Borat the Anthropologist

Everyone’s favourite Kazakhstani, Borat, has a brand new movie coming out. Grant McCracken, anthropologist and author of This Blog Sits At, argues that there is more to Borat than knuckleheaded and shameless stereotyping. Instead he argues that because he is percieved by his victims as a child of innocence, he is able to get so much closer to the edges of what is socially acceptable.

“The Borat character is good at anthropology, and his ethnographic excursion works as a kind of “edge finding” to use the language of trend watchers and futurists.

On the Conan O’Brien show, he investigated the categories and rules that govern what people may say about desire, especially in the highly codified circumstances of the talk show.

The interview is just settling down, when Borat comments on Queen Latifah, and says with great sincerity.

“I would like to make a romance inside of her.”

O’Brian shakes his head in astonishment, and it is clear that he is thinking exactly what the rest of us are thinking. This is a patent obscenity, except…well, perhaps, the charming and old fashioned “romance” saves it.

Does it. Or doesn’t it? Where’s the edge? What’s the rule? Everyone is now desparately trying to “run the numbers” to find the reading that would make it OK and more or less COI. Which of course we can’t. Ok.

Finally, O’Brien asks, “you want to make a romance inside of her?”

Borat replies with great feeling and sincerity, and a resignation that says “I know I am asking for the stars, and that I do not deserve such a thing.”

“I hope.”

This sells the joke and the COI notion to perfection. This guy has no clue how far off acceptable behavior he has put himself.

But the boundary testing is not done. Second laters, with pitch perfect wonder and good natured indignation, Borat asks Conan.

“You tell me, you would not like to make a liquid explosion in Queen Latifah?”

This is over the top. Conan is horrified. The audience recoils. Ok, we can draw the line right here. Not even good natured innocence will forgive this. Not in our culture. Not on a talk show.