i don't understand why people are hinging the success of this film on it's 'realness.'
Seriously. The fact is, the film made me laugh harder than any other film in recent memory. I went in with very high expectations and, though it perhaps didn't hit as hard as I'd hoped, the few scenes that did kill me left me more than satisfied. The wrestling scene could make you lose your insides on the floor.
And when he comes downstairs with the baggie of poo?
"Where should I put this?" "So the host wipes the guest's anus?"
But getting back to your original suggestion: If it's revealed that the entire movie was scripted and, thus, is "not funny," what will happen to the two hours i spent laughing on friday? retroactive frowning?
I think the best humor stems from confusion of reality. The fact that you even have to ask "is this real?" says to me that Cohen & co. suceeded.
Walking in w/ high expectations, I was a bit disappointed. Sasha Baron Cohen is at his incisive best when he elicits ignorant responses from interviewees, such as the rodeo cowboy or rv frat boys. However, a lot of the crude slapstick humour was clearly aimed at the adolescent male market. Nothing wrong with that, I find that funny too, but I also know SBC's acerbic wit can be capable of much more.
The interviews do rehash a lot of ground covered by the tv shows. Obviously it won't invoke the same reaction as intially experienced.
If you aren't familiar w/ SBC's work, go see it. If you are, then perhaps moderate your expectations. Try to avoid the trailers, they give away a lot of the best bits.
The San Francisco Chronicle had a short blurb about some of his stunts making the Borat movie on this topic. It said that the rodeo scene and the end of the naked fight scene when they burst into the convention were real. They said that the Rodeo actually got real hectic but they didn't have the cameras on for some reason. The crowd turned on him more than just booing when he sang the fake national anthem to the tune of the U.S. anthem. The paper said that a bunch of angry people surrounded his van afterwards and wanted to call the cops on him and get him arrested for singing!
The San Francisco Chronicle had a short blurb about some of his stunts making the Borat movie on this topic. It said that the rodeo scene and the end of the naked fight scene when they burst into the convention were real. They said that the Rodeo actually got real hectic but they didn't have the cameras on for some reason. The crowd turned on him more than just booing when he sang the fake national anthem to the tune of the U.S. anthem. The paper said that a bunch of angry people surrounded his van afterwards and wanted to call the cops on him and get him arrested for singing!
Apparently he got arrested at least once while making this movie. Rumor has it he stayed in character while in custody...
The San Francisco Chronicle had a short blurb about some of his stunts making the Borat movie on this topic. It said that the rodeo scene and the end of the naked fight scene when they burst into the convention were real. They said that the Rodeo actually got real hectic but they didn't have the cameras on for some reason. The crowd turned on him more than just booing when he sang the fake national anthem to the tune of the U.S. anthem. The paper said that a bunch of angry people surrounded his van afterwards and wanted to call the cops on him and get him arrested for singing!
Apparently he got arrested at least once while making this movie. Rumor has it he stayed in character while in custody...
The same article in the SF Chronicle said that he stayed in character all the time because that was the way he got out of a lot his messes. The article even said that he'd been questioned by the FBI more than once after suspicious people reported him!
I just found the article:
INDUSTRY BUZZ
Hugh Hart
Sunday, November 5, 2006
Sacha Baron Cohen is the star of "'Borat: Cultural Learni...
* Printable Version * Email This Article
Entertainment entertainment links
Everybody Loves Sacha: Jay Roach has directed some big comedies, including the "Austin Powers" films and "Meet the Parents" and its sequel, but he's never seen anyone quite like Sacha Baron Cohen. Roach produced "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," in which the British actor poses as a racist, misogynist TV reporter "interviewing" real people in a cross-country tour of the United States. Cohen stayed in character during filming and has continued to play the part offscreen at press events in Cannes, Toronto, Washington, Los Angeles and London.
"I actually think what Sacha is doing is actually pretty new," Roach says by phone from London, where he watched Cohen, as Borat, entertain the crowd at the film's premiere. "Last night I thought people might say, 'OK, snap out of it,' but the opposite is true. People love Sacha in character as Borat. They enjoy getting sucked into that willing suspension of disbelief."
