The Case for Borat

Borat, like many of Cohen's personae, can be very funny. My sole objection is that his supporters seem to think Borat's bits prove a lot more than they do. If you watch the country & Western bar where Borat sings "In My Country There Is Problem," you'll see that the audience is hooting and clapping loudly long before Borat actually sings anything offensive. Some viewers probably believe that Cohen has coaxed a bunch of violent Jew-haters into showing their true colors. I'm more inclined to think the crowd was patronizing someone they perceived as a clueless, talentless foreigner. Meanwhile, Cohen himself was patronizing his listeners.

This is ridiculous! My parents always taught me that Jews were just like anyone else....no better and no worse -- just people! It is said that if you have 3 Jewish people in a room you'll get 4 opinions....but I daresay this holds true for people of ANY ethnic group. My rabbi taught us that Jews were "chosen" FOR helping others...NOT "because" they are any better! Look -- other than being Jewish, what similarity is there between Meyer Lansky and Leonard Goldenson? OK -- they are, (or were) both men, and both are deceased. But Meyer Lansky was a notorious gangster, and made many people miserable...if not causing their demise. Mr. Goldenson founded the ABC Television Network....and gave joy to SO many people! There was ALSO this guy, (I forgot his name), who started shooting Arabs a few years ago....and then you have people like Leonard Nimoy who give people joy! There were Jews on both sides of the American Civil War....and probably the English Civil War, and every other war in modern history! You have Jews like William Shattner, abd Muriel Seibert, who do not really think of themselves as Jews first; they are more humanistic than anything else. They hurt no one. But they make lots of people happy! I have always thought, myself, that if Christianity, (and Islam), professes LOVE as a chief virtue of their religion, then (obviously?) hating is un-Christian, (and un-Islamic). We all, I think, have to be wary of the "one-upmanship" aspect of prejudice: that is, if one is, say, anti-semitic, then being poor, a woman, ill, and ugly won't matter: you need not even try to imnprove your circumstances, you see....because, (at least!) you're not Jewish! (Or Black, or Hispanic, or short, ad nauseum.) Charles Steinmetz was a dwarf and not at all handsome....yet he was a brilliant scientist. A few years ago, there was a young French peasant.....who, when tested, was found to be a genuis! There are enough problems in this world without us syphoning off people because of prejudice. This isn't to say I myself have not had prejudices. I have. But I know they are wrong....and I'm working on trying to dissipate them. Try these two tricks: 1) Look into people's eyes....and try to see similarity to yourself, instead of differenes. 2) Believe EVERY prejudice there is, if you wish.... but also believe there are "exceptions". Before you know it, you'll find that these "exceptions" outnumber the stereotypes, about 100 to 1!

Being Jewish, is being in a minority. Minorities can point out things to each other that are funny. For us, the empty seat at Passover, our mothers effective use of guilt, our 'JAP's' jewelry compulsions, etc., make us laugh but some of this is fuel for the Goyim to turn into reasons that could spark anti-semitic actions. Cohen is working to be famous and if thinks he can do this by singing about throwing his Jewish brothers and sisters down a well, will get him his fame, it's sad. He knows Torah and it's a shunda that he puts gelt before G-D.

WHY call ANYONE a "goy"? In Hebrew, (or perhaps Yiddish), it means "stranger". Heck...how can you label anyone a "stanger" if you haven't really known him or her at all? Isn't labeling all non-Jews "goyim" just another prejudicial point? Calling them "non-Jews" is bad enough....I mean, aren't non-Jews Human Beings like anyone else????? Aren't Jews Human Beings likI e anyone else????? I hate to say that Hitler was right in anything.....but it is said that Hitler took his "Master Race" idea from the "Chosen People" idea that the Jews are said to have!!!!!!! : ( To me, there are are only "Human Beings".....and God, above. Or, as a self-help expert once said, "GET BEYOND TRIBAL". I think the First Commandment says that, too: "I AM THE LORD THY GOD....THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME." Thinking your racial/religious group is better than others is, sort of, I think, making a kind of "God" of it.... If the Jews were ever "chosen" for anything, it was 1)To help God give the Ten Commmandments to the world, (5000 plus years ago), and/or 2)"Chosen" FOR helping others....NOT BECAUSE the Jews are better, (or at least that's what my rabbi taught us.) I believe that the words "goy" and "goyim" are equivalent to any other hateful racial group words, such as "kike" (Jews), "whitey", (whites), etc. I hate any labeling of anyone....but if you have to draw a distinction, PLEASE try not to use "goy" or "goyim"...meaning "stranger(s)". If distinction must be made, please try to use "Gentile"....which at least has a connotative connection with the word "gentle", or "gentleman" or "gentlewoman". Hopefully, if we use these terms, even the most virulent anti-semites will begin to live up to them! : )

I see only one person got the point. Only an idiot would think that the movie is anti-Semitic; this Cohen paints a picture whereby we believe that Kazakhstan is incredibly anti-Semitic - perhaps as much as Europe in the 16th century. Furthermore, he makes fun of these muslims in a despicable way, such as the ruse with the toilet during the dinner with the Christian family, and Pastor, whereby he plays off on their desire to be accepting of someone from a different cultural background. Imagine the tables reversed, and a Palestinian were to make such a movie, touring the USA, disguised as a Jew, playing such practical jokes on people. Perhaps he would have dinner with them, and execute some stereotype, like walking back to the table, and taking the tip. Or having a running of the Muslim film-shot, where a Muslim couple with bombs strapped to their robes would do similar to his filmshot of the running of the Jews. Can you imagine how that would look for Jews? We would all be screaming foul, because it would clearly be anti-Semitic. It would be a caricature of us that plays to derogatory stereotypes that are now circulating, like Israeli oppression of Palestinians. And it is a double-standard, impossible to believe, and shameful too, that we are not screaming foul that a Jew is doing this misdeed. And he is defrauding us yet again, letting the world believe that we believe there is one standard for the Jew, and yet another for the Gentile. Shame on you Sasha. You disgrace us.