| Overall Grade: |
D |
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| Story: |
C |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
F |
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| Visuals: |
D |
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Satire must be subtle to be effective
by Mike (movies profile)
Feb 11, 2008
74
of
120 people found this review helpful
Borat attempts to satirize racism and other sociological problems in the U.S. This, it definitely does; over and over again, beating its audience over the head with the fact there there are racists in this country. It began as a very funny film, showing a "fish out of water" in America. The jokes were over-the-top and ridiculous, but funny.
Within 30-45 minutes, however, the show violated the most important ingredient of both humor and satire: subtlelty. It was the same joke, over and over, more and more shockingly presented. The movie ceased being enjoyable and became stressful. Look, Borat's being an idiot! Look, Borat's being an idiot again! Look, Borat's kissing men on a New York subway! Look, he's saying stupid stuff before singing the national anthem! Look, Borat's making a fool of himself at a local newscast! Look, Borat's breaking fine china in an antique shop! Look, Borat's unwittingly mimicking homosexual acts with a large, hairy man! Ha ha!
Oh yes, and rednecks are stupid. Don't forget to pound that into our heads as well.
I understand that some people will find this funny. I laughed. But I find the universal critical acclaim to be absolutely shocking. Show subtlety; if you want to satirize, we don't need two pale naked hairy men, or a prostitute invited to a Birmingham pastor's home, or two guys freaking out because they think their Jewish hosts became cockroaches in order to kill them.
The message of the movie is good; the method of delivery, unfortunately, was not. |
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