While making the film, Roach says, Cohen really couldn't break character.
"He can't be discovered as being an actor before or after the camera is rolling," he says. "He'd show up with the tiny crew in a car, put on his makeup and he gets one take at it. He's injecting himself into these sometimes dangerous situations, where breaking character could actually lead to personal injury or arrest."
But staying in character also caused problems. When Cohen/Borat ran naked into a meeting of insurance brokers at a Phoenix conference hall, he was forcibly evicted. In New York, two "Borat" crew members spent the night in jail over a snafu regarding some misplaced hotel property. On more than one occasion, Cohen and crew were tracked by the FBI after suspicious citizens alerted authorities.
And then there was the rodeo fiasco in Virginia, where Cohen sang ridiculous lyrics to the tune of the national anthem in front of a crowd of 10,000 people.
"They were literally chased from that arena," Roach says. "I'm only sad the cameras weren't running because I was told they were surrounded in their bus by guys on horseback who were determined to keep them there until the police arrived. Borat did manage to get away, but that gives you a sense of how wrong that situation could have gone."
Roach, who describes Cohen as a courteous, intelligent collaborator when not in character, sees the Borat phenomenon as a taboo-busting "high-wire act."
"Suspense, anxiety and danger are actually underestimated aspects of comedy, and Sacha's throwing them all in. On top of the comedic power of the performance, I enjoy the sense that Borat is wandering amongst us, holding a mirror up to these subtle attitudes deeply cloaked nowadays in terms of people's prejudices and hypocrisies. Without being particularly preachy, he's able to expose some very problematic attitudes in our culture. To have a guy make you laugh that hard but then you walk out of the theater arguing about what the message is, I think that's pretty cool." >>
But getting back to your original suggestion: If it's revealed that the entire movie was scripted and, thus, is "not funny," what will happen to the two hours i spent laughing on friday? retroactive frowning?
I think the best humor stems from confusion of reality. The fact that you even have to ask "is this real?" says to me that Cohen & co. suceeded.
Lots of my laughing was based on the assumption that he was blending reality and fiction; i'm under no illusions that this film didn't have plenty of scripted moments, but the whole time as a viewer I DO wonder who is in on the joke and who isn't. The film clearly plays with the whole real/fake dichotomy and part of what I was laughing at is the notion that people don't realize whats going on, that what makes the frat boys shocking is that they think their offensive opinions are safe, etc. I think its a mistake to just assume that it makes no difference whether or not a scene is 'real' - he's clearly playing off of that tension, or he would just hire actors. (In other words I agree with your last sentence, which I don't think contradicts what I said upthread!)
Ok so I just saw this last night and IMO this shit looked terrible.
Most, if not all (save for the Rodeo stuff) looked staged, and not even well staged. The scene with the Frat boys was the most obvious case of actors faking that they were documentary subjects I've seen since the last porno I watched. Seriously, having multiple cameras and pre mic'd subjects is an insult to everyone???s intelligence.
and what???s so funny about fake reality? The reason Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno is so interesting is because he takes real people and uses these extreme characters to get actions and reactions.
I'm not with the dumbed down version of Borat put on the real screen. This shit had all the real life humor of a WWE wrestling match.
Ok so I just saw this last night and IMO this shit looked terrible.
Most, if not all (save for the Rodeo stuff) looked staged, and not even well staged. The scene with the Frat boys was the most obvious case of actors faking that they were documentary subjects I've seen since the last porno I watched. Seriously, having multiple cameras and pre mic'd subjects is an insult to everyone???s intelligence.
and what???s so funny about fake reality? The reason Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno is so interesting is because he takes real people and uses these extreme characters to get actions and reactions.
I'm not with the dumbed down version of Borat put on the real screen. This shit had all the real life humor of a WWE wrestling match.
