So, I’m on a second date with this guy from e-harmony, and we’ve just had a quite tasty (and expensive) dinner. We arrive at the theater ten minutes late for the movie for which I’ve lobbied: Flushed. It’s one of those animated flicks promising to elicit laughter, not blushing, so I’m guessing it’s a good second date movie. My date, however, leans towards Borat whose next showing is in five minutes. He has paid for dinner and is paying for the movie; Flushed has already started and I have heard that Borat is sweeping the theaters. “Okay,” I say.
The previews during Borat do not bode well. Three big themes are showing up: sex, killing, and, like the overlap in a Venn diagram, body parts. At least I have Milk Duds.
Borat begins. Five minutes into it, my date whispers, “So, how are you doing? What do you think?” Part of me is thinking, Bits are mildly amusing but it’s basically slimy, while the other part of me notices the audience laughing uproariously, even as I reflect, He did buy dinner and the movie…. So I answer, “Fine. It’s….okay.”
About 12 minutes later, I can deny the churning in my gut no longer. Respect your conscience, a little voice whispers, and so I lean over and tell my date, “I’d like to leave.” Walking out, I feel like a frog who, perpetually bent towards wanting to believe that the emperor is clothed (to mix a metaphor), has just escaped being boiled in the kettle. My date and I chat about it afterwards, me thanking him for creating the space for me to signal our exit and him asking me what took me so long to say the word. Better late than never, is all I can say.
What bothered me about Borat was not just the movie per say (I’m sure parts were in fact funny), but it was the audience. Scenes intrinsically degrading to women brought down the whole house; female voices were guffawing equally. Meanwhile, American white males come off looking pretty pitiful, but a lot of guys were laughing hard. And the actor, Sacha Baron Cohen, who is Jewish, apparently mocks Jews throughout the movie (I saw a bit in my stay). I suppose the Jewish people in the audience were laughing too? I know Borat is supposed to be an equal opportunity offender.
But the broader audience’s delight in the equal opportunity disrespect was only part of what bothered me. My own bent towards disrespecting my conscience also bugged me. So many voices in my head shout a constant refrain of: Contextualize. Don’t be judgmental. Be relevant. Christians are too prudish, etc. And while there’s much truth in those aphorisms, I far too quickly default to people-pleasing fuzziness when what’s called for is a simple respect of what’s true.
The truth is I’m tired of disrespect in all its forms: in myself of my own conscience, in the images offered by the broader culture about what’s entertainment, in the response of others around me to those same images. And while the solution to this disrespect-fatigue is not a crusade to make others like or dislike the same movies that I do (that’s not the point), I am committed to raise the question, to myself and others around me: Is anything or anyone worthy of respect? If so, what or who? Of course, I worry that it has taken me so long to ask such a question, but hey, better late than never.
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The truth is I’m tired of
Tue, 11/28/2006 - 18:12 — John (not verified)The truth is I’m tired of disrespect in all its forms:
I totally concur with this, great post, and a very honest one, thank you.
Be encouraged.
GBYAY
Thank you, Connally. Great
Tue, 11/28/2006 - 20:57 — Mythopoesis (not verified)Thank you, Connally. Great question, great writing, with the combination of acute insight and complete transparency that we have come to expect from you.
May we all ask this question, and act on the answers--in love and humility, of course.
Thanks for your input, John
Tue, 11/28/2006 - 21:24 — Connally (not verified)Thanks for your input, John and Mythopoesis. What does it mean to stay meaningfully engaged in the broader culture around us while having a real, authentic (and humble as you rightly point out) respect for God and the people he has created? I don't know. But it is time for me to learn. Thank you for your encouragement.
If we're going to find a
Wed, 11/29/2006 - 00:11 — Rusty (not verified)If we're going to find a message in Borat, I think it's that "the only people who deserve disrespect are those who disrespect others". (Obviously, that's a contradiction.)
I saw Borat last weekend. I thought it was hilarious. I would probably pay to go see it again. There were many things that went far, far over the line (and I probably should repent of wanting to see it again). I wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone but friends who I know personally wouldn't be bothered by the movie. (The only scene I found truly uncomfortable was the scene where Borat goes to a Pentecostal church. I thought what the people were doing [slaying in the spirit, freaky tongues, etc.] was silly but I felt bad because they're family. Yeah, they might do weird stuff but family ought to stick together.)
As to your concern that women found sexism funny, etc., I would venture that (ideally) most people laughing aren't laughing with Borat but at him. Borat is the Archie Bunker of this decade. We aren't supposed to find what he says or does funny by itself, we're supposed to be amused/horrified at what he says and does. (The tragedy that was well pointed out in the movie is that there are people who really do agree with Borat.)
I think it's a good thing when we find bigotry so outrageous that it's funny. The jokes about Jews, women, etc. in Borat aren't funny merely because of their punchlines, they're funny because we see someone who actually believes that Jews, women, etc. are inherently inferior.
