who the hell is BORAT and why is he popular OVERNIGHT???

[LSK]

How the hell do these people just spring out of nowehre and are all the rage?

:shrug:

[AtomicKitten]

1. He is Ali G - Sascha Cohen - that has run on HBO for 2 years -- EDITED

Not exactly out of thin air.

on edit FYI:
Borat Sagdiyev (Cyrillic: Борат Сагдиев ) is a fictional character of a Kazakh journalist invented and portrayed by the British comedian provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen for Da Ali G Show, an unstaged and unscripted show in which Borat interviews people who believe that he is a real Kazakh television journalist. He is the star of the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat:

[LSK]

3. out of thin air because some of us dont have HBO

[Radio_Lady]

29. LSK, it's OK that you didn't know him. It's OK if you don't have HBO.

No one should flame you!

[tinfoil tiaras]

2. I'm probably gonna get flamed because I'm like the only person on DU

that thinks he's funny, but what the heck.

Borat is a character played by this british comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen. Borat is a TV journalist from Kazakhstan who travels across America and makes a (really funny) movie thats out now.

[judaspriestess]

4. You are NOT the only one

Sacha Baron Cohen is brilliant and I adore him.

DA' Ali G

[jriles]

5. don't be afraid

are you kidding me. the guy is freaking brilliant. look deeper into this humor and you'll see that everything he does drills straight to the bottom of unfathomable some social nexus.
does he cross the line? yes. but why was the line there in the first? that's the question his humor foists upon the viewer over and over again.

[AtomicKitten]

6. "Why does Jesus go around with all those reindeer?"

hahahahahahaha

[Radio_Lady]

30. Wish I hadn't missed those previews. You saw the movie this weekend?

[ghostsofgiants]

7. I'm a fan too.

Fuck the naysayers. He's funny.

[William Bloode]

8. There a lot of us who think he is brilliant.

I will admit when i saw the Ali-G premier i did not get it. I missed the subtlety and thought it was just a guy making fun of Uk'ers who had developed their own form of American hip-hop culture. I thought it was good for a quick laugh and no more.

The show had a compelling quality that made me watch again and it was like a strike of lighting and i got it lol! I may have been a bit slow on the uptake due to being older than the targeted demographic, which tends to be more hip than a 40ish hillbilly like me.

They had a run on the Ali-G show today. I got to see Borat do the "Throw the jews down a well" song again. The shit is so hilarious.

[tinfoil tiaras]

19. the scene when he thinks that the Jewish couple he's staying with

turns into cockroaches in the night is hilarious!!

I'm glad i'm not the only one who thinks that Borat is funny...it just seemed that way from all the "i hate borat so much" threads or whatever

[jobycom]

9. Get used to him. You'll be seeing a lot of Sacha Baron Cohen, not just as Borat

Borat is a character of Sacha Baron Cohen, as has been described above. Cohen is a Cambridge educated actor/comedian who recently starred in Talladega Nights and Madagascar (he was the only funny part of the movie). Highly intelligent, brilliant satirist, and liberal.

Here's a Wikipedia blurb on Cohen:

"He then attended Christ's College, Cambridge where he studied history and wrote his thesis on Jewish involvement in the American Civil Rights movement, focusing especially on the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

In 1989, Baron Cohen joined the Habonim Dror Jewish Youth Group and appeared in Neil Simon's play Biloxi Blues, thus igniting a passion for acting. At Habonim Dror, he became an outstanding ga-ga-ball player, winning the Habonim UK ga-ga championship on multiple occasions. In 1992 he led his country to a silver medal in the world ga-ga ball championships, coming second to the undefeated Australian Habonim team. His acting plans soon went on hold, as Cohen left London for Israel, where he spent a year at the Rosh Hanikra Kibbutz, learning more about his roots and faith. <2>

At Cambridge, performing with the Footlights, Baron Cohen acted in plays such as Cyrano de Bergerac and Fiddler on the Roof. He was much less active in the club than his long time collaborator Dan Mazer, and did not feature in any of their major revues.

Baron Cohen is engaged to Australian actress Isla Fisher, and the pair plan to wed in a traditional Jewish wedding. Fisher pledged to convert to Judaism before the wedding, and received the blessing of Baron Cohen's devout Jewish parents. <2>

Baron Cohen is the second cousin of University of Cambridge Professor of Developmental Psychopathology Simon Baron-Cohen<3>."

