Can't he make fun of white, straight jews for a change.

No.

In a way, 'Borat's saving grace (and w/o it, he'd be I think the most pathologically 'bad' of Cohen's characters) is that he DOES diss white people (and Jews) by bluntly telling them, 'this is what you think of Arabs, admit it'. If Borat was white--doing those things, he'd be punched. Borat is then the condescending side of the Burroughs poem about the 'white man's burden.' Those who believe they are being patient to withstand Borat's backwardness are really voicing their inner or latent racism against Arabs. We see it all happen from the camera, and we know that Cohen is really a cool Jew, so we look down on the whities ourselves.

With my full approval, and loud laughter, I must add.

and re: your subject line, Ali G is NOT really black (even 90 yo Andy Rooney noted that), he just thinks he is. That's the joke there, again, at the expense of white people.

Yes, but he is making fun of black culture.

No, he's making fun of white guys who go out of their way to imitate black culture.

Cohen never really makes fun of blacks, muslims, or gays. He always makes fun of safe targets like poor southern Christians.

Cady:

Cohen never really makes fun of blacks, muslims, or gays. He always makes fun of safe targets like poor southern Christians.

Bingo. Cohen thinks nothing of walking into the lives of middle America to show us all how dumb them rednecks are. But he wouldn't dream of pulling that stuff in the black ghettos.

I'm pretty sure Borat did have a scene in da 'hood. Don't you remember it? What all those with hurt feelings regarding Cohen's humour don't seem to realize is that is exactly his intention. His target is those who take themselves too seriously; those who are easily offended. If you are offended (ahem..Mr. Eminem) you have put yourself in that position.

Somewhere recently I heard Cohen described as today's Andy Kaufman. I'm not exactly sure what to call such people. Not exactly comedians. They are mean, sometimes funny, sometimes not. There aren't so many people who can get away with the stuff they do so, and they rarely get away with it for very long. I guess we can appreciate a rare talent when it appears, whether or not we personally find it entertaining. (I think maybe Tom Green, in his prime, was in a similar vein).

B-sharp! It's STILL not really cool for 'Tom Green to hump a dead moose'! That's low, saying Eminem has thin skin and in talent compares disfavorably to Tom Green. Em was definetly IN on the Bruno gag--just as much as Pam Anderson was in the Borat film. Props fot the Andy Kaufman reference though. Maybe 'performance artist' is the phrase you were looking for. ?

bsharporflat:

I'm pretty sure Borat did have a scene in da 'hood. Don't you remember it? What all those with hurt feelings regarding Cohen's humour don't seem to realize is that is exactly his intention. His target is those who take themselves too seriously; those who are easily offended. If you are offended (ahem..Mr. Eminem) you have put yourself in that position.

Somewhere recently I heard Cohen described as today's Andy Kaufman. I'm not exactly sure what to call such people. Not exactly comedians. They are mean, sometimes funny, sometimes not. There aren't so many people who can get away with the stuff they do so, and they rarely get away with it for very long. I guess we can appreciate a rare talent when it appears, whether or not we personally find it entertaining. (I think maybe Tom Green, in his prime, was in a similar vein).

Absolutely - Lenny Bruce paved the way for Andy Kaufman ( and Richard Pryor, too) - AK set the stage for SBC.

The comedy of provocation.

Badbone:

Cady:

Cohen never really makes fun of blacks, muslims, or gays. He always makes fun of safe targets like poor southern Christians.

Bingo. Cohen thinks nothing of walking into the lives of middle America to show us all how dumb them rednecks are. But he wouldn't dream of pulling that stuff in the black ghettos.

Wrong. As another poster pointed out- I do recall Borat had a scene in the "hood", too. Not only that, but the new movie has a scene with Israelis and Palestinians where SBC is goofing on them.

You could argue, maybe, that SBC picks on middle-American types disproportionately - but certainly not exclusively.

No, he's making fun of white guys who go out of their way to imitate black culture.

A little hard to tell the difference sometimes. I think his appeal is based on making fag and nigger jokes acceptable. "I'm not laughing because that's how black people act, I'm laughing because that's how white people react..." OoohKaaaaaaay.

this is becoming like a Cohen bit itself.

ALI G IS NOT BLACK!!

Slim, well, yeah, Eminem was probably in on the joke, but....he did an awfully good acting job. Not sure why he'd agree to do something that made him look so bad and silly/immature.

Person, Lenny Bruce as a springboard for Richard Pryor I can buy but not Andy Kaufman. Lenny Bruce was funny. Andy Kaufman considered it a successful show when he managed to clear the entire audience from their seats before he finished. Lenny Bruce may have alienated The Establishment but not his own audience. I'm not sure who can quite compare to Andy Kaufman in that.