quite affable nature is enough to inspire the benefit of the doubt and allow him to immerse in society. And in the meantime, we have one of the most memorable cinematic characters to grace the screen with an originality and speech mannerisms that would challenge any struggling imitator. After Forrest Gump, Karl Shilders, Ace Ventura, there is Borat, a new comedy icon.
Among the interactions he has with American people, many of them are unscripted; he acts rather naturally, expressing his racist and misogynistic views in the most matter-of-fact way. He describes a feminist as an "old man", he brings his excrement on a plastic bag in a gentlemen's dinner, he randomly goes kiss people in the subway or during a yard sale, accuses a woman to be a gypsy who just shrunk the owner into a Barbie doll, these are some of the film's funniest moments. But, the fact that he could go as far in his 'act' is really a credit to American's open-mindedness, even though it sometimes confine to their most caricature traits: stupidity. Are they stupid enough to believe the man is only fooling them?
Well, the film delivers some answers when Borat lures some Rodeo-participants to ill-speak about Muslims. The film offended Kazakhs, now were American opinions on Muslims that different from the opinions of 'Kazakhs' on Jews, keeping in mind, these were real.The film strikes a very sensitive chord in the way it caricatures the ugliest traits of patriotism and pride of belonging and translate them into laughs. The film tackles the racism of its character by respecting our intelligence and not trying to depict his people as malevolent but victim of their own prejudices. The gags are only the reflects of sadder realities in microcosm, and American audience laugh because it's still better than laughing at themselves.
Which leads to one of the biggest issue of the film, Anti-Semitism, Borat informs us that in Kazakhstan, there is a problem" social, economical and Jew", he says it in such a casual way that it's already hilarious, even more than the cringe-inducing national sports made of the worst Anti-Semitism. I regard this aspect as a masterstroke of writing because it consecrates the total idiocy of Borat without condemning it, he's more a victim of himself and we look at it as a jovial imbecile. That he's taken seriously after that is one of the film's most exquisite delights. Indeed, it's not when he asks for a gun to protect him from Jews that is funny, it's that the owner doesn't react to it.
The film avoided that Anti-Semitic criticism on the basis that Sacha Baron Cohen was Jewish. Although I understand the point, I don't think it's the right reason to justify it. Would the same film be made by a non-Jewish actor stop being funny? I don't think so, and if it had ever been proved that the actor was malicious, the film would never have been released. Cohen is not mocking people, but the way people are blinded by their own misconceptions. Borat's conception of gypsies, Jews or homosexuals is no worse than Americans' against Muslims. And remember the scene where he realized he played dirty games with a homosexual despite his blatant homophobia, this sums up the whole idea of the film, that sometimes, we're not necessarily better or different in our actions, than the people we accuse.
If the Antisemitism of Borat can be taken like humor on the simple basis that Sacha Baron Cohen is Jew, then following the same logic, he should have been American and only an Arab comedian could have done "The Dictator". In my opinion, it's precisely because anyone can be offended by "Borat" that no one should.