This whole post kind of reminds me of when a guy who makes beats critiques a (much better) producer:
"yo those loops are choppy, plus I used that sample like years ago, and if you really know about production and equipment that stuff isn't hard at all to do, I mean maybe it could fool someone who doesn't know how to make beats but I can see right through."
Ok so I just saw this last night and IMO this shit looked terrible.
Most, if not all (save for the Rodeo stuff) looked staged, and not even well staged. The scene with the Frat boys was the most obvious case of actors faking that they were documentary subjects I've seen since the last porno I watched. Seriously, having multiple cameras and pre mic'd subjects is an insult to everyone???s intelligence.
and what???s so funny about fake reality? The reason Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno is so interesting is because he takes real people and uses these extreme characters to get actions and reactions.
I'm not with the dumbed down version of Borat put on the real screen. This shit had all the real life humor of a WWE wrestling match.
This whole post kind of reminds me of when a guy who makes beats critiques a (much better) producer:
"yo those loops are choppy, plus I used that sample like years ago, and if you really know about production and equipment that stuff isn't hard at all to do, I mean maybe it could fool someone who doesn't know how to make beats but I can see right through."
How are people hating on this movie?
I'm patiently awaiting the "Bruno" follow up. TRAIN TO AUSCHWITZ!!!!
Ok so I just saw this last night and IMO this shit looked terrible.
Most, if not all (save for the Rodeo stuff) looked staged, and not even well staged. The scene with the Frat boys was the most obvious case of actors faking that they were documentary subjects I've seen since the last porno I watched. Seriously, having multiple cameras and pre mic'd subjects is an insult to everyone???s intelligence.
and what???s so funny about fake reality? The reason Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno is so interesting is because he takes real people and uses these extreme characters to get actions and reactions.
I'm not with the dumbed down version of Borat put on the real screen. This shit had all the real life humor of a WWE wrestling match.
This whole post kind of reminds me of when a guy who makes beats critiques a (much better) producer:
"yo those loops are choppy, plus I used that sample like years ago, and if you really know about production and equipment that stuff isn't hard at all to do, I mean maybe it could fool someone who doesn't know how to make beats but I can see right through."
you're telling me that the element of reality on the Ali G program didn't contribute to making it funny?
Had Newt Gingrich, C.Everett Koop or anyone else he interviewed known he was a character actor and they were invovled in a skit would it have been funny to you?
paying a bunch of actors to portray "real characters" to react off of another paid "real character" is pure WWE-style theater.
The movie would have been good if it was done with the same unsuspecting person element he used on his show.
but this is just my opinion, if you're amused by falsely portrayed, scripted "reality" than more power to you.
Ok so I just saw this last night and IMO this shit looked terrible.
Most, if not all (save for the Rodeo stuff) looked staged, and not even well staged. The scene with the Frat boys was the most obvious case of actors faking that they were documentary subjects I've seen since the last porno I watched. Seriously, having multiple cameras and pre mic'd subjects is an insult to everyone???s intelligence.
and what???s so funny about fake reality? The reason Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno is so interesting is because he takes real people and uses these extreme characters to get actions and reactions.
I'm not with the dumbed down version of Borat put on the real screen. This shit had all the real life humor of a WWE wrestling match.
The frat boys were real. One of them gave an interview about being duped. The producers took the boys to a bar and were buying them beers and then asked them to go pick up the kazakh reporter that they were following around. so the boys said yes, and thats how borat got in there.
the prostitute was an actress who's been in other movies, but her showing up to the dinner party was obviously real. the car salesman was real. the gun salesman was real. its all over the web.
I agree w/ guzzo's argument re: real being funnier, he's just wrong that all that shit was staged - the reason the frat boys were mic'd was because they knew they were going to be on TV - no one claimed it was 'hidden cameras,' they thought they were on foreign television. There's been some big article about how lots of people portrayed in the film didn't realize/were embarrassed by how they were portrayed.
Ok so I just saw this last night and IMO this shit looked terrible.
