Review of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) by Jerilyn W — 14 May 2013

A lot of British/American/Western European cultural backgrounds required to find this movie funny. It is the most Anglo-centric comedy I've seen.

I couldn't help but think only the uncivilised West would find two men wrestling naked funny, hahaha. No, I'm not offended by it - I just don't find it particularly weird, and hence nothing funny. (Japanese people would not even 'get' this joke. In a country where Sumo wrestling is aired on every channel, and On-Sen naked public bath is the most ordinary thing in the world, why would people find a naked wrestling anything special?).

The racist jokes also look quite awkward for non-American/non-Western European people, who just don't find racism particularly politically incorrect. The American anthem joke was also boring. For non-American, non-Western European people who just don't care about what Americans sing to their flag and what they think of their nation, it's very hard for them to find anything funny about Borat offending the Americans by adapting their national song.

Being a foreigner watching Borat is like listening to your friends joking about people and things you don't know and find no interest in.