Who needs religion when you have Sasha Baron Cohen? Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstanโalso known as Borat 2โwas released Oct. 23 over Amazon Prime Video.
To say the leastโalthough I am extremely biasedโBorat 2 is genius.
The film is riddled with Cohenโs predictable anti-Semitic and misogynistic satirical humour. But since Iโm already lacking in employable traits, it would make no difference to make matters worse. Iโll leave the interpretation of these jokes up to you.
The film is alsoโin the most round-about way possibleโprogressive. Cohen ponders many of the most relevant social issues troubling our society today. Of course, this is done in a backwards, satirical fashion, yet the humour does not rob the film of its intended message.
Cohenโs sequel has a noticeable shift in tonality compared to his first film. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm takes the cause of womenโs rights into play, contrasting the treatment and expectations of women in America and Kazakhstan.
Throughout the film, Borat and his daughter Tutar begin to develop a heartwarming father-daughter relationshipโone that any sensible psychologist would label as โproblematic.โ But through this relationship comes realization and compassion towards the rights and decisions of his daughter.
So although Tutar is floored by the sight of a woman driving a car and spends the majority of the film aspiring to sleep in a cage โlike Melaniaโ, Borat begins to recognize that he wants more for his daughter than to simply gift her to Vice President โMichael Penisโ as a wife.
Unlike Boratโs first film, the sequel is much more politically motivated. Borat attends a pro-Trump rally and finds himself questioning theโblatantly falseโinformation given to his country by the government.
Any film that finds clever ways of mocking Republican America will always be a success in my books. Towards the end of the filmโspoiler!โformer Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani (seemingly) gets himself prepped to have sex with Boratโs daughter, who was previously shown to be fifteen years old.
โSheโs only fifteen! She is too old for you,โ Borat interjects, saving the twenty-four year old actress from Rudyโs booty. And although Giuliani has defended his immoral behaviourโfumbling around with his genitals in the presence of a teenagerโas simply โtucking in his shirtโ, itโs hard not to see his Epstein-esque gesture as suspicious.
Borat also makes friends with two Democrat-loathing Americans in an effort to help him along his โmissionโ, and although these menโs views on politics and the world are laughably horrifying, itโs hard not to root for the success of their relationship with Cohenโs character. He even reconciles his relationship with the Jewish communityโkind of.
As well, Itโs a heartwarming film at times. I wonโt deny that even I teared up a little when Borat invited his daughter out of her cage and into his trailer to spend the night on a pile of hay. When a relationship is previously defined by neglect and ignorance, itโs always sweet when the authoritative figure finally comes around to express some compassionโeven when itโs Borat.
Behind all the racism, misogyny and anti-Semitism is an important message to American society: respect people and wear your damn mask.
Itโs raunchy, inappropriate and likely to offend your mother, but itโs impossible to deny that this film isnโt the funniest piece of content to be released in 2020. Immediately after the opening credits, my atrociously inaccurateโyet extremely common throughout my immediate social circleโBorat accent was beginning to show.
Thankfully, my family is well prepared. โI donโt want to hear the voice,โ my father had explained during one of my lengthy rants on why Borat 2 would be even better than the original.
So, please, go see the movie. It was the first film granted approval for filming amidst COVID-19 restrictions and will absolutely give you a much needed laugh.
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