Can Borat Save the Oscars?

Israel Faxx, February, 2007

By Scott Collins (Los Angeles Times)

Oscar organizers are not, of course, required to reserve a role at the telecast for Sacha Baron Cohen. After all, there's always the chance that he may turn up in character as the bumbling, impossibly swarthy Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev and unsettle the tuxedoed attendees by offering one of his heavily accented and characteristically inappropriate greetings, such as "Good evening, gentlemen and prostitutes!"

But consider: The 35-year-old British actor, creator of the wildly popular Borat as well as the preternaturally misinformed hip-hopper Ali G, may offer ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences one of their best chances in years to score with young viewers, who've proven hard to reach despite...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.