Represented Regions: Could East and the West, the Twain Ever Meet?

A Reading of the Movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make

Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
I would like to begin this paper by asking a question Could East and the West, the Twain
Ever Meet? And I would like to answer this question with a no, and I shall prove the same
through my reading of the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit
Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. But before I begin my argument, I would like to share my
views about the power exerted by the picture in the minds of its audience. Pictures
(photographs, images, paintings etc.) create a lasting impression in the minds of its viewers,
and when these pictures are shown in rapid succession (1/16 frames per second to be exact)
they become movies. And I would also like to cite here another common tendency of the
common people to believe what they see, and at least fifty percent of all information is
perceived by us visually and also in any court of law it is the visual evidence that is given
first priority. And anything presented visually leaves an impression on us (this impression
need not be lasting and is subject to change.)
And that impression which is left with us after we watch the succession of fast moving
pictures would usually be about a group of people, a race, an ideology, a region, a nation.
And that is exactly what is done by director Larry Charles and comedian cum voice actor
Sacha Baron Cohen, through the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make
Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. They have through the movie shown us a picture or
rather a distortion of Kazakhstan and its people through the region called Cuzec, although the
movie is supposedly satirising the USA, it in reality is satirising or what is being
un/intentionally satirised are the Kazakhi people. The satire of the US which is one of the
dominant themes of the movie also has in it another satire or in clearer senses is mocking
another class of people, who are none other than the Kazakhstanis. I personally believe that
for any humour (especially satire) to succeed it needs within it an other which needs to be
portrayed as laughable and it is using this other that the satire is made successful.
This movie is also not an exception to that rule, but in this movie for the sake of achieving
satiric success an entire nation of people are portrayed as mock able and nonsensical
characters.
The central character of the movie (portrayed by Cohen) is showing us a picture of
Kazakhstan and its people. The protagonist Borat Sagdiyev, a news journalist for a famous
network in Kazakhstan, thus the viewers are made to believe that whatever he says is
unbiased reporting and is ultimately true. The first impression imprinted into our (the
viewers) minds is that of a decrepit, poverty stricken, morally loose, and the reverse of all
that the dominant cultures value considered normal and natural. The first instance is when
Borat introduces himself and says that he likes sex! And such open and unpolished portrayal
of sex is very much unwelcome and such usages lead to the speaker being addressed as a
pervert. He then describes a few countrymen, first he tells us of Urkin the town rapist, and we
can see him on a cart pulled not by a horse but by a woman. Through this person Borat is
telling us that Kazakhstan is quite patriarchal, the second one is the town kindergarten, and
the kids in the kindergarten have Kalashnikovs in their hands instead of pens and papers.
Here some level of Russian bashing can be seen as Russia (represented through the town of
Kuzcek) is still portrayed as a violent nation, with no room for education. But more than
Russia, the Islam Religion is insulted through the movie as it is what is more prominently
portrayed as violent and extremist. And the third one is Mukthar Sakanov who is the town
mechanic and abortionist; this is again hinting to the fact that Kazakhstan has loose morals
and also shows that there is lack of sexual awareness among the people.
The next instance is when Borat goes to his home and kisses a woman, who is afterwards
revealed to be his sister and this is the pinnacle of decadence that the Kazakhstan people are
subjected to as this openly says that Kazakhs are incestuous which in reality they are not.
And the next part shows us Borats mother who looks like she is sixty but is told to us by
Borat that she is actually forty three! This again shows that Kazakhstan is also
underdeveloped in the field of medical science.
The reason why I had mentioned these representations is because of the fact that, through
these representations they have effectively shown us that Kazakhi people have loose morals;
they are patriarchal and are underdeveloped economically, socially, and educationally. They
are also shown as not developed in the field of medical science and also sports, as Borats
hobbies include ping pong which he is shown to be very bad at (and he in the movie
represents the entire Kazakhi people) and also sunbathing near an extremely polluted river,
showing not only the lack of resources to clean that area but also the Kazakh peoples lack of
cleanliness. Similar images are shown to us at the initial stages of the movie, the main
storyline is that Borat is being sent to the US so that he can learn their culture and become a
polished person. He is accompanied by his friend Azamat Bagatov who is the producer of the
documentary which he (Borat) is supposed to bring back to his homeland.
