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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
 Posted - 05/03/2006 : 17:55:39 [Permalink]
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Sacha Cohen has another satircal character he does named Borat, a Kazakh journalist. This character is unabashedly anti-semetic and misogynic. Like Ali G, I find the humor to lie in how people react to him, either by trying to set him straight, or more disturbingly, by agreeing with his outlandish comments.
From wiki: quote:
Sacha Cohen is, himself, Jewish and uses the Borat character to expose anti-Semitism and racism. By having Borat make anti-Semitic and racist statements, Cohen is able to show people's favorable reaction and thereby expose anti-Semitic/racist sentiment in society. He visited a bar in Tucson, Arizona where he sang a song about problems in his country, but the subject quickly changed from transportation to Jews, with the lyrics "Throw the Jew down the well/ so my country can be free./ You must grab him by his horns,/ then we have a big party." Rather than reacting in shock or disgust, the crowd at the bar gleefully sang along and clapped with the beat, as per Borat's instructions. While taking a self-defense class, Borat asked the instructor to teach him how to defend against the "Jew Claw", and then he made a claw with his hand and had the instructor defend himself against it.
He was shocked to discover that American women have the right to vote; on said discovery, he recited the "chain of importance"—"God, man, horse, dog, woman, then rat, then small krutzouli"—to a female voter. When looking for a home in the US, Borat stated that his wife was afraid of "men with chocolate face," referring to American blacks.
So does impersonating a bigot really have value? Or is it all just cheap laughs? Personally, I feel the viewpoints exposed by Cohen's shtick can be quite enlightening.quote:
An interview with James Broadwater, a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, caused Broadwater to receive some hateful emails after an episode of Da Ali G Show aired in which he stated that Jews will go to Hell. He was told that the interview would be played in foreign countries to teach others about the American political system. Broadwater later posted a letter on his website denouncing Da Ali G Show, explaining that his statement referred to a theological belief that anyone that "accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will spend eternity in Heaven, while everyone who rejects Him will spend eternity in Hell." Broadwater did not apologize for his comments, which some saw as insensitive and inflammatory. Instead, he insisted that "the liberal, anti-God media needs to be brought under the strict control of the FCC, and that as soon as possible."
In other cases, Cohen merely uses the Borat character to lampoon most Americans' ignorance of other countries. In explaining to others how "modern" Kazakhstan has become, Borat exclaimed "women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear the blue hats, and the age of consent has been raised to eight years old."
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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