Not the least bit interesting

Rating: 1/10 (15 November 2006)

The problem with Borat was not that it was offensive or that it inspired prejudice, it was clearly making fun of prejudice in a round about way. That's not what made this movie so bad.
I personally find nothing at all wrong with getting a good laugh out of something which holds some truth, offensive or not. Personally I didn't find this movie very offensive though ti did have its share of non-politically correct humor. Borat wasn't a bad movie because it was rude, it was just a bad movie because it wasn't funny or thought out.
With the exception of a few scenes, Borat just wasn't interesting. I felt like anyone over the age of 7 could have thought up a much more clever plot. Borat's character was an attempt to impersonate middle easterners while pointing out some of some of the flaws in their culture such as sexism. While there may be flaws in these societies, there is much more ignorance about their practices.
Throughout the movie Borat attempts to to understand and become Amercian. The comedy is based around how Borat is an unethical middle-eastern man. The funniest part of the movie is that most Americans (admittedly including myself) couldn't tell Borat from a real Kazakhstani or anyone else from the mid-east.
The same reaction of laughter would probably come from a Kazakhstani who was watching a French man dressed up like Micheal Jordan impersonating a Kazakhstani. The character could go around Kazakhstan eating Hot dogs and wearing a turban (or maybe wearing a towel) over a cowboy hat while running around in an army suit doing a horrible fake accent.. Wouldn't that movie be hilarious? Well the only difference is that we're watching an English man impersonating a Kazakhstani impersonating an American.
The humor in this movie is based around the fear and misunderstanding Americans have over Middle Eastern, what we can't understand we fear or make fun of. It's the same mentality of bully's in school yards.
The amount of praise this movie is getting makes me ashamed to be American. It could have been funny if done right, but it wasn't. I doubt that people in other countries would find this movie funny. Nor would anyone 15 years from now. It's timely and regional humor that is unfortunately very telling of America's current frame of mind -fear.