His other prejudices like the ones he has towards Jews and Gypsies are shown before and
after he lands in America, and the act of running the Jew is also shown in the beginning of
movie when he initially shows us Kazakhstan, and this scene is the highest degree of
intolerance that is shown, as during this festival the Jews (the male and female Jews) are
made to run after money and they (the people who act as the Jews) are shown wearing
costumes which are humongous and are long nosed, and the two Jews (a male and female
Jew) are shown running after money. I call this the height of intolerance not only because of
what the Jews are made to do, but also because they are dressed up as people representing the
typical Hitlerian Jew stereotype of money hungry and long nosed.
And when Borat reaches America we get to know his feelings towards gypsies. The gypsies
in the movie are shown as luck and the feeling that Borat has towards them is mixed feeling
of fear and awe at their talents, and Borat as soon as he lands in the JFK International Airport
in New York he tells that he brought clothing, U.S. Dollar and a jar of gypsy tears to protect
me from AIDS. Then he goes to the location where his hotel is via the Subway. And the
scene inside the subway train is the first sign of cultural interaction that happens between
Borat and the American people. This scene in the movie is particularly hilarious and note
worthy as this shows how alien the Kazakhs (represented through Borat) are to the American
culture.
When Borat first enters the subway train he tries to interact with the people there, he first
begins to tell the people as to who he is hello, my name Borat, I not American, I new in
town, nice to meet you. He then proceeds to give them a kiss in friendship, but that kiss is
again unwelcome as it is usually done by females (with each other, and these days also with
males) but a male on male kiss was not welcome, as it is against the prevalent feeling of
normativity in the minds of the people and the only ones that do it are supposedly queer.
Then another man who is his name by Borat replies by saying that his name is mind your
own fucking business. Here there is a slight critique of the American way of individuality,
but the more prominent fact here is the criticism of Kazakhs (and the east and non west in
generals) habit of not giving respect to peoples private spaces. Then Borat is met by a
gangster, a representative of Americas low culture, and though the exchange of pleasantries
goes fine, things again get messy at the kissing part. But unlike the others the gangster replies
violently and even threatens to break Borats jaw. This reply indicates that in America, even
members from the low culture hold fast to normativity and the only difference in them is that
one reacts only with words and is in some senses more polite when compared to the people
who represent low culture.
The next thing that happens in the train is that Borats suitcase swings open and from that a
chicken escapes and causes a lot of havoc to the people there, and all the people in the bus
consider him strange again due to a feeling of normativity that one is only supposed to carry
clothes and other necessities in a bag and not a live chicken! And by focusing on normativity
they are trying to define another called Kazakhstan as abnormal, as othering as De Beauvoir
says happens only when one tries to define himself as the self by defining the other as
everything that the self is not. In this case a definition that Americans are normal is made
by saying that the Kazakhs are everything but normal!
Then the next scene in which this normativity is proved is when Borat checks into the Hotel
Room where he is to stay and tries to unsuccessfully bargain his living expense for a day.
Here it is suggested that there are no big hotels or institutions in Kazakhstan where
bargaining is not possible, and the ability to bargain is associated with any place that is cheap.
Here it is being shown that there has not been and there is not much infrastructural
development in Kazakhstan. This point is further strengthened by the preceding events, when
Borat unpacks his luggage in the lift mistaking for a room and saying that he shall not move
to a smaller room, to which he is told that this is just the elevator and they are going to the
floor where the room is. Here another impression that the Kazakhs are poor is also created.
The next day, Borat is seen interacting with the common public, as expected by the viewers
he scares them with his actions. He first tries to meet new people and kiss them, and this is
without doubt met by unfriendly resistance, the collective aspiration in the minds of the
people for the normativity in America is seen through the responses Borat gets, but this is just
momentary as the actions (done by Borat) that follows gives us an impression of Kazakhstan
more than the U.S., Borat before leaving the hotel is also shown washing his face with Toiler
Water, though the scene is hilariously disgusting, still suggests to us that Kazakhs do not
even have basic amenities like a good toiler, this point is further proved by his interaction
with the streets of New York. He is first seen in the streets trying to meet friends, and after
which he is seen near the bed of a huge water body (possibly a lake) washing his underpants
while the onlookers take snapshots of the lake and him. Then we get more proof of Borat
saying that Kazakhstan does not have any basic amenities, when we see him defecating in a
bush in front of an international hotel! Then he meets a businessman who is busily walking,
whom Borat interrupts only to be shooed away with threats, the image that Kazakhstan is not
that illiterate and knows only the basic usage of English (and any other non-Kazakhi
language) as when the guy whom Borat pesters says that he will pop you in the fucking
balls and Borat replies by asking him the question as to what balls are! This shows that the
Kazakhs are also linguistically challenged. Then we see another scene that tells us of
Kazakhi lewdness, it is shown when we see Borat masturbating in front of a lingerie store
to a couple of manikins used to display bras and panties. He also later in the same setup (i.e.
