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

[Puller58]

He's making money. Must be doing something right.

[shengirl]

what a sad standard you live by

[gifu]

???? Incredible!! WTF??

[MsLiz]

It's the Republican American way! Whoops, he's not American.

[sheila]

after hearing about the movie, i didn't want to see it, but i sort of ended up watching it and found it incredibly hilarious. that said, at the time, i definitely thought the villagers were "in" on the joke. this story makes him sound very exploitative, which is a shame, because others in the film, who are genuine sociopaths and jerks are exposed for who they really are, so there is a definite "documentary" aspect to it. everyone can tell that the villagers are NOT the characters he says they are, but it seems like he could have explained the premise and asked for volunteers, so people could decide whether they wanted to participate...

[Yermammy]

You are so serious. Are you sure the inner villager isn't coming out? lol!

[rektruax]

Then he would have had people trying to "act". It wouldn't have been remotely as effective. Why, in the opinion of so many here, is it OK for him to have duped all the Americans in this film but not these villagers? The same level of deceit for comedic outcome was used.

[Swerinjer2]

Wow....this just makes the movie funnier than ever. gj borat!!!

[TongoRad]

At bottom of the Borat phenomenon is the gnawing obsession so many Brits seem to have with America and all things American. In addition, there's the anglophile contingent here in the states who find jokes to be funnier if they're spoken with a British accent.

All I saw in the movie was a bunch of corny cheap shots and smug frat boy humor. Yet I was told by some hipsters that Borat was some kind of courageous expose. Sorry kids, just because it's British doesn't make it funny or interesting in my view.

[VoteforPedro]

I saw it and laughed non-stop. He makes mincemeat out of conservative frat boys and southern evangelicals.

LOLz!

[spiderbucket]

Those villagers are kind of like the working class of America who follow John McCain. Fooled.

[Changeling]

No.

They didn't know any better. I can only imagine the litany of lies those people were told

Middle class America does know better. That is, they would if they took the blinders off and actually see that they work and vote against their own interests.

I've never seen that tasteless, insipid flick and I have no desire to do so. Cohen is so full of himself it's almost boundless. He accomplished his goal: got millions of people to buy tickets to that swill. Stepping on a few people so poor that their basically third-world? Meh.

[piul05]

Couldn't put it better myself.

[Yermammy]

OOooo! I see! :) Catching people like they REALLY are, is the genius of Borat! I can't wait until the next one, so he can punk YOU!