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Tuesday, November 14, 2006

O Litigious World!

posted by on November 14 at 16:59 PM

All these stories about people suing over their humiliating appearances in Borat are really sad—not because they were tricked into being worse than they are, but because they were tricked into being just as they are.

There is this story (referenced in today’s Morning News) about a fraternity brother who is suing over his portrayal as a drunken, racist buffoon. The following is a photo from his myspace page (note the wall decor):

1113061borat3.jpg

Even sadder is this story about the Romanians in the real-life village of Glod (literally: “mud”) who want to sue over their collective portrayal as violent, superstitious wife-beaters. When reporters showed up to ask about the suit:

One man was seen slapping his sister, who had appeared in the film, and slamming the gate to his ramshackle home shut to keep her from being interviewed. At another point, a resident threatened news photographers with a stick, and another pelted their car with rocks.

In all fairness, the villagers are also suing for being paid only a few dollars for letting animals shit in their houses and unknowingly strapping sex toys to their bodies. Meanwhile, Borat is raking in the millions. It must be aggravating to realize you’ve been bought for .00001% of the wealth you’ve helped generate—maybe even more aggravating than being portrayed as unflatteringly close to your true self.

RSS icon Comments

1

"It must be aggravating to realize you’ve been bought for .00001% of the wealth you’ve helped generate—maybe even more aggravating than being portrayed as unflatteringly close to your true self."

Yes, I'd like to be paid .00002% of Cohen's salary for the exposure of my fat girl porn collection. At least I'm not into kiddies like those millionaire weirdos Pee Wee Herman and Ferris Buehler's teacher.

Posted by last days sucker | November 14, 2006 5:36 PM
2

Reality does not pay.

Posted by Lloyd Clydesdale | November 14, 2006 5:53 PM
3

Racist drunken frat boys who post racist drunken dorm photos of themselves on their Myspace page and then try to sue Cohen and 20th Century Fox for making them look like, well, drunken racist frat boys, get precisely zero sympathy from me. I suspect once their Myspace photos are displayed as defense exhibit "A", they'll not get much more sympathy from a judge or jury.

Dorks. I hope they get laughed out of the courtroom.

Posted by SDA in SEA | November 14, 2006 6:16 PM
4

Ferris Buehler and Pee Wee! I love those guys!

Are they really closeted pedophiles?

Posted by laurie | November 14, 2006 6:58 PM
5

"Ferris Buehler and Pee Wee! I love those guys! Are they really closeted pedophiles?"

-are you kidding?

these frat boys proved their ultra stupidity by bringing so much attention to themselves, the schmucks that they are... when they could have played it off like they were actually just having fun with mr. ali g.

Posted by pee wee likes to make sex to kiddie porn | November 14, 2006 11:27 PM
6

Whoa Brendan, how can you not feel badly for the people of Glod? If the stories are as they claim, they were taken advantage of in a pretty shocking manner. It's one thing to let frat boys tie their own nooses, it's another thing to take advantage painfully poor and uneducated.

I think frustration and mistrust of people with cameras and recording equipment is probably at an all time high in Glod. They've gotten shit on for being poorly off, and now they're getting shit on for getting shit on. Life seems a bit stark for the residents of Glod.

Posted by Brie | November 14, 2006 11:39 PM
7

Are you mad because they did things that were quite humiliating, or are you mad because they did things that were quite humiliating without being paid enough for it?

Posted by bma | November 15, 2006 2:37 AM
8

Yeah, the frat boys can go fuck themselves. But the poor people of Glod I feel sorry for. They were duped. SBC would be a real stand up guy if he offered them a piece of the HUGE profit pie he's making off them.

Did I say "frat boys"? I mean "fat ugly drunken racist frat boys."

Posted by monkey | November 15, 2006 9:04 AM
9

BMA, I'm not sure if that's directed to me, but let's assume it is.

The thing I have a problem with is that the people of Glod weren't supposed to be part of the joke. I assumed, as I think did many, that they were actors being paid to portray Cohen's set up for his film. These people weren't supposed to be his prey (i.e., people who react to the character), they function as actors and should be informed and paid accordingly.

What he should have done is gone to the town, told them the truth about the project, let them make their informed decisions about participating, and then paid them an honest wage. If a one-armed man wants to have a sex toy strapped to his arm for a film, that's great, but he should know what it is, and be paid accordingly.

Cohen's shtick is supposed to expose bigotry, not take advantage of a town's lack of education, naiveté, and the fact that they don't speak English.

Posted by Brie | November 15, 2006 9:42 AM
10

brendan read slate today.

Posted by i did too | November 15, 2006 6:33 PM

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