in the streets) he constantly air kisses a woman, and ask her how much, this is again
another strong statement that Borat makes on the morality in Kazakhstan, and this also shows
the major occupation of the women in Kazakhstan.
Then the next day we see Borat and his friend Azamat preparing for an interview with
feminists in America, before the scene we see Borat being groomed by his friend Azamat,
and during this process we can see that Azamat unlike Americans are not homophobic and is
alright even when he applies some liquid on Borats groin, and dies his front and back with a
hair dryer. This scene again could mean that Kazakhs are not like Americans and they do not
share the same sense of morality and normativity that Americans have. But what it could also
mean is that Kazakhs are moral-less and unclean and could be homosexual.
Borat then goes to learn sense of humour and how to crack jokes. He tries to begin by making
a joke about his mother in law, but it is later revealed that he is not making jokes, but stating
facts about his mother in law. And the joke he makes is that he had sexy-time with his
mother in law, his instructor tells him that it will not be a joke in the U.S. and asks him
whether he had a real joke, but is given the reply as to why one has to make a joke about ones
mother in law, thus proving that it was fact and not a joke that he had made earlier. Again the
sexually deviant nature of Kazakhstan is shown through this point, then later when the
instructor tries to teach Borat a NOT joke, Borat tells his instructor of a time when he and his
family made fun of his retarded brother Bilo, and this here shows not only a picture of the
insensitive Kazakhs but also of a sexually deviant one as the joke he made about his
brother has a strong sexual tinge to it. He then later meets a group of feminists who tell him
about feminism, but Borat in between starts laughing and says that it is hysterical and
unbelievable, and also that his government scientist has found that a womans brain is the
size of a squirrel. He is later sent away after the feminists are demeaned by his comments.
But he before leaving asks the feminists about Pamela Anderson whom he is smitten by and
when he comes to know that she is in California he makes a plan to pursue her and get
married to her.
He then convinces his friend Azamat that they shall leave for California, on the pretext of
more historical monuments and significance there. Azamat then tells that they shall not fly in
case the jews repeat the 9/11 attacks, and so Borat decides to learn how to drive. So he hires
and meets a driving instructor named Mike, and he gives him a kiss. Mike though is not used
to such forms of exchanging pleasantries he does not mind. While in the car he proceeds to
ask Mike whether he needs a drink while driving, clearly suggesting that Kazakhstan does not
have strict rules of driving. Then he swears at a passing driver whom he feels insulted by,
again mike intervenes and says that it is not possible in the U.S. and that both of them shall
be put in jail if they do it. This again suggests that Kazakhstan has very lax rules. But the
most important detail given during this episode is when Borat ask Mike whether e could
follow some girls he had seen in a car and maybe have sexy-time with them. It is then that
Mike tells Borat that, a woman has the right to choose whom she has sex with and that there
has to be consent if such a thing were to happen. This surprises and de-motivates Borat as
(seemingly) consent does not matter in Kazakhstan, all the above instances relate and
represent the state of woman in Kazakhstan and strengthens the notion that Kazakhstan is
quite patriarchal.
Again the state of Kazakhstani women are shown when Borat tries to buy a car, and he goes
to a showroom and meets the representative. And he asks I want to have a car that attract a
woman with a shave down below. And such a car is called a car with a Pussy Magnet, and
Borat mistakes this as an actual magnet. Then he asks as to how fast he has to drive the care
to kill a pack of Jews. This scene again shows the position of women, Jews and also gives
us a picture of the lack of awareness of the Kazakhs. Then Borat asks tells the dealer of his
wife and how at start, was cook good, her vagin work well and she strong on plow. But after
three years, when she was 15, then she become weak, her voice become deep, Borat, Borat.