Most, if not all (save for the Rodeo stuff) looked staged, and not even well staged. The scene with the Frat boys was the most obvious case of actors faking that they were documentary subjects I've seen since the last porno I watched. Seriously, having multiple cameras and pre mic'd subjects is an insult to everyone???s intelligence.
and what???s so funny about fake reality? The reason Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno is so interesting is because he takes real people and uses these extreme characters to get actions and reactions.
I'm not with the dumbed down version of Borat put on the real screen. This shit had all the real life humor of a WWE wrestling match.
This whole post kind of reminds me of when a guy who makes beats critiques a (much better) producer:
"yo those loops are choppy, plus I used that sample like years ago, and if you really know about production and equipment that stuff isn't hard at all to do, I mean maybe it could fool someone who doesn't know how to make beats but I can see right through."
you're telling me that the element of reality on the Ali G program didn't contribute to making it funny?
Had Newt Gingrich, C.Everett Koop or anyone else he interviewed known he was a character actor and they were invovled in a skit would it have been funny to you?
paying a bunch of actors to portray "real characters" to react off of another paid "real character" is pure WWE-style theater.
The movie would have been good if it was done with the same unsuspecting person element he used on his show.
but this is just my opinion, if you're amused by falsely portrayed, scripted "reality" than more power to you.
Ok so I just saw this last night and IMO this shit looked terrible.
Most, if not all (save for the Rodeo stuff) looked staged, and not even well staged. The scene with the Frat boys was the most obvious case of actors faking that they were documentary subjects I've seen since the last porno I watched. Seriously, having multiple cameras and pre mic'd subjects is an insult to everyone???s intelligence.
and what???s so funny about fake reality? The reason Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno is so interesting is because he takes real people and uses these extreme characters to get actions and reactions.
I'm not with the dumbed down version of Borat put on the real screen. This shit had all the real life humor of a WWE wrestling match.
This whole post kind of reminds me of when a guy who makes beats critiques a (much better) producer:
"yo those loops are choppy, plus I used that sample like years ago, and if you really know about production and equipment that stuff isn't hard at all to do, I mean maybe it could fool someone who doesn't know how to make beats but I can see right through."
you're telling me that the element of reality on the Ali G program didn't contribute to making it funny?
Had Newt Gingrich, C.Everett Koop or anyone else he interviewed known he was a character actor and they were invovled in a skit would it have been funny to you?
paying a bunch of actors to portray "real characters" to react off of another paid "real character" is pure WWE-style theater.
The movie would have been good if it was done with the same unsuspecting person element he used on his show.
but this is just my opinion, if you're amused by falsely portrayed, scripted "reality" than more power to you.
What makes you so sure the frat thing was fake?
there were cameras inside the RV immediately after he got in. There was also multiple angles.
As I mentioned before the Frat boys were also mic'd up which wouldn't happen if it was really just a group of people stopping to pick up a hitchiker (who, by the way, had a cameraman taping him).
Another big one for me was the driving instructor, if he thought he was in a real situation he would have stopped the car immediately. Instead he let "borat" veer out of his lane several times, and yell and cuss out other drivers on the road. Isn't a driving instructors whole thing teaching making sure youre a safe driver? I went through drivers training as a teen and I remember the teacher stressing about driving safely.
on top of that I heard that the producers supplied the driving car, placed lipstick cams on the passenger side and the cup holder and then followed the car around on a "real" driving lesson
If in character he tells them that he works for a foreign TV show and that he's travelling across America and that he'd like to film them, doesn't that allow them to set up cameras and mikes in the vehicles, whathave you, to film the "TV show"???? Of is it just "normal" to pick up an Eastern European with cameras jump in your car and start filming you for that "realness"???
Ok so I just saw this last night and IMO this shit looked terrible.
Most, if not all (save for the Rodeo stuff) looked staged, and not even well staged. The scene with the Frat boys was the most obvious case of actors faking that they were documentary subjects I've seen since the last porno I watched. Seriously, having multiple cameras and pre mic'd subjects is an insult to everyone???s intelligence.
and what???s so funny about fake reality? The reason Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno is so interesting is because he takes real people and uses these extreme characters to get actions and reactions.
