"Comedy ceases to be funny when it is demeaning"

Rating: 2/10 (18 December 2006)

Curiosity drove this viewer to see BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF America FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN. Especially when the Golden Globe nominations pegged both the film and the star as candidates for potential honors!!!! And though many very fine reviewers find this film worthy of praise, the response after viewing the piece in a theater packed with people howling with laughter - again, for this viewer - was one of being appalled.
Comedy is an art, an art that magnifies human foibles and allows a different viewpoint to make even sad aspects of life appear humorous. Dark comedy can be cruel when the writing is acerbically witty and smart. What BORAT seems to have done is costume and scene change a standup comedy routine bent on grossing out its audience and choosing a demeaning manner instead of a parody to lash out at the multiple groups it attacks, be those the people of Kazakhstan, Pentacostal Holiness churches, drunk sexist/racist teenagers, feminists, businessmen, actors, Jews, homosexuals, rodeo folks, genteel Southerners, TV talk show hosts/weathermen, etc.
Production wise the filming is crude, the storyline is plotted to look as though it were spontaneous candid camera takes (yet credits a long list of writers including Cohen), and the flatline character of Borat is as predictable as the potty mouth humor it accompanies. But apparently the public wants this type of entertainment on the screens: the film is raking in millions for the effrontery of Sacha Baron Cohen. Have we really arrived at a state where our choices range from comic book hero flicks to gory slasher flicks to the base, crude, and thoughtless antics of extended comedy hour routines? Food for thought, but this viewer is obviously in the tiny minority. Grady Harp