She receive hair on chest and her vagin hang like sleeve of wizard hearing this the salesman
and the viewers get shocked as to how bad the condition of women is in Kazakhstan. Then he
encounters a traditional American street festival which was actually a gay parade and he
did not know of it and he attended it. And the people here were much more friendly than in
New York. The next morning Borat interviews a politician who is a genuine chocolate face
no makeup!. Then he relates the incidents of the previous day and he tells them what Borat
and two people he had picked up, we drink like normal in Kazakhstan we wrestle like
normal in Kazakhstan. Then they say I wash you in a shower you, he wash you in a
shower. It is only then that Borat realizes that the people he had taken home were members
of the gay community, and is shocked that he had taken homos to his home, and it was a
homo that had try to put a rubber fist in my anus. The above lines are making a strong
statement, as the people involved in the act had at first, drunk and wrestled like normals in
Kazakhstan. And even washing each other in the shower did not seem abnormal to Borat, and
it was only when he found out that the men who were with him were homosexuals that Borat
was shocked that it was a homosexual who shoved a rubber fist up his anus. This instance is
actually showing that though there is normativity per-se in Kazakhstan there still exists a
stigma for homosexuals. Through this, the message conveyed is that no matter how abnormal
people may get, there shall still exist for them some degree of normalcy and normativity for
them. Then Borat attends a rodeo, and there he is told by the main guy to shave off his
moustache to not look like a Muslim terrorist, and also he asks Borat not to kiss him, and tells
him that only gay men kiss each other. Here there an enforcement of stereotypes is done. And
Borat when is questioned about religion tells that he is not a Muslim and that he follows the
hawk. Here we get to see a Kazakh as someone who does not respect his own region and its
values and tries to go after the hawk (the U.S. in this case) which is a foreign culture and
region. Then he sings his national anthem to the tune of the American one
Kazakhstan is the greatest
country in the world
All other countries
Are run by little girls
Kazakhstan is number one
Exporter of Potassium
Other central Asian countries
Have inferior potassium
Kazakhstan is the greatest
Country in the world
All other countries
is the home of the Gays
A soon as Borat finishes singing this a horse falls down, this scene shows the disgust over
Borats outrageous claims by the U.S. people. But this scene not only shows us satire but also
self-definition. Borat by singing this is defining his country as ruled by men, having great
potassium reserves and not a home for gays. This again shows the intolerance and the false
feeling of superiority that the Kazakhs have. Then the next group of people they meet are
black hip-hop teenagers. After meeting them they try to dress up (boat and his friend) like
them. When they enter a hotel they are asked to go away, and when they do Borat comes to a
conclusion that the hotel is not player friendly. Then for the nights lodging they go to the
house of an old couple whom they find out to be Jews later and they start fearing everything
in that place. Even when they are given dinner they dinner they doubt the contents in it and
finally they bolt in the night without even saying goodbye or paying. And while they are
there and hear a voice from the door they try to stop it by throwing money near the door,
again strengthening the Jew stereotype. The next scene shows us Borat visiting a gypsy
who is actually a woman organising a garage sale. And the reason why he goes there is to
extract gypsy tears for luck. He tells the gypsy on confrontation do not fear me gypsy, all I
want from you is your tears. And he threatens that if he is not given that he shall take it. Her
reply that she is not a gypsy and is Americana falls on deaf ears, then Borat goes about to ask
who she had stolen her treasures (items for the sales from). Then he asks seeing a Barbie
doll as to who that lady is which they have shrunk. And whether the lady that she had shrunk
was the real owner of the house, he then later runs back to the car after buying a bay-watch
magazine. And he goes back to his pursuit of the his dream Pamela Anderson.

Then they check in to a hotel, where Borat after taking a bath and finds that his friend
Azamat is handy-partying (Masturbating) with the book. This makes Borat angry and he
has a fight with Azamat, both of them are nude at this point and their fight escalates into the
elevator, then to a banquet hall. After which they part ways. This scene is showing us as to
how Kazakhs do not have the slightest propriety to not even walk around when they are
naked, much less fight. But before the fight Borat visits another group of people for his
interview, this time it is a group of couples. And for that interview he learns the art of fine
dining. She teaches him everything when from greeting people to calling guests to asking for
the bathroom. But when he is there he unmistakably commits blunders. The die to the his
actions, all the people present there, talks about the cultural differences between the Kazakhs
and the Americans, which for them is vast (emphasis mine). And this scene was also one of
the reasons why I had initially asked whether Could East and the West, the Twain Ever
Meet? and going by the images presented one can gather that they are far from meeting. And
by the effect the movie creates in the minds of the viewers they shall not. Borat then calls a
guest to this dinner which is a black prostitute who is quite bulky. When he calls her the
people in the home ask Borat to get out with his guest. This part is quite important, but its
importance comes only towards the end of the movie. And Borat enjoys spending time with
this woman, and finally when she calls him for sex, he says that he cant and that he loves
someone else. Then it comes to the hotel and fight scene.
