Villager Extras: We All Hate Borat

Daily Mail:

Seventeen-year-old Carmen Ciorebea may be a listless teenager, but she is resolute about one thing. 'Glod is a terrible, terrible village. Nothing ever happens and there is nothing beautiful to see here,' she sighs. 'I will never be happy here.'

She is not alone in these sentiments, which are shared by many in the poverty-stricken Romanian village, nestled in the shadow of the Carpathian mountains north-west of Bucharest. Life is hard here: toilets are little more than sheltered holes in the ground, and horses and donkeys are the only source of transport. Most people eke out a living peddling scrap iron or working scrubby patches of land.

So when a Hollywood film crew descended on Glod three years ago to make a 'documentary' about their lives, many of the 1,000 residents were only too happy to take the £3 that was offered to anyone who participated.

If the tall, lanky and moustached presenter seemed a little odd, who were they to question the ways of the world of television? They said nothing when this rather manic Borat character installed a cow in one of their homes, or was filmed being transported in a car, which, although perfectly serviceable, should, he insisted, be pulled along by a horse.

But then the villagers of Glod were not to know that Borat, aka the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, was not making a documentary but a comedy film, with some of the laughs very much at their expense.

Read the whole story: Daily Mail

Comments

[antiparanoid]

YEAH! For all WE know, his name could really be Osama bin Cohen.

[DBtv]

cohen is a rac ist zi onist.

not funny, either.

[slobone]

What a tragedy that Cohen portrayed this town as a shithole when it's really -- well I guess it is a shithole, literally.

[hopeful1]

Gah!

* gift them something the entire village could use.*

[hopeful1]

I had thought the village was in on the joke, too, and I feel bad that they are so upset at their portrayal. The Borat crew should have let them in on the joke and PAID them much better than they did or at least gift them something the entire village.

That being said, the movie was funny as hell. I avoided seeing it for a long time thinking it would just be gross and juvenile. It was gross, juvenile, and funnier than I ever could have imagined.

What the villagers don't realize is that the scenes about them are so outrageous that anyone with a brain knows they aren't true. And even though Borat calls them abortionists, incestuous, backward, etc., the picture of the villagers that more truly resonates is that they are good-hearted, simple, happy people. The only people who come off badly are the bigots Borat allows to speak for themselves.

[MsLiz]

There was a language difference.

An Alabama woman also sued Borat for the same thing. She lost.

Before this movie, Barron-Cohen was known to the UK and a few people over here who saw the Ali G show. He interviewed Pat Buchanan with a straight face -- it was priceless.

I want to rent the DVD again.

[Swerinjer2]

The dude with the rubber fist on his arm didn't know it was a sexual device. LOLOLOLOLOL zomg that movie was even funnier than I thought. I had no idea the village wasn't in on it.

[Talullah]

(Sigh) Let's get it right: the actual town was never repesented in the film, it was a fictional place set in an actual Asian country . It's this "news" YEARS later naming the Town and its people bringing superflous brouhaha .

[UncleJimbo]

Perhaps that's part of the point...That it is just as easy to dupe poor Romanian villagers as middle and upper class Americans!

[mandalaina]

My heart goes out to those unfortunate people. I was disgusted by Borat, didn't find it funny. The insult Cohen dealt these people is immense and I would be devastated too.

It's bad enough that these people are living on the edge of extreme poverty and privation; no--that's not enough. Cohen has to rob them of hope too. I think this man is despicable.

[Swerinjer2]

you are annoying man but instead your no sense of humor man

[Badbone]

Cohen has made a career out of making fun of those he considers beneath him. Which is everyone who doesn't live in LA or New York. My only hope is that one day, he will push one of them "rednecks", and see that southern hospitality only goes so far.

[Swerinjer2]

how much farther can you go than mocking the national anthem in a rodeo right after 911?

[MsLiz]

You do realize the Barron - Cohen is British, don't you? He can ridicule people from NY and LA just as much as you ridicule yourself.

[LiberalBuzz]

Don't feel bad, a lot of us in the U.S. hate him too.

[strangerinthenight]

I am not a fan of Borat, although I do like Charles who wrote a lot of Seinfeld episodes. Borat, I can do without.

[WolfLarsen]

I loved the movie Borat......but now.....after learning about the way these simple people were manipulated by Charles and Cohen.....It certainly does take away from the movie.

I know he conned some of the American nitwits in the movie and played on their ignorant and racist beliefs....but Americans live in a modern society where, given the access to knowledge that is available makes ignorance a matter of choice.

There is a certain kind of cultural arrogance and dismissive elitism that is evident in the way these people are treated. They only asked for respect and received parody instead.

If you are to be judge on how you treat the most unfortunate among us then Charles and Cohen are in need of redemption.

Stick to burning ants under a magnifying glass Sasha.

[Swerinjer2]

dont be such a puss

[Yermammy]

These villagers would vote for Sarah Palin. I have no sympathy for silly. Good on Borat.

[MsLiz]

Now that is low. These people went from serfdom to Tsars to dictators, and you know nothing about their political instincts.

[peachesmahoney]

Cohen sucks. Sorry, I thought Da Ali G show was garbage and could never force myself to sit through Borat.