Despite my repeated insistance that I would not be seeing Borat this weekend, come Saturday night (back row center at the Vista) there I was. I hadn’t planned on seeing it, at least not before the death rattle could be heard, but the people who invited me are always very fun. Verdict? It was quite funny and entertaining, but not the sort of life-changing funny that people have been preaching on high. And it’s not that I dislike SBC, I loved his show and at one point I was eagerly anticipating the release of this film like everyone else, it’s just that I’m getting increasingly irritated with people that like him too much. It happens every time a character or plot so pathetic and awkward comes around, that we, as a nation, tend to start foaming at the mouth and hug it so hard we kill it. An in the tech-savvy age we live in, it’s become impossible not to be bombarded with hype.
Perhaps it’s not the media hype that I find so grating – perhaps it’s all because everyone thinks it is the most hilarous thing to incorporate Borat’s accent and mannerisms into their conversations. You can’t go anywhere without having to overhear some misguided and painfully unfunny soul botching an impression. Or someone talking about how Borat duped them. Or those wacky radio guys with their wacky morning radio show doing a wacky Borat bit every ten minutes. It’s a possibility that you’re wondering why I am so cranky. I’ve been thinking about that too, and I have come to the conclusion that my sense of humor has evolved into something much greater than anything I have access to, and until people catch up to me, I will have to remain irritated by middle America ruining everything.
(Or maybe I’m just jealous of the fact that my friend Chris H. and I were doing this years ago in college, and never capitalized on it. If you ever run into a guy named Jafky, just play along. I’ll just be over here binge drinking, dreaming about how much money/fame/exotic animals I could totally have by now.)