After Azamat leaves Borat, he is stranded and moneyless. He then meets a group of white
college students who are having a road trip in their RV. They meet with Borat get drunk and
talk about things. Here again a criticism is aimed at America, and here we can also come
across some levels of Russian and Muslim bashing. The first thing that is asked to him
(Borat) is that how are the fucking hoes of old Russia. Here we get to see the portrayal of
Russian women as overly sleazy and slutty. Then Borat is again asked whether women are
mens slaves in Russia? To which he replies no and also they say that not having slaves in
the U.S. is a shame. Again the image of intolerance and patriarchy is shown. Then they say as
to how minorities have more power, and that anyone that is minority has the upper hand. And
the minorities are anybody who is against the mainstream thought, again similar to a person
who does not belong to a canon, or does not respect a hegemony like us Indians for example.
Then Borat switches on a pornographic tape of Pamela Anderson, and is destroyed by the
sight he sees, it is interesting to note here that he is destroyed only be that sight of a woman
exercising her freedom (in the form of having sex) and never by the various unquestioned
things done by him. Then he wakes up in front of a Pentecostal church and goes in and is
given the idea of Christianity as salvation for him. This is quite symbolic of the old colonial
practice where Christianity was offered as a solution for all savage people (Indians included)
Then we come to the end of the movie where Azamat and Borat reunite, and Borat goes on to
get married to Pamela Anderson, who (the actress) does not even know that Borat exists. In
the mean time Borat comes to know the venue where Pamela Anderson is signing off her
book, which he finds to be unbelievable since it was a woman who wrote a book. He then
tries to marry her in the Traditional Kazakh way by using a wedding sack. He then goes on
to meet Pamela, and confesses his love for her and proposes her and when she denies, he says
that No. Agreement not necessary and tries to take her by force by en-sacking her. He is
stopped by the security guards. After this incident Borat goes back with a realization, a
realization that if you chase a dream, especially one with plastic chests, you can miss the
real beauty in front of your eyes. And he goes to the black call girl and he takes her to
Kazakhstan as his dearly beloved. This is the point where one will be able to realize that the
whole movie is a criticism of America, but then one can also question it as all the other
images that were presented were saying something else. This (the one that the movie is more
critical about Kazakhs) argument is further substantiated by the ending.
The scene that comes after it again shows that though all these lessons from America has
been learned there still is no change in the Kazakh people. After 8 months we see a Borat
who tells us that there is no more running of the Jews as it is bad, the viewer on hearing this
dialogue might feel that there has been some change, but on seeing the scene that follows
their belief will be proven wrong as in the subsequent scene we see the crucifixion of
someone (who is in all probability Jew). And one feels that all the modernity that has come to
Kazakhstan has only removed an old system and replaced it with a new one. Then we se
Doltan (the armless man) with the rubber arm which was shoved into Borats anus by those
gay men, this could again be symbolic of the fact that there is not much improvement in
medical system and the Kazakhs are using only the remains of the U.S.
Then we see Borats house again and also the Afro-American call girl, whom he has married
and who has also fit perfectly fit into the Kazakh framework. From this we can read that only
undesirables and sub-humans like Kazakhs and get acceptance among them and its not a
place for normal people.
The images in the film produced of Kazakhstan is that it has no morality and is a sexually
deviant region, it is also insensitive, impoverished, underdeveloped, prejudiced, patriarchal
and other such negative imagery. All these representations are made and represented through
the character Borat and the region Kuzcek. The represented image shown in front of us need
not be true if thought from another angle and one could argue that Kuzcek is just one region
in Kazakhstan how can it represent the whole nation. If one asks this question then, an answer
(my answer) would be yes! It can represent Kazakhstan to the common man, I who saw this
and critiqued am a student of English Literature and have dealt with similar literary work and
the distortion that it presents, and when I see a movie like this one I shall be able to spot out
the various dissimilarities and cite them. But I and any other person who has the same
exposure will be able to spot it, but what about the others who watch this for the sake of
entertainment? They shall definitely criticise this, but what of the others?
