History Film / Borat

** Borat would not have been written as an intense Anti-Semite if his actor, Sacha Baron Cohen, were not a practicing Jew himself. Cohen's portrayal of Borat is still controversial with the Jewish demographic, however.

* StrawMisogynist: The title character is about as casually sexist as one would expect for someone raised in the movie's [[NoWomansLand fictionalized version]] of UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}}. Then again, part of the point of the character is to embolden American interviewees to reveal their own prejudices, thereby illuminating that such attitudes are alive and well closer to home than we might assume.

* ScyllaAndCharybdis: The victims in the film often find themselves in this sort of dilemma: Accommodating Borat's culture, with its innocent, but genuine, bigotry is one thing. Making clear that you don't agree is another. Trying to somehow do both is well-nigh impossible.

-->''[[TheStinger Not!]]''

-->[[spoiler:''(while being arrested [[ItMakesSenseInContext for trying to kidnap Pamela Anderson]], as she's running away)'']]\\

--> ''(From a deleted scene)''
--> '''Borat:''' I have had gonorrhea many times. Ladies very much like Borat. High five!

* BadassMustache: Borat's caterpillar! It's real, too. According to Creator/SachaBaronCohen, he spends 6 weeks growing it each time he portrays Borat.

** Borat would not have been written as an intense Anti-Semite if his actor, Sacha Baron Cohen, were not a practicing Jew himself. is a practicing Jew. Cohen's portrayal of Borat is still controversial with the Jewish demographic, however.
** Parodied when Borat tries to check into a hotel after getting a ghetto makeover.

* OverlyLongGag: The naked brawl. The extras on the DVD have another in the form of Borat asking a grocery store employee what lots and lots and ''lots'' of items are. (They're all cheese.)

* {{Mockumentary}}: And it could've been a ''real'' documentary if Borat was real.

** Borat's son, who is used as a SightGag in a picture, although his son is actually a transsexual porn star named Stonie.

** Sacha Baron Cohen is a practicing Jew, and so generally gets a pass for making anti-semitism such a big part of his act. Many Jews still criticize him, however.

His odyssey includes stops in such diverse places as [[BigApplesauce New York City]], UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC, a live Morning Show, a Virginia rodeo ([[StylisticSuck where Borat attempts to sing the national anthem with his own lyrics]]), a confederate antique shop, a [[ScareChord Jewish couple's]] [[InnSecurity bed and breakfast]], a born-again Christian revival tent service, and Hollywood. All this so that Borat can travel cross country to [[PerverseSexualLust wed]] Creator/PamelaAnderson, though he eventually finds something more in [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Luenell]], a New Orleans prostitute.

It is worth noting that a) the director and both producers -- including Baron Cohen -- are Jewish, and b) most of the other people featured in the film were completely unaware of their ultimate role in the resulting movie. (In fact, the movie contains only 4 actors: Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Luenell and Pamela Anderson herself). Controversy followed the film for many of the above-mentioned reasons, including lawsuits brought by many of the subjects of Borat's attention. It has been banned in all Arab countries save Lebanon, and Russia has discouraged cinemas there from showing it.

The government of Kazakhstan was none-too-pleased with it either, due to all the "No, we're not really racist homophobic {{Ruritania}}ns" phone calls their foreign relations department had to deal with. Despite this, [[MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales the film has a cult-following in the republic]], helped by the First Daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva of Kazakhstan, who told their government to lighten up and enjoy the joke, and other government officials who appreciated its treatment of a rare subject: reportedly, it's done wonders for their tourism sector[[note]]But be warned: Kazakhstan does not, in fact, have the world's greatest potassium production[[/note]].

* AmbiguousInnocence: Borat is an embodiment of this trope. He is a very innocent character, however that results in him doing not-so innocent things.

* UncomfortableElevatorMoment: Quite possibly the most uncomfortable elevator moment in cinematic history. To elaborate, both men have been running around naked through a hotel, screaming in foreign-sounding gibberish. One of the men was threatening to beat the other silly with a huge rubber dildo. The prop is brought along for the ride in an already occupied elevator. Both men face forward, stand quietly, and enjoy the elevator ride. DING! Doors open. Running and screaming resume.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Borat and Azamat are both extremely racist and misogynistic, leading to many instances of CringeComedy.

* CelebCrush: Borat has an extreme one over Pamela Anderson, to the extent of changing his plans from staying in New York to [[spoiler:driving cross-country to California to take her hand in (non-consensual) marriage ''at a public signing'', [[RealityEnsues which goes about as well as you'd expect]]]].

* ConspicuousConsumption: Borat's neighbor, Nursultan Tulyakbay, always attempts to match whatever conveniences Borat purchases for himself by buying one of his own, but struggles to do so due to having less money than him. PlayedForLaughs in that the purchases are about as far from luxurious as you can get, such as windows and front door steps. Borat considers it a “great success” that he has a clock radio while Tulyakbay cannot afford one.

* ConspicuousConsumption: Borat's neighbor always attempts to match whatever conveniences Borat purchases for himself by buying one of his own, but struggles to do so due to having less money than him. PlayedForLaughs in that the purchases are about as far from luxurious as you can get, such as windows and front door steps.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Played for laughs. In one scene when Borat becomes desires to seek out a woman for sex, he is flabbergasted to learn that in the US, women have the right to say no to sexual advances.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Technically, Borat is correct when he claims that on average, men have bigger brains than women. Because head size is proportional to body mass and men are usually bigger - although because women have denser collections of neurons, the actual brain capacity is identical.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The bear's head can be seen inside the fridge when Borat and Azamat make up, but the rest of its body? God knows.

