Don't Try to Figure This Movie Out

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2019)

Never before has a movie that I issued a score of 8 stars to, left me with such a queasy feeling in my stomach. I do understand that this is a drama/comedy and that it was written for entertainment value, but I can't help but feel somewhat offended and manipulated by the inference that everyone in Kazakh is like Borat: Foul-mouthed, without morals and both ignorant and disrespectful of other cultures. Borat, himself, is a horrible, bloated stereo-type, but a funny one at times. There are times in the movie when he actually offers to help us think outside of the box, when we realize that we are almost as enculturated and dogmatic as he is. I was disgusted by the scene in the hotel room, and afterward, when they were running through the lobby naked. The sight of that fat man without clothing horrified me for days afterward, and I am trying hard not to think about it. Forever. Somehow, there is some value in this movie, in accepting others, but I feel this character was written as someone unrealistically vile. Please, whatever you do, do not equate nor associate the character Borat with the multitude of normal and good people in Kazakh. Watching this movie was like reading a copy of Hustler and listening to a Frank Zappa album at the same time. I still don't fully understand what I liked about it.