Human beings have a tendency to use deductive form of reasoning more than the inductive
form, the deductive form in simple words is deducing/deriving a general and usually
universal conclusion form a set of individual instances. In the area of science this method is
what is used to form theorems, axioms, laws etc. but in literature deductive reasoning has a
totally different implication, deductive reasoning in literature is what creates a literary canon.
And academics these days have focused its attention on destroying these cannons and pre-set
notions. An example of deducing could be when a person takes into account a few novels
written in English and find them to be exceptionally good, s/he brands English fiction as the
greatest. But cannon formation in real life is quite complex and different, it is many a times
formed due to the intricate power structures that exist in our society and like Foucault says
every discourse is made and controlled by the entity in power and is constantly changed to
ensure continuation of the rule of the dominating entity over the dominated. And also every
discourse again as Foucault says is thrice processed, first by the existing ideology/s , then by
the creators own ideology then the discursive practices that is used.
And if we try to apply this to the movie Borat then we can read this movie as a mockery in a
mocumentary, the mocumentary Borat was originally intended to mock the Americans but in
the mocumentary we get to see only Kazakhstan mocked, and this mockery could be read as
done by the powerful over the powerless. This reading of the movie is made possible only
towards the end. And with regard to discursive practices; an ideology that still exists (though
not dominant) is that east (meaning any territory which is outside or is not part of the west),
and my reading of the movie is that this ideology has exerted a considerable influence on the
movie greater than the authors own ideology of satirising the U.S. and also the discursive
practices i.e. the movie form makes the first ideology even more stronger as when words are
accompanied by voice and subsequent action the whole discourse becomes more powerful
and because of this the movie form has the greatest power to create a lasting impression in
the minds of the viewers.
The authors own ideology of Satire gets revealed to us only in the end, as in the end he says
even if you chase a dream, especially one with plastic chests you can miss the real beauty in
front of your eyes this statement could mean that if you aspire to be someone and go after
greener pastures you may miss the beautiful flower hidden inside the bush of thorns in your
back yard (region in this case)
But the strongest factor that determines the effect of the movie is the overdetermination that
is done through the movie, overdetermination was first mentioned by Freud in his
Interpretation of Dreams. This was later used by Louis Althusser too. The theory states that
singles causes are determined by multiple effects at once, more simply put it is providing
more evidences. This could be considered as the Residue of the day of colonialism and
capitalism. And over determination helps one easily jump into conclusions as once could
always just take the matter at face value and not read between the lines and even provide
evidences for claims such as the Kazakhs are intolerant they have no sense of Morality
their society is extremely patriarchal and that even if they are thrown into water they will
still stick to licking. Another reason why these claims are so powerful is that because of the
fact that everything is laced in humour.
There is in the movie a clear indication that all the stereotypical notions of and about certain
classes of people in the society like the Jews, the Arabs, the Muslims, the Asians, the
Russians, and all the undesirables, in a society. But all those references come with a mask
of humour and are not noticed at times, but are just embedded into the minds of the audience
as sleeping memories.
My question to everyone present here is that, what exactly are we supposed to call this
movie; a comedy, a satire or a social evil laced with laughter. A statement or a humour where
Americas latent fear of the other is diffused is that what needs to be conveyed? It is time for
all of us to think on this. But I now believe that thinking about this is quite futile, as even
though it has been banned in Kazakhstan and Russia it has been treated by people like
Michael Medved by awarding it with 3.5 out of 4 stars, calling it "...simultaneously hilarious
and cringe-inducing, full of ingenious bits that you'll want to describe to your friends and
then laugh all over again when you do." Rotten Tomatoes classified it as one of the best-
reviewed films of 2006, with an aggregate "Certified fresh" rating of 91%. And the only
when negative review talked about the idiotic humour, and Baron himself an idiotic twit, and
how the movie is anti-American etc. but where did all the above criticism go? Why has it
not been made and acknowledged? And going by this I think it would be better if I say that
the twain will never be allowed to meet rather than putting forth a question of whether.