Almost a decade ago, on Nov. 3, 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen unveiled a new comedy. This wasn’t your typical studio comedy, but something entirely different. It was a mockumentary — taking a fictional character and putting him in very real situations, with very real people. The film was called “Borat,” and from the day it was released, it was a cultural sensation.

“Borat” was the No. 1 film when it opened — definitely an impressive feat — but this accomplishment is significantly more impressive when you look at the number of theaters it opened in: 837.

For comparison, “Bad Moms,” the closest in genre we have in 2016 for this kind of film, opened in over 3,200 theaters.

“Borat” was hard to find, but those who found it went to the theater in droves. As the film expanded in more theaters, the grosses continued to grow, and when all was said and done, it was a critical and commercial smash.

These were the days when you couldn’t walk down the street without someone quipping “very nice” in a thick accent. The days when you couldn’t go 10 minutes without hearing “this suit is black — not.” The film produced an endless rotation of quotes for people to use, and everyone tried out their best Borat accent. You couldn’t avoid seeing Sacha Baron Cohen in that green swimsuit no matter how hard as you tried. Critics thought this film could be nominated for best picture, but it wasn’t.

After the film was released, when it was still in the cultural conversation for a few years. Everyone generally agreed the film was a classic. Then, a few years later, we just stopped talking about it. Go up to someone now and ask them about “Borat” and they’ll likely chuckle and say, “Oh yeah, that was pretty funny, remember him in that swimsuit?” but that’ll be about it.

“Borat” is a fascinating example of a film that was absolutely perfect, if not essential, for a 2006 United States, but is not necessarily suited for a 2016 United States.

For one thing, let’s look at the country in this time. Barack Obama was nothing more than a guy who gave a pretty good speech at the Democratic National Convention a couple years back. Facebook was on the rise, but MySpace was still king. George W. Bush’s economy had not yet collapsed. “American Idol” was the most popular show on television, and “Dancing with the Stars” was a close second.

For all intents and purposes, everything was actually going smoothly for this time in America. Sacha Baron Cohen comes in as “Borat,” though, and just obliterates us from every cultural angle. But the interesting thing is that we had two different reactions to this: absolute horror, or completely blissful ignorance. Many were appalled at the American behavior they saw displayed in “Borat,” while many did not even understand we were being made fun of. Regardless of what one got out of the film, everyone enjoyed it.

We were not in the mood to be offended, nor did we necessarily need sophistication. “Borat” was released when reality television was ruling the airwaves, and while the internet was mainstream, it was not necessarily a tool yet to share our opinions. Social media was in its infancy, so we did not have two sides of the political and opinion spectrum blasting their opinions at each other. Everyone stayed in their circles, and enjoyed the film in different ways.    `

I try not to be one of those people that says “everyone is too politically correct nowadays,” because those are the six words that instantly make you sound like an old curmudgeon, but I must wonder if “Borat” would fall victim to sensitivities if released today.

In this age where we binge-watch premium content, would this film that pokes fun at us using a camcorder really strike a nerve? It’s hard to know. When I re-watched the film, it was as funny as I remembered it, but it was a different watch. Instead of feeling like a tale of the times, it was a time capsule.This was a film that came out in 2006, and so perfectly captured American psychology at that time, that one should not be surprised the film diminished in culture.

At the end of the day though, films should not be treasure chests, but should feel relevant and essential. While media in 2016 shows us who we are today, “Borat” is the perfect picture of who we were a decade ago, whether we want to remember or not.

Published on November 2, 2016 at 7:11 pm