Country Music

I found Borat’s “experiment with country music” very effective and enjoyable because of the skits ability to heighten the viewer’s awareness of just what people are willing to do or say in an unfamiliar context. Borat’s song is appallingly anti-Semitic, however the audience is perfectly willing to stamp and clap along with the song because Borat is foreigner and there are no Jews in the audience to take offense. The scene is amusing, but scary, because it seems to be so strongly reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Both the message of the song and vigorous hand movements remind one of a Nazi rally. Borat’s character proves that people are willing to do or say mostly anything if someone tells them to do, or if it’s in their own self-interest.

Despite the frightening effectiveness of Borat’s skit, I wonder if his audience watching the show will be too quick to assume that the only reason the song was popular was because it was introduced into a Southern community. I sense that Borat is probably most popular on the West and Northeast parts of the United States, both of which are areas whose populations are quick to point out how different/superior they are to the South. I feel like the majority of people watching Cohen’s show think, “hah, look at those ignorant Southerners,” which of course, is missing the point completely. I highly doubt that the Borat show is meant to be an ego boost for Northerners. I think the message is probably lost in translation for many viewers, which is unfortunate because instead of forcing introspection in an audience that is perfectly happy to sing along to music that describes the rape or beating of women, the “experiment with country music” points a finger at only one segment of the population.