Watching Sacha Baron Cohen

[William Weiler]

He is currently popular so I have been watching interviews of him not in character.

I am not as bad. Honestly I am not.

Enfant Terrible: Enfant terrible - Wikipedia

My 11yr old son was on a zoom course. He said he put his phone on airplane mode and it flew away. The teacher and class said they didn't think that is what it does. I intervened and said his humor is deadpan, and they began to slowly start laughing. He wasn't going to tell them he was kidding. I am kind of happy he is like me, also kind of "what have I done having a kid".

Just kidding, he is a great kid, and really good to his friends, just like Cohen.

 

[Meistersinger]

Sacha is about as funny, in my not so humble opinion, as a conlonoscopy (and I’ve been through several of those procedures, as colon cancer runs on my father’s side of the family.)

 

[Rectify]

He is currently popular so I have been watching interviews of him not in character.

I am not as bad. Honestly I am not.

Enfant Terrible: Enfant terrible - Wikipedia

My 11yr old son was on a zoom course. He said he put his phone on airplane mode and it flew away. The teacher and class said they didn't think that is what it does. I intervened and said his humor is deadpan, and they began to slowly start laughing. He wasn't going to tell them he was kidding. I am kind of happy he is like me, also kind of "what have I done having a kid".

Just kidding, he is a great kid, and really good to his friends, just like Cohen.

I found your post hard to understand. Whether you were talking about Cohen, yourself, your son.
Cohen's shows are very difficult for me to watch. I don't like the way he puts people in such awkward positions. I myself feel uncomfortable. Yet, I still laugh sometimes - sometimes it's really funny I can't help it. Tbc I don't watch them myself (although I think more than a decade ago I may have gone to see one of his movies, I can't remember) but my kids have watched and so I end up seeing some.

 

[MrSpock]

I just watched Subsequent Moviefilm last night, and it was hilarious. I've not always enjoyed his stuff, but I'm currently downloading the first Borat now, since the second was so enjoyable.

I remember very little of the one colonoscopy I've had, and it was not at all entertaining. But then I've not watched it... should ask my doctor if he's got it on video.

 

[William Weiler]

I was commenting about his style of comedy and why he does it as a person. I think he is funny. Many people don't. Even established comedians find his humor cruel. Some people find it a breathe a fresh air. I kind of just see it as it is and want to know more about why he does it. What makes him want to do it? He cares deeply about his friends, he is a really good actor, and very professional in his work. He has compassion for the people he fools. He wants to expose their foolishness and their humanity.

I like to compare him to the firm Muddy Waters, run by an incredibly interesting person. An elite wall street financial wizard. He was offended by the duplicity of what he saw, all the dishonesty. His firm researches companies that are frauds. He shorts the stock then makes his report public. This can be seen as profiteering. But he is always right. He uses the same tools everyone else uses, but the net result is fraud is exposed. Strangely, this protects and warns other investors (i.e. your pension fund). He exposed 400 billion in Chinese fraud listed on the US stock exchange. There was even a documentary. Is he a good guy? He makes a ton of money.

I think Cohen is similar. He hates dishonesty. In this case he hates racism and anti-semitism. He exposes it as silly and counter productive, while often showing the people as kind in other ways. Is he a good guy? He is clearly hurting people. So why do it? Why just do a more traditional hollywood production? He is clearly talented enough. See his acting in the trial of the chicago 7.

I don't know if these guys are good guys. but I follow their careers and watch what they do.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I'm annoyed that he made another Borat movie. A couple years ago, I watched a documentary on PBS about how he and his brother had to apologize to the nation of Kazakhstan. They put on a symphony performance, did long speeches, everything. Now I can see it was all insincere.

 

[WildCat]

...He wants to expose their foolishness and their humanity....

That's the entire point. He's a real life troll with a Hollywood budget behind him.

I definitely want to watch it since it's been so long between this and his last film.

 

[Rectify]

I think he is funny

I do also, but he's not funny in a way that I'm entirely comfortable with. I would agree with those that say it's a cruel humour.

He has compassion for the people he fools. He wants to expose their foolishness and their humanity.

These two sentences seem to go against one another. He doesn't seem very compassionate but I can see that he does want to expose people.

he is a really good actor

Absolutely. He's exceptionally talented.

 

[Sara3]

I don't agree wirh everything he does, but I have to admit he's very brave.

 

[GadAbout]

Oh hell. I'm not so autistic that I can't be amused to pieces by the guy. He sure cracks me up. Loved the most recent moviefilm.

Let's face it, we live in tough times right now. And here was this laugh-fest delivered right to my home. 7 thumbs up!

 

[MrSpock]

A lot of people want to change the world. Many of those who are really serious take to politics. Elon is running businesses so he can engineer a different future. Some people use comedy not just to make people laugh, but to change how the audience sees things.

Political change, even done well, usually affects some people badly. For example, I think that the rich ought to pay a larger percentage of their income than the poor, if that were to happen it wouldn't be great for the rich. I doubt that Boeing or Ford are so very happy with Elon's success.

