Today's Top Stories:
Procrastinate better: the best of your professors' Facebook pages
The results from SGB's Town Hall are in!
ROTC Surveys: 2003 and Today

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan premiered in American movie theaters yesterday. Bwog contributor Mark Krotov tells you why Kazakh pubis and scantily clad African-American prostitutes may not always be a good thing.

I was really excited about Borat. Like, a lot. I saw every trailer multiple times, frequented the website on multiple occasions, found YouTube deleted scenes, and caught some of Borat's television appearances, of which there were many. Fox's strange strategy of mind-numbing over-promotion will have certainly worked to turn Borat into a huge commercial success—every reference to the export of Kazakh pubis meant another five tickets purchased—but unfortunately, the millions spent on commercials and Borat placement resulted in a rather muted reaction to the film on my part.


This is not to say that Borat is not a good movie. It is, in many ways. Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat is a brilliant character, and though his freshness has been diminshed, he is still an amazing and inventive presence. The film also has a fairly satisfying mix of the staged (angry naked wrestling is a truly stunning sight) and the confrontational (as when Borat takes a scantily-clad, African-American prostitute to a formal southern dinner in Alabama on Secession Drive), an alternation that generally makes up the length of the film.


See also: Borat, The Eye

About Us

Bwog is compiled by the staff of The Blue and White, Columbia University's undergraduate magazine.

Contact Us

Please send tips to bwgossip@columbia.edu.

Questions or concerns? Email bweditors@columbia.edu.

Bwog is always looking for new writing talent. Email bwog@columbia.edu.

In Print

Search

Comment Policy

Our Favorite Comments

omg: [read]
"the GSSC VP Student Life is like the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher"
Clearly: [read]
"the freshmen yearn for a return to the womb."

Bwogroll

Technical

Our headlines are syndicated through Atom.
This site is powered by the Publicate Content Management System, which is available for free.
Our interface icons are from the free Silk set.