I'm not with the dumbed down version of Borat put on the real screen. This shit had all the real life humor of a WWE wrestling match.
This whole post kind of reminds me of when a guy who makes beats critiques a (much better) producer:
"yo those loops are choppy, plus I used that sample like years ago, and if you really know about production and equipment that stuff isn't hard at all to do, I mean maybe it could fool someone who doesn't know how to make beats but I can see right through."
you're telling me that the element of reality on the Ali G program didn't contribute to making it funny?
Had Newt Gingrich, C.Everett Koop or anyone else he interviewed known he was a character actor and they were invovled in a skit would it have been funny to you?
paying a bunch of actors to portray "real characters" to react off of another paid "real character" is pure WWE-style theater.
The movie would have been good if it was done with the same unsuspecting person element he used on his show.
but this is just my opinion, if you're amused by falsely portrayed, scripted "reality" than more power to you.
What makes you so sure the frat thing was fake?
seriously what would they have to gain? i'm sure with all the degrading talk of "bitches" the camera captured, they probably view this movie as doing some major "cockblocking" action for their future as misogynistic douches. i've seen some frat guys act like that. all you need is tons of booze and then just stick a camera in their face and see what happens.
further evidence, one of those frat dudes came out and said they were not happy with how they came off.
The fraternity brothers. University of South Carolina student and Chi Psi brother David Corcoran seems to be the only member of the trio speaking on the record so far. Corcoran talks to FHM: "My first thought was, 'What if my mom finds out?'" And the other brothers? "Of the two others who joined Corcoran on the embarrassing romp, one still is a brother in Chi Psi, and the other has left the university," Chi Psi Alpha Beta chapter president Todd Bailey tells The State. Bailey says he has no desire to see the movie.
If in character he tells them that he works for a foreign TV show and that he's travelling across America and that he'd like to film them, doesn't that allow them to set up cameras and mikes in the vehicles, whathave you, to film the "TV show"???? Or is it just "normal" to pick up an Eastern European with cameras jump in your car and start filming you for that "realness"???
wasn't the premise at this point in the film that he was hitch hiking? I was getting drowsy by this point so I could be worng, but if he was trying to hitch a ride having a RV stop and let him on with multiple cameras and pre-mic'd already drunk frat boys seems very staged.
I work in reality TV and have done so for the last 2 years, I've done a shitload of shoots with both paid actors and non-paid actors (most of which are still coached as to what to do and say). Watching "reality" actors do their thing is not something new to me. This particular scene screamed of acting.
For chrissakes the scene ends with them putting on a Pamela Anderson porn and consoling a broken hearted Borat.
do people here think these "real" people were really not in on the gag at this point?
Comments
i have a chair
Would you rather they pulled that stunt for real?
it's not like it's gangsta rap.
Seriously. The fact is, the film made me laugh harder than any other film in recent memory. I went in with very high expectations and, though it perhaps didn't hit as hard as I'd hoped, the few scenes that did kill me left me more than satisfied. The wrestling scene could make you lose your insides on the floor.
And when he comes downstairs with the baggie of poo?
"Where should I put this?"
"So the host wipes the guest's anus?"
people pretending to be fooled = not funny
Your comedy theory is as on point as your taste in female rappers.
Never seen it.
But getting back to your original suggestion: If it's revealed that the entire movie was scripted and, thus, is "not funny," what will happen to the two hours i spent laughing on friday? retroactive frowning?
I think the best humor stems from confusion of reality. The fact that you even have to ask "is this real?" says to me that Cohen & co. suceeded.
garbage. like it was made for immature 12 year olds
i am still asking myself this.
The interviews do rehash a lot of ground covered by the tv shows. Obviously it won't invoke the same reaction as intially experienced.
If you aren't familiar w/ SBC's work, go see it. If you are, then perhaps moderate your expectations. Try to avoid the trailers, they give away a lot of the best bits.
