tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7778441.post116371615247121478..comments2023-12-19T06:54:20.572-05:00Comments on Answer Girl: What did you think of Borat?Ellen Clair Lambhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14944288413332520719noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7778441.post-1163726751668752052006-11-16T20:25:00.000-05:002006-11-16T20:25:00.000-05:00You're right that the bad behavior might not have ...You're right that the bad behavior might not have been uniquely American -- although some things, like the NY subway and the frat boys in the RV, did strike me that way. <BR/><BR/>It's angry humor, not silly humor, and I admit I prefer the silly stuff. I too feel the need to spend more time figuring out what I think about it, but the fact that it has everyone talking says a lot about its power.Ellen Clair Lambhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14944288413332520719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7778441.post-1163725422107192682006-11-16T20:03:00.000-05:002006-11-16T20:03:00.000-05:00Ummm...I saw Borat the day it opened, in a theater...Ummm...I saw Borat the day it opened, in a theater smack dab in the middle of Harvard Square (I had to go because I took my daughter and her friend, who were technically underage--so I got to sit next to THEM during the film. Ahem.) Every seat was filled. It was clear that the audience came ready to love this film. I can't remember attending another movie where the audience was so primed to enjoy the spectacle--it was as if we were at the taping of a tv show where someone had already warmed up the crowd.<BR/><BR/>I liked the movie. And laughed, hard, at some points--especially the naked wrestling scene which had the comic genius not to stop when it should have but went on and on and on which was funnier and funnier.<BR/><BR/>But....I dunno. To me this was a case of the trailer having almost all the choice bits of the movie. Perhaps I was too uncomfortable with the squirmy-ness to enjoy it as much as I wanted to (the first time I saw Something Wild I really didn't like the movie, not realizing that I just felt too creeped out to see its comic genius--each time I've seen it again I've appreciated and enjoyed it all the more.) But overall I felt that the movie was neither as funny, nor as satiric, as advertised. <BR/><BR/>Funny is ultimately a personal judgement--so I won't make an argument about the humor content. Again, I thought the movie was funny--yes. I laughed really hard at times. So it worked. But it wasn't, in my opinion, as funny as great comic films. For me.<BR/><BR/>But I really don't feel that the movie had a deep message about America. It's easy to make fun of nut-bag idiot pinheads (once you find them.) I mean, is it all that socially clever to piss of a trio of feminists? There was a good line in there, yes. But again, overall I just felt like this was ultimately a "safe" type of social critique--kind of like George Clooney's take on McCarthyism, where we are basically told a comforting message about the bad guys. Just because I tend to agree with some of the critique didn't make it a hugely insightful film for me. Again, I liked it--but not as much, I guess, as expected.<BR/><BR/>I just gotta see it again--and probably will. Sorry to ramble. Just trying to get my thoughts clear on this.Tom Ehrenfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11631646873808799064noreply@blogger.com