Borat film 'tricked' poor village actors

[Rockstone]

(Top) Borat introduces his sister, a 'prostitute'. '

The Mail on Sunday showed them the cinema trailer - the first footage they had seen from the film. Many were on the brink of tears as they saw how they were portrayed.

Mr Tudorache, a deeply religious grandfather who lost his arm in an accident, was one of those who feels most humiliated. For one scene, a rubber sex toy in the shape of a fist was attached to the stump of his missing arm - but he had no idea what it was.

"Our region is very poor, and everyone is trying hard to get out of this misery. It is outrageous to exploit people's misfortune like this to laugh at them."

'It was very uncomfortable at the end and there was animal manure all over our home. We endured it because we are poor and badly needed the money, but now we realise we were cheated and taken advantage of in the worst way.

'All those things they said about us in the film are terribly humiliating. They said we drink horse urine and sleep with our own kin. You say it's comedy, but how can someone laugh at that?'

Claudia Luca, who lives with her extended family in the house next to the one that served as Borat's home, said: 'We now realise they only came here because we are poorer than anyone else in this village. They never told us what they were doing but took advantage of our misfortune and poverty. They made us look like savages, why would anyone do that?'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=415871&in_page_id=1770

Indeed. Why WOULD anyone do that? Anyone have any ideas?

[Divine Discontent]

1. I won't be watching it now.

I saw where they embarrassed the punk college kids. That's mean but funny, but this, this is just cruel.

no thanks!



www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- antibush prodem stickers/shirts

[Ignacio Upton]

14. I don't feel sorry for the racists portrayed

That would be like feeling sorry for George Allen. However, now I'm pissed at how the Romanians were exploited, even if it was a funny movie. I thought the people in the village were actors or were going along with it with their consent.

[unblock]

19. they did give consent, and they took money

they're just bickering over the amount now that the film's a blockbuster.

the article says they got 3 gbp each, which is between 5 and 6 us dollars. i don't know the going rate for extras in movies, but i know it's peanuts. maybe slightly more than 5 or 6 bucks each, but i doubt a whole lot more.

[Ignacio Upton]

21. If they gave their consent and knew how they would be portrayed

Then I don't feel sorry for them. Also, in the case of those frat boys...fuck them. They knew what they were doing.

[Bicoastal]

2. Are we sure this isn't...

...part of the joke somehow? At this point, Sascha Baron Cohen seems capable of anything.

[originalpckelly]

3. Notice how all these people have come out of the woodwork...

now that the film is a success? How did they even know when the film was released?

[Rockstone]

8. read the article

[NEDem]

4. I'm seeing stories like this all over the place

Seems the Borat movie left a lot of embarrassment in it's wake. But it also shows how stupid people behave when they think that something might 'make them famous.' This Cohen character may be a real twit, but his 'victims' are not innocent participants either.

[Rockstone]

9. So the people in the article are lying?

do you have any evidence to support this?

[NEDem]

10. Huh?

where did I say anyone was lying.

Chill out, because I'm not going to play your little game.

[Rockstone]

20. ok - so backing up your assertion is a "little game"?

no I don't want to play it either. Bye

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

5. It's the Mail on Sunday

They've probably got another article two pages on screaming blue murder about evil Kazakstani's flooding into the UK and raping poor white girls. If I say I think they made those quotes up I'll probably get dragged into an argument I can't be arsed with, but the Mail is a right-wing rag that has zero credibility.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

6. I'll decide for myself. The Daily Mail isn't a reliable source

Think the FOX News Channel in print.

[Bonobo]

7. Methinks that the maverick reporters who "dug up" this story...

Are not exactly above the charge of explotation myself.

As for Sasha Cohen, it's called comedy. Should all the poor victims of Don Rickles also get a chance to sue his family for back-payment for the shame they endured by being called "hockeypucks"?

[tularetom]

11. Google "Throw the Jew Down the Well" and watch the You Tube video

and see how sorry you feel then for Borat's "innocent victims".

[Rockstone]

17. Are those romanians?

[tritsofme]

12. "They got paid so I am sure they are happy. These gipsies will even kill their own father for money"

Did the local government official really say that?

Its almost as outrageous as Cohen's fictional criticisms.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. Has Anybody Watched The Movie?

I thought the driving instructor came off well...

And some of the dinner guests patiently tried to acquaint Borat with western culture...

The gun shop owner and the racist frat boys did come off as dicks and deservedly so...

[unblock]

15. if people like this kept quiet, i'd assume they were civil and sophisticated

the film is GREAT, HILARIOUS, and i just assumed that the poor people from borat's "hometown" were all actors or otherwise ordinary, civilized people.

but if they sign a release, take money, then complain about being outwitted and taken advantage of, it makes them look exactly like the uncivilized, unsophisticated, backwards people that i thought was too over-the-top farcical to be believed.

[roguevalley]

18. some of the people in this movie were given complex releases

minutes before shooting. This is cruel to some, justice to others. I won't be seeing it. I don't like cruelty.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. It Is A Funny Movie And Not Everybody Came Off Badly...

eom

[Jed Dilligan]

16. Does that mean Christopher Walken can sue

multiple directors for making him look like a terrifying criminal psychopath?

They were paid to act in a movie which was not about them. Has the concept of "acting" not yet reached that part of Carpathia?

[Ravenseye]

23. Yeah that's sort of what I was thinking

I mean...nobody watches that film and actually thinks that was the kindergarden and the other guy was the rapist, and they keep cattle in their homes...They assume those people were actors.

Which they were. They signed releases, and got paid. How is it negatively affecting their lives? Maybe Mr. Cohen should have gone crazy and paid each of them 100 pounds each instead of 3 which would have been more money than they earn in a month. Would that have NOT been exploiting them? The fact that it seems to boil down to a so called dollar figure makes me raise a single eyebrow.

[Jed Dilligan]

27. Still

If you see Christopher Walken coming, I advise you to move across the street.

[shanti]

24. all that for a cheap laugh

:(

[tabasco]

25. Lesson learned:

Beware of fancy city slickers with a bunch of cameras.

[Divine Discontent]

28. DING DING DING!!!

reminds me of Burt Reynolds knocking around Dom DeLuise's city slicker TV host character in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

You don't wanna talk to the city folk when they come with cameras, it's gotta be because they think you're dumb, criminal, or have something they want.


:)


www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- antibush prodem stickers/shirts

[stonecoldsober]

26. It's a very funny movie - I actually DID split a gut!

and no I don't feel the least bit sorry for anyone that willingly signed a release or a contract.

[Rockstone]

29. Did they humiliate the amputee with the sex toy?