So we saw Borat last night and it was funny. Okay, there were times when I was crying with laughter. So overall I give it thumbs up. But, being the contrarian that I like to be, I had some concerns going in that turned out to be realized. Firstly, my concerns were that he was going to really lay it on thick just destroying the Kazakhstanis and with them all ex-soviet states. I'm a bit more sensitive than most when it comes to ex-soviet states, or satellite states as Poland was, so I will understand if you don't feel my pain. And it's not really my pain, I'm not Polish, but I am married to a Pole so I do take these things a bit personally. Not only that, my step-dad was a Czech, so I have reason to offended if just by marriage. Anyway, my credentials laid bare, I'll go on. Since the "Kazak" scenes were actually filmed in Romania, and Borat uses a bastardized Polish to greet people (Jak sie Masz = How are you, in Polish) I think I'm right in saying that he's less Kazak than ex-soviet. He is of course playing on "The West's" general ignorance of these countries as part of his excuse for looking like a European but behaving like a caveman. He's playing on our ignorance and of course our stereotypes too. When telling people I just came back from Poland a friend asked if I saw anyone using horse carts to get around. He'd clearly just seen Borat. Or he's confusing the Poles with the Amish. The problem is that Borat uses a double standard. He is a rabid anti-semite, and his crazy antics leading from that cast his as an irredeemable fool. Of course when he stays with a homey Jewish couple on his roadtrip across the states they defy every insane notion he has about Jews. They are friendly, they do not try to poison him and they strangely enough do not have horns. So Borat's totally out of line stereotype is set up to be destroyed and it is a hoot to see him squirm in the midsts of this kind old couple. But the stereotype of the Eastern European as anti-semite is upheld and strengthened. There never is the counter-punch of reality that makes the opposite point, that in fact, despite our own stereotypes, ex-Iron Curtainers are not the backwards devils they are made out to be. Borat sort of turns into a primer for the new millenium on who it is okay to hate. In the right-hand, racist, homophobic, misogynistic Americans and in the left hand the backwards population of ex-Soviet states. Left high in dry and out of harm's way in the middle are all minorities and people like you and me who agree that backwards people should be laughed at. Borat is saying, "Bigoted America, you aren't so different from Backwards, Semi-Retarded Kazakhstan, in fact in many ways you are worse since you are so arrogant." My difficult problem is that I agree with the part about bigoted America's smugness. Because America is still the beacon of morality (yes, I believe this despite our recent behavior in Iraq) it makes it that much more funny to hear such intolerant things from some of our citizens. But where does that leave Kazakhstan and her neighbors? After we are done laughing at our own bad elements in our right hand, what shall we think about the people in our left?
I was going to go on a long schpeil here, illuminating some of the misconceptions about my Country-in-law, Poland, but that shouldn't be necessary, my four readers are smart enough to know that you don't make broad generalizations about any one group of people, unless they are an intentionally formed organization or society like, say, the Republicans. You have the choice to become a Republican, or a feminist, or Pamela Anderson but nobody was ever given the choice of their place to be born. Or their religion to be born into, or the color of their skin. If we did have that choice we would surely all choose to be Italians, since let's face it, the Italians are all really good looking.
Anyone who mistakes Poland for Kazakhstan deserved to be made fun of by Borat. Send him to their house.