PS: The most offensive characters in the movie aren't Borat and his director or the many "backwards" Southerners. They pale in comparison to the frat boys from USC. Yuck.
Rusty--thanks for your
Wed, 11/29/2006 - 08:35 — Connally (not verified)Rusty--thanks for your comments. You are echoing about 90% of my friends (believers) in your response to my response to the movie! I know I sound ridiculous to even my beloved friends' ears, which being bent towards people-pleasing, I hate. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, I've concluded that though seeing "someone who actually believes that Jews, women, etc. are inherently inferior" might genuinely amuse some people, for me it raises questions about respect, including one question I failed to ask in my article. It's not just about "who" or "what" might be worthy of respect, but it's also: "Where does respect begin and what does it look like?" I raise this as a woman genuinely amused by the Simpsons, but also knowing there's a part of me that could genuinely enjoy fiddle music even while Rome burns.
Connally, I was glad to read
Wed, 11/29/2006 - 11:32 — Vicky (not verified)Connally, I was glad to read this post. Sometimes it feels lonely to be one of the few who don't laugh at movies like "Borat" and who feel faintly sickened by the kinds of thinking (thinking? maybe a better term is assumptions, or attitudes, or worldview?) behind such movies. While I respect Rusty's articulation of his viewpoint, I can't share it. Anyhow, thanks again for your post.
Vicky
I haven't seen Borat, but I
Thu, 11/30/2006 - 09:06 — Mark Upton (not verified)I haven't seen Borat, but I have watched the Ali G show and find myself in the position of enjoying him some of the time and having to change the channel some of the time.
It seems to me that the question of who deserves respect can also be asked in the reverse who deserves to be mocked? We know that Psalm 1 forbids us to sit in the seat of mockers, but in Proverbs 3:33-34 we learn that God himself mocks mockers.
?33? The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous.
?34? He mocks proud mockers
but gives grace to the humble.
?35? The wise inherit honor,
but fools he holds up to shame.
So I guess the question is can we enjoy watching mockers get mocked and fools be put to shame.
On some level I want to say yes we can. But this is a very fine line. Because we have to sensitive to defacing the image of God in others by taking away their dignity.
Take the frat boys for example. This article makes it clear that on some level they were victims of Cohen http://sacha-baron-cohen-news.newslib.com/story/9587-152/. So it appears that I have to have some compassion for them while at the same time enjoying(?) the fact that their sin was exposed.
That's the way I feel about some of the stuff on Southpark, the Simpsons, and King of the Hill as well. I like when sin and hypocrisy is mocked and I think it's ok to like it, but there are times when I find myself sitting in the seat of mockers mocking what shouldn't be mocked (like someone's finitude or dignity).
I don't know this is a tough distinction isn't it? But I love the question and value the efforts at helping me do a better job of protecting my conscience.
Connally: Your honest
Thu, 11/30/2006 - 15:45 — Craig Martin (not verified)Connally: Your honest musings related to Borat seem to shout that the Holy Spirit was nudging you out of the theater. But I'm one of the "weak", so take these comments as encouragement rather than as prescription. If Paul were encouraging you, as he encouraged the Philippians, perhaps he would have whispered, "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." While he might have whispered this before or during the film, I am just as convinced that he would say that to you now, as you wend your way through reflection. Please assume that the Holy Spirit was--and is!--at work in you: to do otherwise is to betray a spirit of fear. We are exhorted to flee many things, but our flights are motivated by a soaring affection for a lovely person, not by fear of a Powerless Mocker.
Rusty, Curious if "Rusty
Sat, 12/02/2006 - 20:50 — GL (not verified)Rusty,
Curious if "Rusty Shackleford" is your real name. If it is, what a coincidence that you share a name with a pop culture reference for anonymithy.
If Rusty Shackleford is not your real name, why are you leaving comments at CGO in anonymity?
I had another thought today
Wed, 12/13/2006 - 09:41 — Mark Upton (not verified)I had another thought today on this matter, and figured I'd post it before this thread completely disappears.
In Obediah 1:12-15 explains to the Edomites that they were going to be judged by God for gloating in his judgment of the Israelites. There God says,
?12? You should not look down on your brother
in the day of his misfortune,
nor rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their destruction,
nor boast so much
in the day of their trouble.
?13? You should not march through the gates of my people
in the day of their disaster,
nor look down on them in their calamity
in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
in the day of their disaster.
?14? You should not wait at the crossroads
to cut down their fugitives,
nor hand over their survivors
in the day of their trouble.
?15? “The day of the Lord is near
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deeds will return upon your own head.
So perhaps we are not allowed to delight in God's mocking of those who deserve mockery from him because our own sins deserve the same thing. And to do so makes us self-righteous and too good at spotting specks in the eyes of others. This seems to argue for Connally's original point.
Still thinking.