* BadassMustache: Borat's caterpillar! It's real, too. He says it takes him 6 weeks to grow it each time.

* CannotTellAJoke: Borat studies American humor. It takes him the entire movie to get the timing right on "{{Not}}!" jokes.

* SitcomArchNemesis: Borat's neighbor back in his hometown of Kuzec [[ConspicuousConsumption apparently constantly tries to one-up him by buying his own copy of whatever amenities Borat has]]. He spends all of his screentime [[DeathGlare glowering]] at Borat, and the animosity is shown to be mutual on Borat's end.

* BerthaInTheAttic: Borat apparently has a mentally disabled brother named Bilo who they keep locked up in the cage. [[BrotherSisterIncest Their sister]] made [[BlackComedyRape the mistake]] of taunting him through the bars.

* MadwomanInTheAttic: Borat's "retard brother" Bilo is apparently kept in a cage.

** Early in the film, Borat meets with a professional comedy trainer, who tries to tries to teach him the proper use of the word "NOT!" in a joke and he doesn't seem to get it. Near the end of the movie, he nails it at a particularly inappropriate, but hilarious, time.

* BrickJoke: Borat's joke trainer tries to teach him the proper use of the word "NOT!" in a joke and he doesn't seem to get it. Near the end of the movie, he nails it at a particularly inappropriate, but hilarious, time.

Despite the large number of lawsuits and controversies, ''Borat'', [[ItWillNeverCatchOn originally expected to flop]], was a [[CatchPhrase great success]] in terms of critical, financial, and cultural impact. It spawned a 2009 SpiritualSuccessor ''Film/Bruno2009'', starring another of Sacha Baron Cohen's characters.

14 years after its premiere, a completed sequel [[https://collider.com/borat-2-sequel-sacha-baron-cohen/ was confirmed to exist by Baron Cohen]], entitled ''[[Film/BoratSubsequentMoviefilm Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan]]'', which was eventually released on Creator/PrimeVideo on October 23, 2020.

Despite the large number of lawsuits and controversies, ''Borat'', [[ItWillNeverCatchOn originally expected to flop]], was a [[CatchPhrase great success]] in terms of critical, financial, and cultural impact. It spawned a 2009 SpiritualSuccessor ''Film/Bruno2009'', starring another of Sacha Baron Cohen's characters. A completed sequel [[https://collider.com/borat-2-sequel-sacha-baron-cohen/ was confirmed to exist by Baron Cohen in 2020]], entitled ''[[Film/BoratSubsequentMoviefilm Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan]]'', which was eventually released on Creator/PrimeVideo on October 23, 2020.

''Borat: [[ShortTitleLongElaborateSubtitle Cultural Learnings of America]] [[IntentionalEngrishForFunny for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan]]'' is a BlackComedy {{Mockumentary}} that centers around Borat Sagdiyev, a humble reporter from UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} (Creator/SachaBaronCohen, in one of his guerrilla commentary-style characters) and a [[AcceptableEthnicTargets racist, antisemitic, misogynistic stranger to American culture]], [[TheHerosJourney who travels around the United States with his manager Azamat]] (Ken Davitian) to learn about its culture.

''Borat: [[ShortTitleLongElaborateSubtitle Cultural Learnings of America]] [[IntentionalEngrishForFunny for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan]]'' is a BlackComedy {{Mockumentary}} that centers around Borat Sagdiyev, a humble reporter from UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} (Creator/SachaBaronCohen, in one of his guerrilla commentary-style characters) and a [[AcceptableEthnicTargets misogynistic, racist, anti-Semitic stranger to American culture]], [[TheHerosJourney who travels around the United States with his manager Azamat]] (Ken Davitian) to learn about its culture.

Despite the large number of lawsuits and controversies, ''Borat'', [[ItWillNeverCatchOn originally expected to flop]], was a [[CatchPhrase great success]] in terms of critical, financial, and cultural impact. It spawned a 2009 SpiritualSuccessor ''Film/{{Bruno}}'', starring another of Sacha Baron Cohen's characters. A completed sequel [[https://collider.com/borat-2-sequel-sacha-baron-cohen/ was confirmed to exist by Baron Cohen in 2020]], entitled ''[[Film/BoratSubsequentMoviefilm Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan]]'', which was eventually released on Creator/PrimeVideo on October 23, 2020.

* FunnyForeigner

* BoomerangBigot: Played with - Borat is an extreme anti-Semite, even though Sacha Baron Cohen is Jewish in real life.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Borat does this in public over some female mannequins in a store.

Despite the large number of lawsuits and controversies, ''Borat'', [[ItWillNeverCatchOn originally expected to flop]], was a [[CatchPhrase great success]] in terms of critical, financial, and cultural impact. It spawned a 2009 SpiritualSuccessor ''Film/{{Bruno}}'', starring another of Sacha Baron Cohen's characters. A completed sequel [[https://collider.com/borat-2-sequel-sacha-baron-cohen/ was confirmed to exist by Baron Cohen in 2020]], entitled ''[[Film/BoratSubsequentMoviefilm Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan]]'', which is scheduled to release on Creator/PrimeVideo on October 23, 2020.