What the Manolo Is…
Manolo says it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
The Manolo must say that he found the Borat movie to be completly hilarious.
Yes, the central premise is ridiculous, (the intelligent person pretending to be the silly person with the fake accent, who could believe such nonsense!), but it is none the less executed with great mastery and the perfect comic timing.
Of the course, the Manolo was disappointed by the fact that the targets for the Borat humor were those who are most frequently and easily picked upon, and who are mostly from the southern working classes. (Yes, there were the exceptions.)
The best comedy is that which afflicts the rich and comfortable.
Consider the absurdist comedies of the Brothers Marx, whose humor targeted the pretentious nabobs, muckitymucks, and big wheels of the American society, such as the self-satisfied college professors, the tuxedo-clad opera goers, and the stout society women, and not the poor working man who earns the honest living teaching others to drive.
How much better it would have been to have seen the Borat make sport of the matrons of the Upper East Side, or the comfortably smug West Coast NIMBYs in their Toyota Prii, or even the editorial board of the New York Times!
Yet, even as the Manolo was disappointed by this, he was not disappointed by the quantity of the laughs in this movie. There is the sort of glorious mad genius at work here, one that would have done better to have cast his net in more fertile waters.
November 22nd, 2006 at 12:50 am
Manolo says, “How much better it would have been to have seen the Borat make sport of the matrons of the Upper East Side, or the comfortably smug West Coast NIMBYs in their Toyota Prii, or even the editorial board of the New York Times!” and you are indeed correct.
How delightful it would have been to have Borat interacting with a pretentious, pseudo-environmentalist, trustafarian, Toyota Pious driver who thinks Pinchy Sulzberger is the Omnipotent One?
November 22nd, 2006 at 9:42 am
I agree with The Manolo, but I fear that Mr. Borat had in mind the idea of, “You’ll never work in this town again” had he skewered the rich and the famous of The Tinseltown.
Susanna: I couldn’t have said it better!
November 22nd, 2006 at 9:43 am
Manolo says “The intelligent person pretending to be the silly person with the fake accent, who could believe such nonsense!”
Ah Manolo, you are very sly, indeed.
November 22nd, 2006 at 10:11 am
Oh, Manolo, you speak truth to power. Stylishly.
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:25 am
perhaps a sequel?
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:28 am
I’d add to that the Cambridge/Boston overeducated graduates of the American university system, smug in our tiny enclave of liberal enlightenment. However, in general, I don’t understand how anyone in this day and age wouldn’t keep his or her b.s. radar fully charged and operational 24 hours a day. So my observation to everyone who appears in the movie is: folks, signing that release form should have been the tip-off that you were part of a ruse
November 22nd, 2006 at 12:19 pm
For the record, during his run on Da Ali G Show in England, “Borat” visited Cambridge University to interview some of Sasha Baron Cohen’s old professors. He succeeded in getting them to admit to things best not written on a blog not requiring proof of above-18 status.
November 22nd, 2006 at 12:56 pm
The Manolo had not seen much of Da Ali G Show, but what he had seen impressed him for doing exactly what the Manolo believes should be done, afflicting the rich, the smug, and the powerful.
And yes, there was some of this in the movie of the Borat, (the brilliant scenes with the Bob Barr) just not enough for the tastes of the Manolo.
November 22nd, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Once again the Manolo gets to the heart of the matter. I also enjoyed the film but felt that some of the targets were too easy. I think my favorite scene was the one with Alan Keyes. Well, besides the wrestling one, I mean…
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:41 pm
What or who is a NIMBY? Gratzie
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:49 pm
NIMBY = Not In My Back Yard
November 25th, 2006 at 9:38 am
Manolo, you re-inspired me to crack open the 14 Byzantines, someone gave it to me awhile ago, you are right, it’s a great read, political and personal and much more fun than I expected, who knew? Apparently, you….
November 25th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
Manolo, I think one reason Borat happened in the poor and rural South is that Cohen’s schtick only works on someone who has never seen or heard of him (or Borat or Ali G). He couldn’t really do it in major media markets, or with savvy elites, as in those precincts his fame precludes the ambush that is the essence of his humor.
November 27th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
Brilliant. The Manolo is my New God.