Abstract
Is the film Borat (2006) an instance of anti-Semitism? Only if understood superficially, though Sacha Baron Cohen's Jewishness does not exempt Borat from charges of anti-Semitism. Does the film expose anti-Semitism in others, or at least uncover their indifference? Yes, partly, but while risking that the exposé itself will be misinterpreted. More subtly, the film ridicules Jewish worries about anti-Semitism, a strategy that undercuts moral earnestness. Finally, Borat challenges, by ridiculing more "sophisticated” social attitudes, the very basis on which one decides about the nature and existence of anti-Semitism. In short, Borat unmasks anti-Semitism to denounce it; but, even more, interrogates our concerns about its manifestations.
Recommended Citation
James, William C.
(2008)
"Borat and Anti-Semitism,"
Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 12:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32873/uno.dc.jrf.12.01.02
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol12/iss1/2
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
VolNum
12