The San Francisco Chronicle had a short blurb about some of his stunts making the Borat movie on this topic. It said that the rodeo scene and the end of the naked fight scene when they burst into the convention were real. They said that the Rodeo actually got real hectic but they didn't have the cameras on for some reason. The crowd turned on him more than just booing when he sang the fake national anthem to the tune of the U.S. anthem. The paper said that a bunch of angry people surrounded his van afterwards and wanted to call the cops on him and get him arrested for singing!
Apparently he got arrested at least once while making this movie. Rumor has it he stayed in character while in custody...
The same article in the SF Chronicle said that he stayed in character all the time because that was the way he got out of a lot his messes. The article even said that he'd been questioned by the FBI more than once after suspicious people reported him!
I just found the article:
INDUSTRY BUZZ
Hugh Hart
Sunday, November 5, 2006
Sacha Baron Cohen is the star of "'Borat: Cultural Learni...
* Printable Version
* Email This Article
Entertainment
entertainment links
Everybody Loves Sacha: Jay Roach has directed some big comedies, including the "Austin Powers" films and "Meet the Parents" and its sequel, but he's never seen anyone quite like Sacha Baron Cohen. Roach produced "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," in which the British actor poses as a racist, misogynist TV reporter "interviewing" real people in a cross-country tour of the United States. Cohen stayed in character during filming and has continued to play the part offscreen at press events in Cannes, Toronto, Washington, Los Angeles and London.
"I actually think what Sacha is doing is actually pretty new," Roach says by phone from London, where he watched Cohen, as Borat, entertain the crowd at the film's premiere. "Last night I thought people might say, 'OK, snap out of it,' but the opposite is true. People love Sacha in character as Borat. They enjoy getting sucked into that willing suspension of disbelief."
While making the film, Roach says, Cohen really couldn't break character.
"He can't be discovered as being an actor before or after the camera is rolling," he says. "He'd show up with the tiny crew in a car, put on his makeup and he gets one take at it. He's injecting himself into these sometimes dangerous situations, where breaking character could actually lead to personal injury or arrest."
But staying in character also caused problems. When Cohen/Borat ran naked into a meeting of insurance brokers at a Phoenix conference hall, he was forcibly evicted. In New York, two "Borat" crew members spent the night in jail over a snafu regarding some misplaced hotel property. On more than one occasion, Cohen and crew were tracked by the FBI after suspicious citizens alerted authorities.
And then there was the rodeo fiasco in Virginia, where Cohen sang ridiculous lyrics to the tune of the national anthem in front of a crowd of 10,000 people.
"They were literally chased from that arena," Roach says. "I'm only sad the cameras weren't running because I was told they were surrounded in their bus by guys on horseback who were determined to keep them there until the police arrived. Borat did manage to get away, but that gives you a sense of how wrong that situation could have gone."
Roach, who describes Cohen as a courteous, intelligent collaborator when not in character, sees the Borat phenomenon as a taboo-busting "high-wire act."
"Suspense, anxiety and danger are actually underestimated aspects of comedy, and Sacha's throwing them all in. On top of the comedic power of the performance, I enjoy the sense that Borat is wandering amongst us, holding a mirror up to these subtle attitudes deeply cloaked nowadays in terms of people's prejudices and hypocrisies. Without being particularly preachy, he's able to expose some very problematic attitudes in our culture. To have a guy make you laugh that hard but then you walk out of the theater arguing about what the message is, I think that's pretty cool." >>
Lots of my laughing was based on the assumption that he was blending reality and fiction; i'm under no illusions that this film didn't have plenty of scripted moments, but the whole time as a viewer I DO wonder who is in on the joke and who isn't. The film clearly plays with the whole real/fake dichotomy and part of what I was laughing at is the notion that people don't realize whats going on, that what makes the frat boys shocking is that they think their offensive opinions are safe, etc. I think its a mistake to just assume that it makes no difference whether or not a scene is 'real' - he's clearly playing off of that tension, or he would just hire actors. (In other words I agree with your last sentence, which I don't think contradicts what I said upthread!)
