the movieGOOMBA

I don't even know where to begin with this movie. After being heavily warned by many, many people that my virgin eyes would no longer hold its innocence following the viewing of the movie, I readied myself for naked-man scenes that my friends told me to brace myself for.

Borat is a mockumentary about a news reporter, Borat, from Kazakhstan who is sent to the United States to report on "the greatest country in the world." His trip leads him through many adventures, mostly including his quest to understand American culture and win Pamela's (accent on the "e") "vagine." Some ridiculous plot escapades include him needing a bear as protection from the Jews because he was unable to buy a gun as a non-citizen, Borat botching the US anthem, and Borat bringing his fecal matter to the dinner table.

There are many hysterical, yet uncomfortable moments. My political correctness hindered much of the fun for me. This movie sets up scenes of conflict, where the people featured do not know that Borat is an actor. He purposefully angers the people he meets with anti-Semitic, homophobic, or chauvinistic comments. He brings up very sensitive political subjects without regard. He breaks all social rules, American or universal, and its funny to watch people's reactions to such unexpected rudeness. American society is very uncomfortable with differing social norms (although, come to think of it, I don't know if Borat is representative of any social normalcy) but is, in my opinion, pretty tolerant of at least attempting to be open minded (not so sure about the rodeo people though). Hence, the featured American's downfall.

I have issues with the ethics of this film's production. Many of the people featured in this film signed release forms prior to understanding that this was a mockumentary that would probably be mass distributed. Instead, they were asked to sign release forms prior to meeting their guest, and were unable to do anything about what unfolded. Many people were hurt by these filmmakers. As far as I'm concerned, they were lied to, and America laughs at their inability to be in on the joke.

However, putting my opinions on the filmmaking process aside and just judging this work as what it is, I think this movie was pretty funny; crude, yet funny. But when you watch this, please take it with a grain of salt.