I had maybe two or three laughs the whole movie. The rest of the time I just wanted to go sneak into whatever was playing in the screening room next to me. I think I laughed more at my husband than anything else.

I don’t mind a sack of feces, insult humor, bad language, cultural criticism, or bad moustaches, but humiliating people through deceit is wrong.

There’s a line with everything, humor is no different. You go right up to that line, I’ll laugh, you cross it and it’s over. Then you’re just an asshole.

Think about it. This man stood alone, in a rodeo full of noisy people and powerful animals, and using only the power of his own voice, HE KNOCKED DOWN A HORSE. This is no joke, people. This is raw power. So don’t get too comfortable as you blithely comment about getting the joke or as you condescendingly dismiss the sophomoric cruelty.

What you’re feeling is subtle cognitive dissonance. But don’t feel bad, Borat is a very powerful man. People smarter then you have fallen for his mischevious tricks. Take one step back and you can see it for what it is, cognitive disruption. This is just a very subtle version of a cartoon Mohammed.

And THAT’s funny.

The bits of the movie Maggie objects to do sound mean (especially the horse falling) but I disagree strongly with Scott that “hypocrisies need only be revealed among friends. (public figures excluded of course)” People tend to be friends because they have similar world views, which makes it unlikely they’ll examine any hypocrisy or inconsistent inherent in those views. Hypocrisy and bigotry are at least as bad as rudeness and meanness in my book. Admittedly, I also think two wrongs don’t make a right, so I’m a hypocrite too.