Most, if not all (save for the Rodeo stuff) looked staged, and not even well staged. The scene with the Frat boys was the most obvious case of actors faking that they were documentary subjects I've seen since the last porno I watched. Seriously, having multiple cameras and pre mic'd subjects is an insult to everyone???s intelligence.
and what???s so funny about fake reality? The reason Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno is so interesting is because he takes real people and uses these extreme characters to get actions and reactions.
I'm not with the dumbed down version of Borat put on the real screen. This shit had all the real life humor of a WWE wrestling match.
This whole post kind of reminds me of when a guy who makes beats critiques a (much better) producer:
"yo those loops are choppy, plus I used that sample like years ago, and if you really know about production and equipment that stuff isn't hard at all to do, I mean maybe it could fool someone who doesn't know how to make beats but I can see right through."
How are people hating on this movie?
I'm patiently awaiting the "Bruno" follow up. TRAIN TO AUSCHWITZ!!!!
Bogus.
Pfft, I watch only Vertov's Kino-Pravda. Borat don't know the true.
Plus, my friend said he had this whole entire act already and SBC stole it from him.
you're telling me that the element of reality on the Ali G program didn't contribute to making it funny?
Had Newt Gingrich, C.Everett Koop or anyone else he interviewed known he was a character actor and they were invovled in a skit would it have been funny to you?
paying a bunch of actors to portray "real characters" to react off of another paid "real character" is pure WWE-style theater.
The movie would have been good if it was done with the same unsuspecting person element he used on his show.
but this is just my opinion, if you're amused by falsely portrayed, scripted "reality" than more power to you.
The frat boys were real. One of them gave an interview about being duped. The producers took the boys to a bar and were buying them beers and then asked them to go pick up the kazakh reporter that they were following around. so the boys said yes, and thats how borat got in there.
the prostitute was an actress who's been in other movies, but her showing up to the dinner party was obviously real. the car salesman was real. the gun salesman was real. its all over the web.
What makes you so sure the frat thing was fake?
there were cameras inside the RV immediately after he got in. There was also multiple angles.
As I mentioned before the Frat boys were also mic'd up which wouldn't happen if it was really just a group of people stopping to pick up a hitchiker (who, by the way, had a cameraman taping him).
Another big one for me was the driving instructor, if he thought he was in a real situation he would have stopped the car immediately. Instead he let "borat" veer out of his lane several times, and yell and cuss out other drivers on the road. Isn't a driving instructors whole thing teaching making sure youre a safe driver? I went through drivers training as a teen and I remember the teacher stressing about driving safely.
on top of that I heard that the producers supplied the driving car, placed lipstick cams on the passenger side and the cup holder and then followed the car around on a "real" driving lesson
If in character he tells them that he works for a foreign TV show and that he's travelling across America and that he'd like to film them, doesn't that allow them to set up cameras and mikes in the vehicles, whathave you, to film the "TV show"???? Of is it just "normal" to pick up an Eastern European with cameras jump in your car and start filming you for that "realness"???
seriously what would they have to gain? i'm sure with all the degrading talk of "bitches" the camera captured, they probably view this movie as doing some major "cockblocking" action for their future as misogynistic douches. i've seen some frat guys act like that. all you need is tons of booze and then just stick a camera in their face and see what happens.
further evidence, one of those frat dudes came out and said they were not happy with how they came off.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/11/the_real_storie.html
wasn't the premise at this point in the film that he was hitch hiking? I was getting drowsy by this point so I could be worng, but if he was trying to hitch a ride having a RV stop and let him on with multiple cameras and pre-mic'd already drunk frat boys seems very staged.
I work in reality TV and have done so for the last 2 years, I've done a shitload of shoots with both paid actors and non-paid actors (most of which are still coached as to what to do and say). Watching "reality" actors do their thing is not something new to me. This particular scene screamed of acting.
For chrissakes the scene ends with them putting on a Pamela Anderson porn and consoling a broken hearted Borat.
do people here think these "real" people were really not in on the gag at this point?