how far is too far?
i don't mean australia...
i saw the borat movie last night with josh. i didn't know much about the character (as i never had HBO and am not an YouTube enthusiast) but knew i liked Ali G and the character in the NASCAR movie with Will Ferrel and was feeling pretty good about the movie and the people who made it.
As mentioed before, I don't like surprises, so I read everything there was to read about the movie (aka, the EW review and the Times review...) and knew that many lines were crossed and that the ignorance of people is astounding and stupifying at times. shock-comedy is something i do enjoy, as demonstrated when i saw (and laughed at) jackass: number 2 a while back. so i looked forward to being entertained and maybe even a little educated.
and i DID enjoy the movie last night. there were scenes that were incredibly funny, sarah barton cohen's timing is fantastic and he can certainly keep a straight face. he is able to get a reaction that works for this type of comedy very well, but there were times when i was just not laughing.
does the fact that cohen is jewish excuse him from saying horrible, horrible things about jewish people? people were using the whole dave chappelle would not be funny if he weren't black arguement for this, and i understand that. but his mocking is based on things that he sees - its a caricature, almost. cohen's insults are not based on anything. the fact that he thought the cutest old jewish couple EVER who owned a bed and breakfast changed their shape and became cockroaches is one of them. i do understand that he is mocking people who think this way and bringing other people's own racist views into light as he talks to them in this character's body. but there IS a line. and he defintely crossed it, several times. i am not sure if this makes him brave, brilliant or just a boor.
if anyone else has seen this - let me know what you thought.
i saw the borat movie last night with josh. i didn't know much about the character (as i never had HBO and am not an YouTube enthusiast) but knew i liked Ali G and the character in the NASCAR movie with Will Ferrel and was feeling pretty good about the movie and the people who made it.
As mentioed before, I don't like surprises, so I read everything there was to read about the movie (aka, the EW review and the Times review...) and knew that many lines were crossed and that the ignorance of people is astounding and stupifying at times. shock-comedy is something i do enjoy, as demonstrated when i saw (and laughed at) jackass: number 2 a while back. so i looked forward to being entertained and maybe even a little educated.
and i DID enjoy the movie last night. there were scenes that were incredibly funny, sarah barton cohen's timing is fantastic and he can certainly keep a straight face. he is able to get a reaction that works for this type of comedy very well, but there were times when i was just not laughing.
does the fact that cohen is jewish excuse him from saying horrible, horrible things about jewish people? people were using the whole dave chappelle would not be funny if he weren't black arguement for this, and i understand that. but his mocking is based on things that he sees - its a caricature, almost. cohen's insults are not based on anything. the fact that he thought the cutest old jewish couple EVER who owned a bed and breakfast changed their shape and became cockroaches is one of them. i do understand that he is mocking people who think this way and bringing other people's own racist views into light as he talks to them in this character's body. but there IS a line. and he defintely crossed it, several times. i am not sure if this makes him brave, brilliant or just a boor.
if anyone else has seen this - let me know what you thought.
posted by Deepa at 2:22 PM
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