Filed under: Comment
So the movie sweeping the World is the quite outrageous – and asthma-inducingly funny – Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Unsurprisingly, quite alot of people in the movie are quite angry at him given he blatantly took the piss but they didn’t realise till it was too late.
One group that are particularly upset are a bunch of Eastern Europeans who have found out that Sacha Baron Cohen is earning millions from the flick, while their appearance fee [while admittedly, being pretty good for Eastern Europe] was but a few pounds each.
What I find interesting is that while so many of us get hot under the collar when companies like Gap and Guess utilise ‘slave labour’ … we are all seemingly OK with it when it involves film – especially a film where we all laugh ourselves stupid.
Hell, maybe GUESS should just do some ads that make people laugh – then all there problems will simply go away …
So what does this mean in terms of brands and branding …
Well too be honest, I’m not too sure … but it does seems the ‘values and morals’ that many of us claim to hold dear, can be totally disregarded if it is associated with either blatant entertainment or – in some cases – the ridicule/social-justice of individuals/countries that express a persona that is either arrogant, overly-intellectual or lacking in human decency/empathy.
In other words, the ‘Robin Hood’ effect … best demonstrated by Virgin and now, Borat.
18 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I think you’re right. It’s that whole “sticking it to the man” thing. Rules and social sensitivities seem to get thrown out of the window whenever somebody steps forward to offer us something we think we want. In Borat’s case, it’s humor.
Good, interesting post.
Comment by Age November 21, 2006 @ 3:44 pmAnd yes, I know ‘slave labour’ represents blatant human exploitation whereas the Eastern Europeans were paid proportionatly well, but I’d argue it is still exploitation because he knowingly destroyed their personal respect and self esteem. Funny though!
Comment by Rob November 21, 2006 @ 4:00 pmI think the main thing about Borat is that if you are intelligent enough you figure it out. Any American that starts singing “Throw the Jews down the well so my country can be free” has been given more than enough info to make a judgement.
As you say, unlike Gap etc, at least the wages were good for that country.
Comment by Rob Mortimer November 21, 2006 @ 5:37 pmI don’t know about that argument, you’re sort of saying the dumb deserve what they get – but you wouldn’t feel that way if Borat was humiliating drug addicts or poorly educated kids (etc) even if they were paid a fair appearance fee. Tough one eh?!
Comment by Rob November 21, 2006 @ 6:57 pmSomehow I feel less sorry for the Americans than I do the Eastern Europeans!
I agree its not fair on some people, but do we sacrifice humour for the sake of a few dumb folk? Its never an easy question…
Comment by Rob Mortimer November 21, 2006 @ 7:56 pmI’m a shit because I share your views, especially on Yanks – but what’s interesting is it seems when humour is at the expense of people/countries we have a prejudice against, it’s OK … but when it’s at people we feel are ‘innocent’, we cry EXPLOITATION
Comment by Rob November 21, 2006 @ 8:53 pmMaybe thats it. Gap needs to employ americans. Not the average of course, but the flag waving gun toting Americans. That way we wont care that they are paid next to nothing.
Of course I am joking. Or am I?!!
Its true though. I suppose its cute fluffy animal kiler versus ugly innocent animal rules… cute wins every time.
Comment by Rob Mortimer November 21, 2006 @ 9:19 pmMaybe you’ve worked out why certain Western companies farm out work off shore … because they know the World wouldn’t buy their products if they knew it was physically made by masses of stupid Yanks, ha. It’s the ‘prejudice economy’.
Comment by Rob November 21, 2006 @ 9:35 pmMind you, I wouldnt expect their workmanship to be that good…
Mind you, dont Wal Mart already do that?
Comment by Rob Mortimer November 21, 2006 @ 10:54 pmWal Mart … corporate evil dressed up as family value and values
Comment by Rob November 21, 2006 @ 10:59 pmAh Yes. The South Park episode on them was great.
Mind you, isnt that the motto of the Republican party?
Comment by Rob Mortimer November 21, 2006 @ 11:24 pmOf course you’re right, it’s the prejudice against anything from the Middle East that allowed Bush to go to war, when for us normal folk looking on, it seemed like it was one big joke: like a reality Candid Camera.
Comment by Pete November 21, 2006 @ 11:39 pmExcept the punch line was on us, and was in no way funny.
Comment by Rob Mortimer November 21, 2006 @ 11:55 pmRobert, my name is Julian and I work at Amnesty International.
I find your viewpoint really interesting and I was wondering if you’d mind if I passed this on internally?
Thanks so much and keep up the great work. (Trevor Robinson passed your site onto me)
Comment by Julian Glass November 22, 2006 @ 1:17 amHi Julian – feel free, it’s just a view but a pretty interesting one even though I say it myself, ha!
Please say Hi to Trev for me, he is a wonderful guy even though he got me into tremendous amounts of trouble when we worked together.
I did write a paper years ago about this sort of thing – if you want it [and I can find it] let me know or email me at rob@cynical-world.com
Comment by Rob November 22, 2006 @ 1:24 am[…] a full-on stripper routine to Warrant's 'Cherry Pie'] … however unlike Borat, which basically exploited stereotypes and cultural differences, the beauty of Bad Grandpa is that the overriding feeling you get at the end of it, is how utterly […]
Pingback by Why Bad Grandpa Should Make All Of Humanity Breathe A Big Sigh Of Relief … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] February 19, 2014 @ 6:16 am[…] get the first rule for communication is to get noticed … but if revelling in others misery or misfortune becomes your schtick, then don’t start crying when people start turning on you. Just look at […]
Pingback by Lets All Laugh At The People Having A Terrible Time … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] September 28, 2016 @ 6:17 am[…] call it a bad joke. Or just plain ol’ cultural ignorance. But as I wrote years ago when the Borat movie came out, it’s amazing how people can laugh at human unpleasantness when it’s not about them and […]
Pingback by One Nations Tragedy Is Another Nations Humour … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] May 9, 2018 @ 6:15 am