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by After ten days in the box office, comedy smash Borat has earned more than $67 million in gross ticket sales. Sacha Baron Cohen, known for his previous performances as Ali G, put his movie together from clippings he made under the pretenses of a European documentary to an unwitting cast of characters. Prior to filming, each personality signed a release waiver authorizing their inclusion into the documentary. Realizing now what they were really cast in, many of the "co-stars" have become angry and filed suits. Notably, Dharma Arthur is seeking an apology after losing her job for giving him live air time on her morning show and two of the college boys from the camper scene having filed a lawsuit for being coerced into signing the waivers. His cast members were not the only ones complaining. The government of Kazakhstan was equally displeased by his portrayal of their people and launched public relations campaign to ensure their nation's identity would not be damaged by Cohen's character.
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0 Nerd-Its
greed
First, I haven't seen the movie. Probably never will. But I'll toss in my $.02 - which is really what the lawsuits are about - money. If the movie was a dud...brought in $2M at the box office, these people (and their profiteering lawyers) wouldn't be raising these lawsuits. If I was on that jury, they wouldn't get a penny. They signed a release to be filmed. If they came across as racist sh**heads (speaking specifically of the drunk frat boys), that is their own problem and not the problem of the movie.
I haven't read about the other "cast" members dilemmas. So, I can't comment on those.
0 Nerd-Its
Dumb movie
I love Borat and Ali G and was really looking forward to this film. I was very disappointed. I read a review which summed it up: Borat works great as a 5 minute sketch, not as a full film. It was very funny in parts, don't get me wrong, but I feel like the more money this movie makes, the lower America's collective IQ has become.
What else didn't I like?
-A lot of the people were acting: Pamela Anderson, for example.
-Naked fight scene: gross. I am a guy and a crude one, but come on. Ditto the poop in a bag at the nice dinner.
-Not a part of the movie, but I saw Borat on Letterman and he basically said the same exact lines he used in the film.
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There is no such thing as bad publicity by gheorghe :: NR5 :: Show
While the government of Kazakhstan is understandably angry, the joke was apparently on the villagers of Glod, a dirt-poor village in Romania where the filming of Borat's 'native land' took place. They got paid close to nothing and feel equally cheated.
Did Borat go too far this time? I don't think so, yet I can sympathize with everyone who felt betrayed. Ouch for the person who lost her job. Maybe the government of Romania would actually do something about helping those villagers out with improved infrastructure.
As for the Americans, well, are they offended because they weren't told they were going to be in a movie or are they embarassed of what they actually said? While being on candid camera in some stupid and funny gag is embarassing (see the scene in the antique shop), no one is forcing you to actually say racist things.