Borat, laughing with me?......

<-- Potty Humor

As my earlier post indicated I was a great fan of Borat, and his comedic role in exposing anti-Semitism. But after watching the Borat movie last Thursday I wonder whether this movie will expose a hidden level of anti-Semitism, or grant reprieve to any and all who wish to practice anti-Semitic practices as a form of comedy. What i really liked about borat was the fact that the people around him felt free to express their Jew hatred around him because they believed him to be a Jew hater himself. However, some of the scenes in the film portrayed Borat mocking Jews or Jewish ideology without any other person present. This is an entirely different level. When I listened to the audiences outbursts at these jokes I realized how offended I really was. He took a giant step from allowing other people to make a fool of themselves by mocking Jews to personally mocking them to try to get a laugh.

Now you will tell me that Sacha Cohen is a Jew, and you may even tell me that this is what Jewish comedians do, and you wouldn’t be wrong, but this movie sees the line passes it and then drops a kerchief full of excrement on it (literally). This is no longer the level of making fun of a stereotypical Jewish mother or cheap Jew joke, this isn't Larry David scalping a ticket for shul on Yom Kippur (hilarious!), this is pure and unnecessary mocking of everything Jewish. What’s stranger is that had I not been in the theater surrounded by a virtual cornucopia of different peoples and creeds, I may never have realized how offensive the film was. I would have sat comfortably at home and laughed the way everyone in the audience did.

I did find it slightly amusing that Cohen’s attempt at speaking the Kazakhstani language was for the most part him speaking Hebrew with an Arabic accent. Maybe this was his way of telling all the offended Jews in the audience “hey I’m really one of you”, but I remain unamused.

A look at the film independent of its slightly hurtful parts reveals not much more than a bunch of Borat skits pieced together with a plot so thin it’s nearly anorexic. In fact, to those familiar with many of the Borat skits many of the scenes are simply remakes of skits he has already performed on television.

I will admit there were times when I did find myself laughing out loud…. But in truth they were at jokes that would entertain a high skoool kid who still thinks the word poop is side busting. All in all I’ll give the movie a 6/10 which makes it just worth it if you are already a Borat fan, and not if you still don’t know what im talking about.

Jen Kwee….Yed-gibesh !