Jesse Brown, a friend & associate of mine and a provocateur in print, radio and video here in Kanadia, wrote a piece for the Globe and Mail about how Baron Cohen “is leading a revival in prankster comedy.” Brown, whose summer show on CBC Radio “The Contrarians” explored unpopular ideas that might just be right (”feminism is over: women won” & “hip-hop is the greatest cultural contribution of the last century” were just two), argues:

“But why has the prank chosen this precise moment to come into vogue? Perhaps it’s because reality itself has become too ridiculous to parody. We don’t need Dana Carvey’s talent for mimicry to see the president as a hapless boob with a silly speaking style. Nobody does a better Dubya than Dubya and his shtick is too frightening to be funny. Equally impotent is the smug, cynical standup of political comics like Bill Maher and Dennis Miller. In times as confusing as ours, who can genuinely claim to be so knowing?”

Pretty good piece, and I do hope folks who wish to access it can still do so via the Globe & Mail Web site. (article title “King of all shenanigans”)

Article link

(Disclaimer: I haven’t discussed post this comment with Jesse, but since the piece has been published and any Globe reader can read it online, I figured directing some attention to his essay should be no trouble.)

I’m a Yank living in London, and one thing is very clear: Baron-Cohen is a hero and loved by most everyone under 50 in the UK. He’s seen as a true comic genius. Don’t know where you saw a “so-so” run, but Ali G was a massive success, and Borat is packing them in.

Everyone here is loving the fact that Americans are getting all bent out of shape about the movie. The fact that it got pulled from heartland cinemas pre-release because the studio feared that people wouldn’t get it is only adding to the enjoyment.

The sad part is that Jeff is right: It is too easy to find “Americans whose morality, common sense, and intelligence are outweighed only by their hospitality, who are good at making asses of themselves and us” …

That fact is not as obvious to folks here, who still have a fairly idealized view of Americans, despite having lost all respect for American politics. It is the best shock and awe campaign the US has produced in years …

~G~

I can understand the whole “this isn’t what i think, i’m just exposing middle america’s naiive view of foriegners” schtick. But isn’t it just really cheap laughs at another cultures expense?

As I’m sure you’d agree, Stuttering John did the whole embarassment schtick much better and he did it with celebrities to boot.

My review:
http://francispage.blogspot.com/2006/11/reel-to-reel-borat.html

I usually agree with you on many things that make me write like a “fan-boy” but Borat works for me 100%. I almost laughed myself to half-death. And I am many many years older than the target audience group.

Here is my review of Borat with some YouTube viedo links of both Borat and Sacha on late night talk shows.

http://kempton.ideasRevolution.com/2006/11/03/borat-cultural-learnings-of-america/

Sorry to hear the film didn’t work for you. May be because your expectation is very very high. I had a really high expectation on it and the film still managed to exceed my expectation.

Cheers,
Kempton

And Dargis! Of course she would love something “pitiless.” Pitiless is an apt description of her screeds about…well, everything.

Oh yes, what commoners.

I agree that it’s not brilliant social commentary. It’s shock humor, cringe humor, whatever you want to call it. But for me, it worked.