Site Presented By
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Was it funny?
some of cohen's early work was funny stuff
Borat was painfully unfunny. He took advantage of good people and the gags fell flat.
Sounds like he is attempting the same shtick on this one. Going after southerners, who are typically pretty decent folks, is lame. He can do better work.
I will pass on Bruno when it shows up on cable.
He never was one.
I could not enjoy Borat as social satire either. Rewatch it, bearing your Bruno comments in mind, and you'll see much of the same things are true. It wasn't about the Americans in the movie, and they mostly didn't show an ugly side to themselves. It was all Borat.
"Da Ali G" movie used actors, taking out the issues with the real people. But there's got to be some level of discomfort in a Jewish actor portraying a moron who is, evidently, supposed to have an Arab background.
On the other hand, if you see him as a comedian making a fictional movie with non-actors, you may enjoy it more. Those awkward moments spoof remaining discomfort with homosexuality, and insist on the principle, without pausing to worry about the things you and I notice, class difference, or politeness.
And Baron Cohen's character is just supposed to be outrageous. There are many other examples of that kind of comedy in our culture. I think people like it because it clears the air.
assuming this is a correct synopsis of the film. one thing i liked about Borat's segments on the Ali G show on HBO was that it wasn't all that heavily dependent on reactions to his Ubergayness, but rather more about puncturing the vapidity of the fashion biz. For instance the segment where Bruno gets a couple of fashion expert types to agree with him that fashion has saved more lives than medicine ever did. Or later when he gets them to agree with some premise (which I forget) then deftly gets them to agree enthusiastically with the exact and precisely diametric opposite five minutes later.
I meant one thing i liked about Bruno's segments, not Borat's segments.
I suppose we were supposed to be laughing at how stupid and small minded americans in 'fly-over country' were in Borat. But as it turns out they actually acquited themselves rather well. There really wasn't any truly embarassing moment. What was embarassing is how hard Borat tried.
If you want to see regular americans embarass themselves- the late night comics occasionally have these 'men on the street' type interviews with regular americans- and most of them couldn't hardly name the three branches of government. Now that is genuine embarassment. Howard Stern will do that with his guests too.
... was in Taladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Will Smith's hilarious movie, and even then, seen with the wrong crowd, it would be homophobic.
I don't think he's funny. All I get from him is that he tries incredibly hard. I find him exhausting.
I happen to think he was great in "Sweeney Todd" (but I've not seen "Borat" or "Tallegeda Nights")
I don't know, maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but might this movie be good for the gays-that it demonstrates that we as a country have grown, and that homophobia isn't as prevelant or threatening among most Americans. You are sort of assuming SBC's motives for making this movie... maybe he just wanted to be as outrageous as possible, and as awkward.
I can't say I find him terribly funny, but awkward humor isn't my thing. I was told over and over how brillant "The Office" is, but I just cannot make it through the first few, extremely awkward and stiff episodes.
I love Rackoff's review.
People were looking for a political/satirical message in his first movie as well. How retarded! This guy would dick his grandmother over for a laugh. He doesn't give a shit about satire or politics, and apparently that's supposed to be cool amongst the under 25 crowd these days.
Many commedians have used gay stereotypes to get laughs and promote themselves. A lot of gay stand up comedy in New York is full of (unconscious?) self-hatred. Just add Cohen to the list.
I went to see Borat in the theaters on blind faith in the reviews gushing about what that movie "revealed" about America. It revealed nothing other than that taking advantage of the poor and underprivileged can be very easy if you have a film crew and millions of dollars following you around. If I were interested in seeing a slightly different version of Borat's armless Romanian guy whose plight is supposed to tickle my funny bone, maybe I'd try out Bruno.
The central problem is that Cohen is a coward. He subjected his audience to an annoyingly long nude male wrestling match in Borat, but he was the only participant whose genitals were blacked out. Makin' porn, even "funny" porn, Mr. Cohen, generally requires nudity.
No comedian cred.
SBC is the funniest comedian alive, far as I'm concerned.
I laughed myself silly watching Borat. This, after seeing his funny but tedious Ali G shows.
I am told Bruno is even funnier, something I cannot comprehend. I nearly barfed up my stomach laughing at Borat.
It is HUMOR. What someone said: we can laugh at gays and it shows how far we've come. The gayness is beside the point anyway. It is about the knowledge the audience has that he is getting away with something in front of the cameras. The gay angle is incidental.
Say what you will. Piss and moan that he is mediocre. SBC guy is a fucking genius. I still quote the line from his preview about naming his adoptive child with a traditional African name...
I'm not familiar with this guys work but by the sound of it his entire schtick is basically trying to prove Americans are either stupid or bigots. Sorry, but eight years of Bush kinda beat you to it. The worst part is, homophobia DOES need to be confronted in the red states. And a tongue in cheek manner isn't going to be enough. Sorry, but I don't trust a British comedian to confront our societies worst traits. It has to come from within and it has to be direct.
I also hate to break it to Hollywood, but thanks to movies like Borat, people out here are onto you. They know your trying to portray them as bigots and they know better then to play along. That is why any real confrontation can't be tongue in cheek.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