So a few people's feelings get hurt when Borat (Cohen) makes fun of them. For the most part they're deserving of it, and society ought to see them as ridiculous.

Is he a good guy? He is clearly hurting people. So why do it? Why just do a more traditional hollywood production?

He 'hurts' people by making fun of them. The racism etc. that he makes fun of in those people is more hurtful, sure he's a good guy for fighting that. He's not making standard Hollywood comedy movies that say nothing because he's got something to say, and the world is a better place if we listen.

A big exception to the above is Kazakhstan. I guess Borat had to be from somewhere, and it seems to me that he goes so overboard that it ought to be obvious that Kazakhstan isn't really like that, even metaphorically. He creates his own character as being from such a background so that when that character makes someone else look bad, they look really bad. I wasn't aware that he'd apologized to Kazakhstan, so googled (Binged, really) Borat Kazakhstan apology. I saw enough to realize that Kazakhstan appears to have gotten over it...
'Very niiice!': Kazakhstan adopts Borat's catchphrase for tourism campaign | Daily Mail Online

 

[Autistic Yoda]

Kazakhstan isn't really like that, even metaphorically.

It was interesting to learn what Kazakhstan actually is, because my second wife (Vika) grew up there. Their main exports are not in fact 'potassium and pubis', but fossil fuels. And they're good at it. They're been incredibly classy as their nation has been so randomly and harshly parodied by Baron Cohen. Getting angry wouldn't have helped anyhow.

Most of Vika's classmates in Almaty (the capital, featured in the film) were pressured to leave Kazakhstan at a young age to live abroad, since they had no proper future in their own country of birth. Why? I doubt you could guess.

In U.S.S.R., government chooses you. Vika's ancestors were bourgeois business owners in Soviet Russia, considered a punishable offense. They weren't sent to gulag, but they were 'relocated' to Kazakhstan, where ethnic Russians have never belonged. The Kazakh people are not in fact Caucasian primitives, but of Asian appearance and moderately Islamic. Once the U.S.S.R. collapsed, the Kazakh people (no longer forced to be Soviets) began making aggressive moves to reclaim their country. Slavs (Russians) became undesirables, and the national language switched from Russian back to Kazakh. Young Kazakh citizens of Russian ethnicity quickly understood it was their time to leave for greener pastures abroad.

 

[SusanLR]

I really get laughs from the Borat movies.

So a few people's feelings get hurt when Borat (Cohen) makes fun of them. For the most part they're deserving of it, and society ought to see them as ridiculous

and that's exactly why they are so funny.

Everytime I hear this song, I think of Borat:

 

[Rectify]

It was interesting to learn what Kazakhstan actually is...

I also have family from there and it looks really beautiful there. I saw pictures last year and it was weird for me to remember 'ah, that's where Borat was (supposedly) from.'

 

[Aspergers_Aspie]

Read Sacha Baron Cohen's scathing attack on Facebook in full: 'greatest propaganda machine in history'

 

[William Weiler]

Watch out for articles full of hyperbole that seek to fire you up. The biggest threat is all or nothing thinking. This thing is all good, that person is all bad. The truth is actually boring and bland. If it doesn't lead to any action on your part, you just let someone work you up for nothing. Also, don't start screaming at people they need to do something. Don't read articles about what the government, or the fed, or anything, needs to do. They are just nothing burgers articles. These are only entertainment and see it as such. If you want to take action, you have to go and do from a completely different place.

I saw an interview of Cohen. I don't have an opinion, he is interesting and I watch what people say. That's it. I don't have a value judgement. He is Autistic. I don't see otherwise. Everything is there. He constantly puts his foot in his mouth, he is unfiltered. Behind the scenes he is a savant. Like it or not, what he does is insanely difficult to pull off, it is also dangerous. He talks about how he make his actors and actresses safe. (they are adults, he is not tricking or exploiting them).

 

[Aspergers_Aspie]

Sorry for offending or upsetting you

 

[William Weiler]

Noooooo, I read the article. Some reason I thought I would soapbox, but not to you personally. I was offended the other day here, and then had an epiphany, this is the Autism forum. I then answered the question. He just was putting it that way

Wow, I did it to. You posted a link and then I responded to everyone else but you. That is next level social awkward. I have surpassed myself

(I will check my profile for my badge!)

 

[William Weiler]

I want to respond to some posts. I really like the speculation. I think people were clearly offended, then realized it was out of their control. Suddenly instead of being the butt of jokes (who here thinks Borat is real and believes what there is really a running of the jews?) the tourism to Kazakastan is going up, not what they thought. So they had a choice, continue screaming about something that wasn't happening, or maybe accept it and maybe amp it up a little for their country? I think people with hotels, travel agents, bus drivers and locals selling food and trinkets kind of liked it. Some liked these people different than them, it was exciting and refreshing. I doubt the politicians liked it, but hey, it is there job to help their constituents. They can call him an asshole to each other.

It is at the heart of defamation law. You can only slander someone if it is believable. If someone says I like to have sex with bacteria, people will laugh, but I can't convince a judge anyone took it seriously enough to hurt my reputation.