Religious learnings of Borat for make benefit everyone

 
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Borat is a journalist from Kazakhstan who is assigned by his government to visit America and report on the society and culture so that the Kazakhs can learn from his findings and apply American methods to their own culture. Instead, Borat falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching an episode of Baywatch on his hotel television whilst in New York. He quickly changes his mission from that of fact-finding to wife-finding. The rest of the film follows the ‘adventures’ of Borat and his companions as they cross the USA to California in search of Ms Anderson so that he may take her for his wife in the traditional Kazakh way (i.e. throwing a ‘wedding sack’ over her head and running off with her, which is, admittedly, one of the film’s funnier moments).

Borat is, in fact, a fictional creation of British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen of ‘Ali-G’ fame. Like Ali-G, the whole gag lies in the misunderstandings that can arise from diverse cultures. The film is intended to give the impression that Borat is approaching real live people, but most of those he encounters feel suspiciously like actors. It is well known that Pamela Anderson had made a prior agreement to appear in the film, so it does make one wonder how many of the rest of the cast are just actors pretending to be unsuspecting members of the public.

It all sounds harmless enough though, despite the rather thin plot. But right from the start, unsuspecting viewers will see that they are in for something quite a lot more shocking. From the start of the film there are jokes about rape and incest and, later in the film, a sexual remark (which is far too offensive to call a ‘joke’) about children that was particularly nasty and puerile. But that sums up the whole film, for it is largely nasty and puerile. There are also graphic scenes of male nudity. One scene in particular, in which Borat and his companion are fighting in their hotel room, contained a totally uncalled for level of graphic detail.

This film sets out to outrage and offend from the very beginning and just about succeeds, but only in the same way as a foul mouthed teen on the street corner would just about offend – you might look disapprovingly, perhaps tutting to yourself, and carry on walking past trying not to take any notice.

The film’s critics have accused ‘Borat’ of being anti-Semitic (amongst many other things). But this is a debateable accusation which perhaps misses the point that Cohen appears to be making. Cohen is strongly Jewish himself, and the alleged scenes of anti-Semitism do indeed feel more like an attempt to mock anti-Semites themselves and their irrational dislike for the Jewish people, rather than an attack on the Jews. However, it still makes uncomfortable viewing and I noticed quite a few people shift in their seats at the cinema (or were they just bored, I wonder?).

In the latter part of the story, Borat loses everything: his money, his bear, his ticket home, his passport and his Baywatch book. Hungry and desperate, he walks into a Pentecostal church where the service is in full swing and the congregation are worshipping in the manner for which that particular denomination is famous. I was waiting for Borat to start the usual mocking, as he had done with so many kinds of people across the USA for the entire duration of the film but, instead of the puerile or offensive scatological tirade, came Borat’s conversion. I was amazed: Borat finds Jesus Christ in the USA! The worst Borat does is to call Jesus Christ ‘Mr Jesus’, which is a respectful enough title – especially when one considers the way in which his name is used in other films. So, Borat is saved and his fellow Christians give him a helping hand to get to California. Even better, Borat takes his new found faith with him to his home village, and the entire community are converted to Christianity.

If the film was intended to make viewers feel uncomfortable it gets ten out of ten on that count. But if there was ever good publicity for the Christian faith, this film could well be it, albeit in a surprising and slightly perverse way. I say this because this film has inadvertently shown how anyone can come to know and be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Borat’s life before he came to Christ: he is the son of ‘Boltok the Rapist’ who is also his Grandfather; his sister is the fourth best prostitute in Kazakhstan; his mentally retarded brother is kept in a cage. He welcomed the accidental death of his wife with a ‘high-five’ to the man who broke the news to him, and takes pictures of women on the toilet. He is sexist, homophobic, allegedly anti-Semitic and anti-Uzbek. What a messed up childhood, what a messed up life this man must have had. But Borat comes to Jesus because Jesus has made it known to all that he will welcome everyone no matter what their past, no matter what they have done wrong, no matter what they were like before: ‘whoever comes to me I will never drive away’ (John 6: 37). Sacha Baron-Cohen may still be poking fun at the people he meets but he has ended up showing something profoundly important.

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