Borat

Borat - Hey it's my Mama! (He hugs her). I haven't seen her for so long. (He stands back and looks at her). You have grown!

I hadn't intended seeing the movie until I read Mark Harvey's review of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan on the Damaris site:

In the latter part of the story, Borat loses everything: his money, his bear, his ticket home, his passport and his Baywatch book. Hungry and desperate, he walks into a Pentecostal church where the service is in full swing and the congregation are worshipping in the manner for which that particular denomination is famous. I was waiting for Borat to start the usual mocking, as he had done with so many kinds of people across the USA for the entire duration of the film but, instead of the puerile or offensive scatological tirade, came Borat’s conversion. I was amazed: Borat finds Jesus Christ in the USA! The worst Borat does is to call Jesus Christ ‘Mr Jesus’, which is a respectful enough title – especially when one considers the way in which his name is used in other films. So, Borat is saved and his fellow Christians give him a helping hand to get to California. Even better, Borat takes his new found faith with him to his home village, and the entire community are converted to Christianity.

If the film was intended to make viewers feel uncomfortable it gets ten out of ten on that count. But if there was ever good publicity for the Christian faith, this film could well be it, albeit in a surprising and slightly perverse way. I say this because this film has inadvertently shown how anyone can come to know and be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Borat’s life before he came to Christ: he is the son of ‘Boltok the Rapist’ who is also his Grandfather; his sister is the fourth best prostitute in Kazakhstan; his mentally retarded brother is kept in a cage. He welcomed the accidental death of his wife with a ‘high-five’ to the man who broke the news to him, and takes pictures of women on the toilet. He is sexist, homophobic, allegedly anti-Semitic and anti-Uzbek. What a messed up childhood, what a messed up life this man must have had. But Borat comes to Jesus because Jesus has made it known to all that he will welcome everyone no matter what their past, no matter what they have done wrong, no matter what they were like before: ‘whoever comes to me I will never drive away’ (John 6:37). Sacha Baron-Cohen may still be poking fun at the people he meets but he has ended up showing something profoundly important.

Er, sorry Mark, but I'm afraid that Mr Baron-Cohen was still taking the mickey with his 'conversion'. What did he take back to Kazakhstan? 'Chasing the Jew' had been stopped, as it was too cruel. In its place was 'Crucify the Jew', with a Jew hung on a cross while being prodded with a pitch fork.  What else had he exported? iPods, with his neighbour only getting an iPod mini. In other words, materialism.

There was much to laugh at in the movie (and much that appalled me) but unless this reviewer is trying to be ironic, I'm afraid he is way off in his analysis. I think Baron-Cohen is making the point that Christianity preys on the weak and helpless and is a cultural imperialism that is exported unhelpfully to other nations. It's hardly a helpful picture.

Comments

[David Shedden]

GV, thanks for this post. You record similar feelings to those I had after reading this review of the film: http://millinerd.com/2006/11/concession-to-borat.html

(I went to see it here in the US, and I was really disappointed. Funny parts indeed, but overall just very poor taste. The film was awful - the only joke being on anyone that went to see.)

After reading the review I mention above, I began to wonder if there were two different Borat movies on general release! How could anyone think Borat actually commends the gospel? If anything, it simply avoids being too critical of Christianity because of the massive Christian audience here in the US.

Love your blog, DWS.

[millinerd]

Greetings David,

I hope you realize my review was tongue-in-cheek. I disliked the movie as much as you did (maybe more), and in my review tried to turn it into something worthwhile despite itself.