Borat 2: Does Sacha Baron Cohen's Satire Break New Ground Or Simply Capitalize On His Privilege? (Spoilers!)

                An episode of The Goldbergs involved brothers Adam and Barry mocking their sister Erica’s love of the boy band, New Kids on The Block.  To ridicule her, they make a video performing one of the band’s songs but end up embarrassing themselves instead.  Rather than being interpreted as a criticism of Erica, their friend describes the video as an accidental “labor of love” instead; given the attention to detail.  They vow not to let it see the light of day, but soon learn a truth that still holds in today’s interconnected world: once something’s out there it’s hard to stop it from spreading.

                To clarify, this post isn’t about The Goldberg’s but rather the message that episode conveyed.  Which is: if not executed correctly, satire can ultimately replicate the problems it’s trying to ridicule.  This usually happens in music; Lorde’s “Royals”, which sounds awfully close to the rap its lyrics seem to disapprove of, or the more on the nose “Stupid Girls” by Pink: the video for which takes shots at women who capitalize off of their sexuality while allowing her to do just that. 

More specifically, the latest installment of Borat from media personality Sacha Baron Cohen takes aim at the lunacy of Trump’s America.  However, in doing so the actors also take advantage of privileges that come with being white journalists, thus creating a blind spot in their experiment.  Further, the film doesn’t say anything new about our society, alternates between candid and scripted and overall isn’t very funny.  In short, Borat 2: Subsequent Movie film has been massively overhyped.

For starters, something I couldn’t stop wondering throughout the movie is whether Cohen and Maria Bakalova (who plays Borat’s daughter) would’ve gotten as far into the skits as they did if they were black.  Granted, this issue doesn’t start and end with Borat 2.  I’ve long since realized that investigative journalism is a career that lends itself greatly to white people, given that humans respond more favorably to them.  But in the days before watching the film, I kept hearing about how “brave” the actors were.  So, it’s only logical that I’d be skeptical about such claims and question how much their actions were driven by bravery, as opposed to existing in bodies that allowed them to behave so liberally.

Further, Borat 2 doesn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of its critique of our morality.  Following my previous point, the notion that people will generally drop their guard, become agreeable or project innocence onto those they find attractive, as is the case with Tutar (Bakalova), is not exactly groundbreaking.  I’d even argue that shows like What Would You Do? address this better.  Further, we know humans will ignore their morals or, at least, not openly confront bigotry when profit is at stake: it’s called capitalism and it’s not a “rural America” problem, it’s an Earth problem.  So, given that the scenes where Cohen is trying to highlight people’s complicity when faced with Borat’s bigoted and sexist comments also involve him making big purchases (e.g., a cage, breast implants), the message is severely diluted. 

Additionally, the credibility of the people’s reactions to Borat and Tutar’s behavior overall is questionable, given they alternate between what seems to be scenes where the subject was let in on the joke beforehand and scenes where they are not.  While it’s hard to tell which parts were 100% percent candid, it’s safe to assume the scenes where the truck driver is helping Borat nail Tutar back into the box had at least some offscreen prior communication between the participants.  This wouldn’t be a problem if this method of humor was consistent.  But given the film’s implied purpose--to magnify the politics of Trump’s America--I’m left confused about which skits I’m supposed to take at face value and which, such as the part with the elder women in the church, were scripted.  Even the scenes with Giuliani may not have been as “random” as most reviewers have been insisting.  Granted, I never saw the first Borat.  Though, if it suffers from this same identity crisis then I’m not missing much.

Also concerning was the emotional support role that the black woman fell into towards the end.  Admittedly, I’ve become increasingly sensitive about the depth of contribution the black characters provide in shows/films.  But I couldn’t help but find the scenes where Jeanise was advising Tutar on marriage triggering; especially given that marriage and dating is an area white women should be giving black women free advice in, not the other way around.  In other words, watching Jeanise and Tutar’s exchange was as cringe as watching a homeless person console a wealthy person over the loss of their iPhone. 

Finally, Borat 2 simply wasn’t that funny.  I’d heard so much about how hilarious the first one was, so I had high expectations.  But other than a few occasional laughs, such as Borat telling the man at the debutante ball “You my best friend” or the crunchy VHS like footage of the parade at the end, I didn’t find myself amused.  Indeed, maybe I wasn’t drunk enough.

Overall, Borat 2 effectively infiltrates and highlights the county fair culture that permeates rural America.  However, in doing so it also falls into a pit common to most satire.  And that is: blending in so well with the subjects being criticized that viewers can’t help but notice the investigators’ inherent privilege to do so, and to an extent legitimizing said behavior by participating in it.  I mean, if a cop goes undercover to catch a killer but ends up killing five civilians in the process, was “justice” really served?

Maybe satire of the future should try to engineer in consequences.  As in, those being mocked don’t accidentally gain a new ally, as did hardcore conspiracists Jerry and Jim, who housed Borat for a few days. 

Borat 2 is on Amazon Prime and I suggest you watch it for yourself and not take my concerns as gospel.  With that said, thanks for reading and stay pissed.