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Borat Review: Funny, but real or staged?

Posted on November 4, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Along with about 10 million college kids, I saw Borat tonight with some friends.  Despite trying to buy tickets on the Interwebs in the middle of the day, the best we could do was the 9:55 show in Daly City!  Here’s my spoiler-free review:

What is the movie?
It’s funny.  Laugh-out-loud funny.  Kinda almost nauseating funny.  Occasionally very squeamish funny.  A wee bit disturbing/disgusting funny. Often uncomfortably funny.  Completely politically incorrect funny.  Overall, it’s just plain funny. 

What isn’t the movie?
Clever, witty, deep, sensitive, brilliant, hysterical, thoughtful, or hygienic (according to IMDB, “The suit Sacha Baron Cohen wears when playing Borat has deliberately never been cleaned.”). 

But it might just have you fall out of your seat laughing.  If you just want to have a good time, and you can deal with 90-odd minutes of silly, then go see it.  It’s just that simple.

Mini-spoilers follow from this point (nothing to ruin a scene, but I will mention some scenes by name/location).

After seeing the movie, which is almost entirely made up of “real” people reacting to Borat’s antics (which are far beyond politically incorrect, they are almost humanly incorrect), my friends and I debated which scenes (if any) were real and which were staged.  In my book, all of the following were, in some part, staged:

  • Driving lessons (reason: too many camera angles from inside the car, implied the scene was filmed multiple times)
  • Elevator scene, but only the last guy in it, the rest might be real (reason: too “classic” a scene, felt very scripted)
  • Frat boys (reason: however stupid they may be, these particular youths seemed like they were intentionally saying over-the-top harsh comments)
  • Dinner (reason: again, too much of it seemed too perfect, the reactions were exactly what Cohen would have wanted.  either they filmed a few dozen dinners with different groups, or this was staged)
  • Subway (reason: just too ridiculous, even for New York)

I have a few others, but to describe them would give away too many details, and it’s not that important anyway.  I did a little research (aka Googling) and found some other neat tidbits:

  • An interview with one of the feminists, and how she got duped by Borat.
  • An awful attempt to be funny by a CNN reporter, which fails miserably.
  • A television producer got fired for putting Borat on the show.  I feel bad for the producer, but maybe she’ll do a little more research in her work in the future.  For example, Googling the name Borat might’ve saved her her job.
  • A Newsweek article with numerous quotes and interviews with the “real” people in the movie.
  • Some Germans got offended about gypsy references. 

I’ll say this much – whether real or staged, it’ll make you laugh (if you want a more in-depth review, this one’s pretty good).  It’s not getting anywhere near my DVD collection (although maybe in Blu-Ray… hmm…) as I think it is completely unrewatchable, but that’s okay.  Kudos to Cohen for creating Borat, staying in character, and visiting the US and A. 

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Posted in General, No/Low-tech | 12 Comments
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12 thoughts on “Borat Review: Funny, but real or staged?”

  1. Tom Sanford says:
    November 5, 2006 at 11:50 pm

    Hey
    Was the scene with Pamela Anderson real?….if so, Borat(Sasha Cohen)definitely deserves an award! Borat has some really large family jewels! I would also like to add that I doubt those faternity guys have ever got laid…well, atleast one of them never will after the the movies’ release….lol
    Tom Sanford, Bullhead, AZ

    Reply
  2. Jeremy Toeman says:
    November 6, 2006 at 12:03 am

    Tom,
    Not sure – it’s definitely one of the most debated scenes as far as I can tell. I read somewhere that Sasha and Pam were friends and she was on board with it, and it certainly seems like she should have more bodyguards around!

    Anyone know?
    -jt

    Reply
  3. Pingback: TonySpeaks.net » Blog Archive » If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon

  4. laughable says:
    November 6, 2006 at 11:23 am

    Bluray? Are you mad? Out of all the movies with stunning visual effects and land/sea/space-scapes that have actually been recorded by cameras worthy of the resolution of which HD is capable, that would actually be worth buying in HD format, you contemplate Borat. Great movie, stupid attempt at geek humor. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Jeremy Toeman says:
    November 6, 2006 at 2:41 pm

    ’twas sarcasm…

    Reply
  6. Mike says:
    November 7, 2006 at 9:39 am

    That subway scene was definitely not staged. None of those scenes in New York were staged. The two scenes that were definitely staged were the Pam Anderson and the frat boy scene.

    Reply
  7. Chuck says:
    November 7, 2006 at 10:59 am

    I went to a college where the frat boys did act like this and would definitely say sexist, racist, homophobic things (especially when they were wasted) just like the ones in the movie. I think the editing makes it appear staged. I’m pretty sure Pamela Anderson was in on it, but the joke is really on the people in line (not to mention that the scene is necessary for plot advancement). Also, different camera angles does NOT prove that the scenes were staged, as most of these Borat victims signed a release form thinking that they were being filmed for a foreign documentary. Read the Newsweek article.

    Reply
  8. Jeremy Toeman says:
    November 7, 2006 at 11:10 am

    Mike – how can you say the subway scene was definitely not staged? I’m certainly open to the counterargument…

    Chuck – I agree that the camera angles do not prove the scenes were staged, but by being inside the car, it means they MUST HAVE done the scenes multiple times to get all the angles, and if you think about the dialogue, it simply felt a little forced to me.

    Ultimately, these are just my opinions based on watching the movie, a little research, and a little discussion…

    Reply
  9. Pingback: Data Miner : Was Borat Staged?

  10. du says:
    November 23, 2006 at 12:35 am

    You are wrong about the frat boys, i believe they are suing over the scene.

    Reply
  11. JS says:
    December 9, 2006 at 7:02 am

    Frat kids: not staged.
    http://www.thesmokinggun.com for details

    Reply
  12. Valerie says:
    February 29, 2008 at 2:32 am

    Hey,

    I AM the blond girl that was in the elevator. Let me tell you – It or at least the part with me in it is real. The two ladies in the elevator were not in the elevator with me – that is fake they spiliced them in. I rode with them in the elevator without them saying one word to me for 6 floors until i could get out. There was me, Borat, his assistant a camera man and one other guy that got on the elevator with me at the 1st floor in the LAX hilton hotel – the hotel was not in Dallas and it happened on august 11, 2005 – 13 months before the movie came out. These nude clown got on the elevator after me on the 4th floor and i got off finally on the 10th floor. and those are the facts!

    Reply

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About

Jeremy Toeman is a seasoned Product leader with over 20 years experience in the convergence of digital media, mobile entertainment, social entertainment, smart TV and consumer technology. Prior ventures and projects include CNET, Viggle/Dijit/Nextguide, Sling Media, VUDU, Clicker, DivX, Rovi, Mediabolic, Boxee, and many other consumer technology companies. This blog represents his personal opinion and outlook on things.

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