That Borat Guy...

[MrCoffee]

how is this guy not ripping off Andy Kaufman?

[Left Is Write]

1. All I know is that I saw him on the Today show this morning.

I have never heard a more irritating voice/delivery in my life. And people are sitting through an entire MOVIE listening to him??

[MrCoffee]

2. i saw that too, first video i've ever seen of him, and all i could think was RIPOFF

Kaufman did it better, and he did it first.

This guy is a hack.

[Deja Q]

3. I paraphrased this in a different Borat thread yesterday:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=5806140#5806147


:D

[MrCoffee]

5. hey man, Andy was funny.

sorry, i missed your post yesterday.

[GOPisEvil]

4. It's similar, but the guy has his own schtick.

The movie is hilarious and also quite frightening in it's portrayal of some of the extremely ignorant people with whom we share a country.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. The question I can't get answered...

OK, so he's making fun of anti-semitic audience, check.

But isn't he also making fun of people who stereotype eastern europeaners (by way of central Asia)? Ergo, his audience?

[matcom]

7. yes and yes.

he exposes the ignorance of Americans and their predjudices.

Time Mag has a pretty good synopsis of his 'humor' in this week's addition.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. I'm kinda confused...

just to make sure we're on the same page...

"he exposes the ignorance of Americans and their predjudices."

So then the people that think he's the funniest thing since sliced bread are ignorant and prejudiced, right? Since he is himself a stereotype. Now what about the people who get that part...

[matcom]

10. actually no (well not all of us anyway)

what is 'funny' about a lot of the stuff is the shocking things that he exposes in PEOPLE

he gets access to some amazing people (senators, congress, high-society, etc...) under the guise that he is a 'reporter' from a country that is struggling.

here is an example:

in his movie, he goes into a gun shop in the south to buy a gun. he asks the woman behind the counter, "Which gun is the best to kill a Jew?"

that is crass enough (BTW, Cohen is Jewish himself) but she (without hesitating) recommends a Glock or a 9mm.

i guess "humor" is a little weird a term to describe some of the "funny" in the movie but it is a testiment to ignorance.

another example: he goes down south to a Rodeo where he convinces them to let him sing his national anthem in front of the crowd. he starts by (using very broken english) announcing that his country is thankful for Bush's "Terrorism" and hopes that George Bush drinks the blood of every Iraqi Man, Woman & Child until that desert is wiped clean.

The crowd (redneck/stereotype) eats it up and goes apeshit.

best I could do. :shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. Alright, I get that...

He exposes people for being bigots. Check.

But isn't he also exposing his audience because they're laughing at his stereotype? That they're the same as the rednecks at the Rodeo?

[matcom]

13. can't speak for all of his audience

and i'm sure there is some truth to what you say. i think most of the audience knows that he is being outrageous on purpose (because it is so blatant) but it is the positions he puts his 'victims' in that makes the comedy.

every one of them knows there is a camera rolling but they don't want to "offend the foreigner". it really is rather hard to explain (for me anyway).

another example from his show:

he stands before a republican council meeting as a guest. he announces that "as everyone knows, this is the 14th anniversary of the ********* massacre in my great country......"

he has every one of them stand and announces 10 MINUTES of silence. they comply and stand there for a full 10 minutes with their heads bowed in order to accomodate him.

[Elidor]

16. Those were the most painful ten minutes of my life

I couldn't even watch the whole thing. He makes me raff and all, but that one was just a piece of sheer performance art. It was such a protracted moment of horrible, twisted genius. I stopped thinking of him as a comic right then. He became a cultural commentator with a nasty sense of humor (which is a good thing).

And while the schtick is similar to Kaufman's act, it lacks Kaufman's cloying cuteness, emulating his cruel and heartless side instead.

And I will never quite get over 'Throw the Jew Down the Well.' I live and work around people like that. In fact, I think I recognized some of them.

[Conan_The_Barbarian]

9. Ironically

After I watched a few Borat clips on you tube and realized I knew absolutely nothing about Kazikstan (spelling... I think), I was laughing at the unknown so I did the research and found out a lot about the place, a lot of oil money flowing through that place. Caspian sea oil, big power play right now between USA, Russia, and China for the the major pipeline. Anyway even after I did my research I still found the character funny just because he's so damn weird. I love that one where he goes campaigning with that Republican congressman. He telling this women that the congressman is a strong man like Stalin, and if you vote for him your life will be good but if you do not vote for him, well your life will not so much be good. "If you do not vote him into power he will take power!"

[zanne]

15. He's half British, half Israeli. nt

[GCP]

12. So Kaufman created a foreign character for himself, and now nobody

else is allowed to do that because they're ripping off Andy?

Come on.

[MrCoffee]

14. no, but i've seen reviews of his movie that talk about

his originality, and his edgy comedy.

I don't think you can be edgy or original if your act is borrowed from a thirty-year old bit.

[patrick t. cakes]

17. steve martin did it with dan akroyd...

"two wild and crazy guys"

and yakoff smirnoff..(spell)

the act isnt new, just a new generation.