It's my final post of 2007 and it should be a momentous one. After all, end of the year thoughts should be all encompassing should they not? Thankfully I have something that will spurn much discussion I think.

Yestereve I watched Borat.

I had put it off for a very long time, not because I didn't want to see it, but because I knew it would be a, shall we say harrowing, experience. I knew the movie would demand a lot of me mentally; it would doubtless offend while simultaneously requiring that I look past my offense to see what was intended and actually being said. It offended less than I thought it would, but required much more of my thought process than anticipated.

The movie did several brilliant things. First of all, it juxtaposed widespread popular culture with academic notions of right and wrong in a way that demonstrated with pinpoint clarity that significant disconnect between what we sell in American society, and what we all "know" to be right and wrong. The best example of this is Baywatch and the Feminist Association of America. When Borat discovers Baywatch we all giggle and don't think too much about it. But when we visits the feminists immediately after that and spouts horrifically offensive things to the women (who do an admirable job of keeping their cool) it becomes incredibly apparent that America is not nearly so equal in gender roles as we like to believe. At least not in what we promote to the culture at large. That wasn't a surprise to me--I think I've ranted on behalf of women everywhere multiple times--but it was a humorous, painful, and enlightening way of depicting the problem to audiences in the movie theatres. This technique was used in other ways as well, racism, classism, most of the -isms. It was well done and I enjoyed it immensely.

Also, this movies shows how dangerous the habit of generalizing is. When you watch people onscreen, oblivious to how they sound or what they are actually saying, promote destructive, hateful, and sometimes just asinine views, you become aware of just how insidious the culture of stereotyping is in our culture. It becomes painfully apparent that every time you say "all women are bad drivers" or "all men are misogynistic" or "all poor people are stupid" or "everyone in the ghetto wants to kill you" that, intentional or not, you are promoting the very bigoted ideas that you might rail against when spouted by someone else. We none of us ever intend to be hurtful or hateful (at least not when we're just being "funny") but we are. We create the problem and encourage its continued existence. And so as I watched the movie I was simultaneously so happy that I had previously realized the danger in not only stereotyping, but in policing my own thoughts and speech to avoid any hint of it, and also emboldened to continue such censorship of myself. I can't shy away from uncomfortable topics or situations, but I can do my best to make sure any conclusions I draw from what I see or hear around me don't generalize a group of people in a such a way that it denies them their individuality; their very humanity.

In these ways the movie was brilliant. And, seeing it in action and having heard people talk about it before and after, I know that others felt the very same things I am saying right now. I know even that some who were unaware of the danger of their generalizing were made more aware of it by the movie. That is encouraging and useful I think. But parts of the movie weren't quite so brilliant.

I think specifically of the places where he asks, not just foreign, but quite literally retarded, and prompts a smile or a "leave me alone" from the people around him. Sometimes those parts were funny in a Dumb and Dumber sort of way, but sometimes the ends most certainly didn't justify the means. I think specifically of one person losing their job after his antics. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for his behavior other than ridiculousness which is funny and harmless, but if someone ends up fired because of it I can only hope some form of compensation was delivered. A joke intended to be harmless should never result in someone's welfare being adversely affected.

Some parts I wasn't sure were necessary seem more pointed now that I have thought on them some more. The scene with Borat and his friend wrestling around naked does wonders for showing us our own fear of the body and discomfort with its forms. It was funny, and disturbing. Some of the horrible things he says show how often we ignore what someone says when we don't agree or think it distasteful. Our need for manners often outweighs our moral indignation. But even that is not clear cut.
When dealing with people who may or may not attack you, it is a matter of safety that you don't react because you may be accosted. In these instances as ridiculous as his speech was I don't see how the people could have reacted much differently. The world is too scary of a place. Also, while we shouldn't necessarily be disgusted by "unattractive" naked bodies, I don't know that I need to see one man's genitals on another's forehead. That could just be personal preference, though.

So the movie left me with much to think about, but feeling better after a good night's sleep then I did immediately after watching it. I'm not sorry I saw it, actually. I'm not even sorry it was made. Whether I see it again remains to be seen. In this case once might definitely be enough.