[AtomicKitten]

11. Cohen just got $43 million to turn his character, Bruno, the

fashion reporter, into a movie.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2909179

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

13. A couple of years ago Bruno broke his way onto the runway

of a designer's fashion in NYC I think it was. As the models all walked out on the runway he got on the floor and did the worm and that's when everyone realized he was not a real model. I like his character Bruno the best.

[AtomicKitten]

14. he is definitely creative and very, very funny

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/10/31/bruno_wideweb__470x329,0.jpg

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

15. I liked when he interviewed a fashion designer about cardboard in their show ...

and the funny thing was , they did not have cardboard in their show but they went on and answered Bruno as if they indeed had it their show.

[ariellyn]

20. That was funny. He asked the designer why the show mood was so "heavy"

and the guy explained. Then he asked why the show was so "light" and the guy explained that. The guy went along with all these conflicting descriptions he kept throwing out and then Bruno ended the interview saying something about consistency being important. :rofl:

[NashVegas]

21. I'm Not a Regular Watcher

But I loved the Boutros Boutros Gahli (sp?) interview.

[WCGreen]

10. I don't know...

To me he is this generations Andy Kauffman...

Someone trying to call attention to themselves by being wierd...

He hides behind a persona while Stephen Cobert and Jon Stewart do pretty much the same thing, only without having to resort to disguises and a whole bunch of gimmicks...

I know SC is a "persona" but he doesn't need to drape himself in props and such to get his points across...

And everyone knows what to expect from JS and SC...

Ali G and Borat are just a hybred version of "Gootcha" theater that is sadly mistaken for Journalism on local TV news...

[bedpanartist]

31. everyone's a critic

you try and get the laughs and attention he does, and when you've accomplished that call me and I'll take you seriously.

[bif]

12. I don't kow if the U S and A is reeady for him

But Borat is One funny lad. High five!

[datasuspect]

16. borat is one of those "litmus test" cultural figures

you can tell a few things about people depending on whether they "get" it.

[bicentennial_baby]

17. I've known about him for a few years

From the Ali G show...and I love him so :)

[Anarcho-Socialist]

18. I think Sacha Baron Cohen is talented

and that Borat is funny. It's an interesting study in psychology and sociology.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

22. Cohen was funny in "Talledega Nights"

well it was funny to me at least.

[GCP]

23. Oh YAWN. Another WAAAH I don't get Borat thread

Let's see, he's got a a 96% fresh rating on rottentomatoes
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/borat/

That's one of the best rated movies ever on that site. That site, by the way, calculates its ratings by adding up all the positive/negative reviews.

Waah. I still don't get it.

You don't have to. If something makes you think, and that hurts, don't watch it. If something hurts, stop. So stop thinking, it clearly hurts you.

[Redstone]

24. So, if we don't agree with your ultimate wisdom, we just "don't get it."

And therefore, we're a bunch of losers who just don't understand, though we can't actually be faulted for it, because we're just a bunch of dimwits who do not share in your enlightenment.

Sorry that we're all so dumb.

Redstone

[bedpanartist]

32. not our fault

really, it's not.

[bicentennial_baby]

33. Waiiiit....are you saying

that people who claim to 'get' Borat and love him are dumb?I'm just trying to clarify, friend. :)

[Redstone]

34. No, this doesn't have anything to do with you, m'dear.

Redstone

[Pacifist Patriot]

25. I first saw the name here. I thought it was a household cleaning product...

at first. Still haven't seen the guy so I have no idea what the controversy is all about.

[Radio_Lady]

27. Oh, you confused him with Borax -- 20 Mule Team Borax!

[L A Woman]

26. Like I posted the other night, it's the Blazing Saddles of the new era...

and it's about time, if you ask me. His movie is so politically incorrect and at times brilliant satire - but of course there is a bit of adolescent humor mixed in. In Blazing Saddles, there was that idiotic "campfire farting" scene that males and 5-year-old girls found funny. Borat has its fair share of those scenes. But the smarter humor and social commentary more than makes up for it, IMO.

I did it find it somewhat disturbing that a few DUers seemed to think the movie was "real" - "he broke all those antiques!!!!"

Ummm....no...he didn't. It's a MOCKumentary, not a DOCumentary.

[bedpanartist]

28. how are they the rage? Ever hear of cross-platform advertising and massive P.R.?

the shit works.

[GOPisEvil]

35. Go. See. The. Movie.

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[u4ic]

36. I wonder that myself.

I have no clue who he is.

Every time I see his name, I think of Borax. :silly: