Great Expose

Rating: 10/10 (26 October 2017)

Sasha Baron Cohen is an actor who challenges political correctness using crude humor coupled with carefully crafted interviews. In his series and movies, which include Bruno, The Dictator, and Borat, Cohen mocks people from different backgrounds with no regard for consequences. In the movie Borat, Cohen portrays a character who travels to America to learn about local culture and bring what he learns back home. In this movie, no ethnic group is spared his crude jibes and stereotyping. A comedy strives to make people laugh whether or not they agree with the content. Borat achieves this goal and is also very effective in exposing the lack of education of lower class Americans as well as the prejudices of Blue Collared Americans through "misunderstandings." In one scene, Borat, visits a car dealership with the goal of purchasing a Hummer with a "pussy magnet." He portrays an uneducated Kazakh and asks an empathetic salesman at what speed he would have to drive into a group of gypsies in order to kill them. Shockingly, the salesman dryly gives an answer and adds that he should be careful not to break the windshield should one of the gypsies fall on to it. Their conversation then segues into the reliability of the car. Borat compares the Hummer to his wife when he first bought her. He gives a very vivid portrayal of how his 15 year old wife developed a low voice, grew hair on her chest, and "her vajine hang like sleeve of wizard." The salesman remains unfazed with chuckles and smiles that signify empathy with Borat's plight. This encounter appears to show that blue collar American workers are generally indifferent and will do anything to make a sale. If Borat's claims were factual, he could have killed many people simply because the salesman did not question his intent. Another scene that portrays a total lack of ethics of blue collared workers in America is when Borat visits a Texas rodeo where he is asked to lead the crowd in singing the American national anthem. Beforehand, he gives a very passionate speech about the war in Iraq during which he says, "May George Bush drink the blood of every single man, woman, and child of Iraq." Surprisingly, he receives a standing ovation from the crowd. Inspired by the support he receives, Borat continues with his anti-Muslim rhetoric. Every time he shouts, the crowd cheers and applauds. It's as if the crowd and Borat share the same goal of destroying Iraq. He portrays Midwesterners as willing to destroy Iraq, regardless of the number of innocent women and children casualties. During his American road trip, Borat drives through a poor neighborhood while looking for a place to spend the night. Unfazed by his surroundings, Borat gets out of the car and attempts to befriend a group of young adults. Tentative at first, they soon realize that he is harmless and they attempt to assist him by teaching him how to speak like "Real Americans." He continues his search and finds a hotel where he can stay. In an attempt to be more American, he uses his newly acquired lingo. He says, "What's up with it vanilla face, me and my homie Azamat just parked our slab outside. We looking for somewhere to post up our black asses for the night. So bang bang, skeet skeet nigah, we just a couple of pimps, no hoes." This scene sadly portrays the lack of education of impoverished teenagers in America. While continuing his journey through America, Borat visits a gun store in order to experience what it is like to be a real American. He browses the stock and asks the salesman what type of gun would best to defend against a Jew. The gun specialist calmly replies that a nine millimeter or 45 caliber would do the job. The merchant seemed not to care that he planned to use the gun to "defend against Jews." As a foreigner, Borat was not able to purchase the gun, had he been an American Citizen, the storekeeper would have sold him the gun, which Borat could have used to kill Jewish people. The movie Borat is a comedic exposé of the prejudices of narcissistic blue collar Americans. Whether suggesting the merciless killing of women and children in Iraq, or implying that he will cause harm to others, Borat's interactions highlight the indifference of some Americans towards others as well as their lack of education. And although this movie makes people laugh, it reminds us that we need to look at ourselves more often in the mirror and learn to be more tolerant of others.