Sacha Baron Cohen is one of the most controversial and revolutionary comedians around, and few examples of his work better illustrate his range than his character Borat, a Kazakhstani reporter whose offensive beliefs trick many Americans into confessing similar biases. Cohen trained to be a clown at the prestigious Ecole Philippe Gaulier theater program in Paris, studying directly under the school's master-clown and founder.
In 2006, he released the film Borat, playing the part of the titular character traveling through the US and exposing unseemly attitudes with his buffoonish antics. The recent sequel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, involves him doing the same in 2020 while accompanied by the actress Maria Bakalova who plays his daughter as he tries to marry her off, first to Mike Pence and then to Rudy Giuliani. These movies are controversial, but they are also unforgettable.
Original: Kazakhstan National Anthem
Part of the brilliance of Borat (and of Sacha Baron Cohen) is the ability to comment on real-life by exposing the extremities of real people, such as when he attends a rodeo show. Here, a man espouses violent Islamophobic and homophobic opinions in front of the camera, advocating for the mass execution of minorities. With this encounter fresh in his mind, Cohen stands in the ring before the entire crowded stadium. He praises the US’s “war of terror” and advocates for George W. Bush to “drink the blood of every single man, woman, and child of Iraq”—both statements which are greeted with roaring cheers.
Then he begins singing lyrics to his own made-up version of the Kazakhstan National Anthem…to the tune of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” The angry crowd erupts in screams of fury. This was at the height of nationalistic fervor in the post-9/11 political landscape and it is genuinely a surprise that Sacha Baron Cohen got out of there in one piece. That said, exposing such widespread vitriol is commendable.
Sequel: CPAC
A large part of the film’s plot involves a scheme where Borat tries to marry his daughter off to Vice President Mike Pence. Here, the fictional story of the film intersects with real-life when Sacha Baron Cohen attends the Conservative Political Action Convention dressed as Donald Trump—the one person Pence is likely to let get close to.
He begins shouting at Pence in a crowded room, trying to get the VP’s attention. It does not take long until he is escorted away by security. Even as he is led out, he continues to shout at the stage.
Original: Shopping for Guns
The United States is famous for its gun culture. When Sacha Baron Cohen goes into a gun shop, he asks the clerk for the best gun to defend himself against Jewish people. The clerk suggests either buying a .45 or a 9mm handgun.
Since Borat claims not to be a citizen, he is told he cannot purchase a gun. So, he buys a bear. He even drives around with it in an ice cream truck. When children come running up for ice cream, they are greeted by the roaring predator baring its teeth.
Sequel: Traditional Dance
When Borat and his daughter Tutar attend a debutante ball, they decide to have a father-daughter dance in front of the guests. A father-daughter fertility dance. Needless to say, the very conservative, aristocratic, and opulently formal gathering of a debutante ball is not exactly the sort of setting where such behavior is welcome.
This very graphic display horrifies the guests in attendance, not least of all because of the specific time of certain biological functions revealed in the dance.
Original: The Running
Antisemitism is a real-world issue that Sacha Baron Cohen has worked to address and expose through his humor. He has regularly exposed American antisemitism by playing the character of Borat who has a strong dislike of Jewish people and culture.
The Running of the Jew is a fictional event in the film’s version of Kazakhstan, similar to the Running of the Bulls in Spain. The film ends by subverting the trope. In the sequel, there is a brilliant callback to this that critiques Americans who refuse to wear masks that will keep them safe from Covid: the Running of the Americans.
Sequel: Alt-Right Rally
In a throwback to the singing of the National Anthem in the first film, Cohen dresses as a stereotypical American from the Rust Belt and attends a rally for the alt-right. He begins singing a hateful song advocating for violence against Dr. Anthony Fauci, which the crowd cheers for and sings along with.
When Cohen begins singing racist lyrics, the crowd sings along. However, many people also supposedly booed this racism and drove him off stage in real life, something the film does not show.
Original: Car Shopping
When Cohen goes to a car dealership, he tells the dealer he wants a car that will attract women of a particular nature. The salesman tells him either to buy a Corvette or a Hummer.
Cohen also asks how much damage a Hummer will take if he tries to kill a group of Roma with it and what speeds the car would need to achieve to kill them. The car salesman actually answers these questions honestly.
Sequel: Cage Shopping
If the first Borat film is a commentary on antisemitism, homophobia, and American nationalism, its sequel explores other issues: notably Trump’s inner circle, the United States Covid response, and (most significantly) attitudes toward women.
One of the funniest scenes in the sequel involves Tutar and Borat shopping for a cage for Tutar to live in. The clerk seems cooperative enough that he is likely an actor, but that does not make it any less comical as the film seems to comment on the metaphorical cages women are forced into in real life.
Original: Introduction to New York
This part of the early film is simultaneously uncomfortably problematic and brilliantly hilarious. At different points during his time in New York, Borat tries to introduce himself to strangers on the street and in the subway, many of whom react with hostility, and at least one of whom runs away.
He washes his face in the toilet of his hotel room, washes his laundry in a public lake, and tries outracing a bus. In one scene, he even defecates outside in front of the Trump Tower.
Sequel: Rudy Giuliani
This scene has become infamous. In the plot of the film, Borat tries to marry his daughter Tatar off to Rudy Giuliani (having failed to reach Mike Pence). Tutar conducts an interview with Giuliani, flirting with him.
In real life, the two entered into a bedroom together and Giuliani reached into the front of his pants (though he has denied that he was doing anything explicit). The actress who plays Tutar, Maria Bakalova, has stated that Giuliani revealed his “true colors” and is “responsible for [his]…decisions,” but that she did fear reprisals afterward. The scene ends with Sacha bursting in, yelling at Giuliani not to sleep with Tutar as she is fifteen and therefore too old for him. (In real life, Bakalova is in her 20s).