I have been a fan of Sasha Baron Cohen for many years. I have owned and cherished all of the DVD seasons of his hilarious HBO show, ALI G. In this show he plays three characters: Ali G, a British wannabe gangster, Borat, the commonly known reporter from Kazakhstan, and Bruno, a homosexual fashion designer. In this show, the goal is to get a rise out of unexpected people by using extreme humor and inappropriateness. Borat the mocumentary, is just a longer edition of one of Borat's adventures. People who watch this film have very mixed feelings about the film. Some find this sort of humor down right hillarious and others are extremely offended by his inappropriate jabs. Borat is often known for his racist, antisemitic, and anti-feminist jokes. Many feel that the people who find this sort of humor, funny need to grown up. I however, feel the opposite. I think it takes a certain amount of maturity to look past the actual content of the jokes and jabs, and appreciate the humor of natural human reaction to such behavior. First of all, Borat is a fictional character, therefor he is playing a role. His jokes are not sincere, they are just part of a script. If Borat were a real reporter, making these sort of jokes it would not be funny or tolerable. If you are not mature enough to look past the content of the jokes, then you probably shouldn't be able to watch R rated movies, as they may influence those sort of people. I think it is hard not to respect Cohen's ability to create such a unique character, and most of all to stay in character during such heated and hilarious moments. If you cannot respect his great acting, then you should probably stick to films featuring Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, or Paris Hilton.
The only downside to Cohen's brilliant character, and success in the theaters is the unending impressions. Every time I hear "NIICE" or "this suit is black not" I cringe inside. Let the actor do the acting. This is why he is famous. He's good at it. People like those who try to become characters and the exact people who ruin films. Napolean Dynamite falls in this same category. A brilliant character, hilarious vocabulary, and masses of annoying impressionists. The first time I viewed both of these movies, I laughed my head off and loved them. After leaving the theaters, to hear terrible impressions more then I hear normal conversation, I never wanted to view these films again. I think this is a great tragedy, as these are two original and funny films. It took me over 3 years to finally get up the courage to view Napolean Dynamite again, and I have yet to rewatch Borat despite my love for the film. I hope one day, the bitter taste of annoying people will leave and I will be able to enjoy this film again.