Where's Your Sense Of Humor?

I shall continue yelling tripe as long as tripe is being served.
-David Niven as Larry MacKay in the movie Please Don't Eat The Daisies

Borat is out on DVD so I rented a copy and watched it last week. Well, I watched about 45 minutes of it before I got bored and fast forwarded to the end. I could not believe how disappointing this movie was for me after reading and hearing all the hype surrounding it.

First, it has been described as satire but it is more closely aligned with Candid Camera, Punk'd, and America's Funniest Home Videos than it is with Dr. Strangelove (1964), The Great Dictator (1940) or This Is Spinal Tap (1984). Second, making ignorant people look ignorant does not take great comedic genius. I don't find practical jokes to be funny and this movie is one gigantic practical joke.

Merriam-Webster defined a practical joke as, a prank intended to trick or embarrass someone or cause physical discomfort. I think practical jokes are cruel and mean spirited. They also have a strong whiff of sadism emanating from them. How people can get enjoyment from the humiliation of their fellow man I have never understood. People who pull practical jokes always ask (when their victim gets upset), "Where's your sense of humor?"

Well, mine is reserved for things with a little wit. Making people look stupid is not witty. I always get the feeling that people who laugh at practical jokes do so out of both relief and fear. Relief that they were not the victim and fear that if they don't pretend that what they just saw was funny they could be the next person humiliated.

But even with all that I have written above I guess I will have to break down and admit that this film is funny....NOT!