3. Fashion Saves Lives

Sacha Baron Cohen does a really good job here of exposing the hyped-up materialistic nature of fashion. I'm not going to lie, I very much enjoy fashion - but in the end, it's just clothes. The interview at the end of this clip, with the designer who pretty much repeats every contradictory thing Cohen feeds him, demonstrates how incredibly fake the fashion world can be. The man contradicts himself at least 3 times in the interview, claiming that his collection is both intended as light and heavy, for the individual and for the community, etc. Fashionistas like to think that their clothes carry meaning, that they define who we are, but really, they're just clothes. The designers in this clip have extremely high opinions of their work, putting far more significance than is deserved on their occupation (no, clothes do not save lives). Fashion is fun, but it saves no lives, it has no profound goodness to it - it is an entirely materialistic (and wildly overpriced) profession/hobby/interest/whatever. At least the guy didn't say he thought consistency was important - I was definitely expecting him too.

This clip also demonstrates the willingness of people to say anything, go along with anything, when their speaking to someone foreign. Osama bin Laden is cool and fashionable? What? Did he actually just say that? Yes, he did - presumably because Bruno prompted him and, knowing nothing about other cultures, he assumed it was an ok, accepted thing to say (when in truth, it is way out of line and demonstrates the man's incredible ignorance).