This is why I don't like Borat

[puppetmaker]

Recently across various parts of the Internet there has been a lot of talk about something that happened at Chicago Wizard World Convention. A man who goes by the Internet handle of “The Yellow Hat Guy,” because he wears a distinctive yellow hat at conventions, blogged about his ambush humor against Rob Liefeld and how he tried to get an apology from Liefeld for Heroes Reborn and when not getting the satisfaction that he sought, he gave Liefeld a copy of “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” with a rather off-putting inscription and high fived his buddies because he pwned Liefeld.

Liefeld had stated that he could barely understand what the guy was saying so he gave stock answers to what he thought he heard. The guy tossed the book on his table in a bag and ran. He gave the book to someone who had lost his copy in a house fire.

YHG is now finding himself in a rather uncomfortable position of being pointed at as the reason that pros rarely or don’t come to conventions. So if a comic book pro cancels an event for the next 6 months, YHG is going to be blamed for driving them off.

I have never liked ambush humor. It seems very mean spirited and at least one of the participants has no say in the matter. And for the record, I wasn’t a fan of candid camera either but at least they gave people the choice to be shown on national television after they had been gotten. Punk’d totally drove me up the tree and convinced me that Ashton Kutcher has a dark side that rather scary.

I was at a DragonCon a number of years ago. I was working tech at the time. I just happen to be passing when Cliff Stoll poured water on Harlan’s shoes after asking if the pitcher was half empty or half full and then dumped the water on Harlan’s rather nice and rather expensive Italian loafers informing him neither he just needed to look at the problem from another angle. Some people gasped in shock and others laughed and high fived. It was ambush humor that cost Harlan one of his favorite pairs of shoes.

Borat and Bruno are nothing but ambush humor. It is Sasha Baron Cohen’s humor signature. He says it is to shine a bright light on the hypocrisy of humanity but I find it mean spirited and crass and the participants aren’t given a choice or are down right lied to as to what is going to happen to them.

If I don’t like someone’s writing or art or acting or whatever, I don’t support it. I don’t buy their wares. I leave them alone at conventions or social functions. I don’t go about stalking them and telling them that they suck or make their lives uncomfortable in various other ways. I don’t ambush them, go high five my buddies on how I told them off, and then put the whole thing on the Internet for the world to see.

It’s just….well…tacky.

I am grateful for polite people with good manners.

Comments

[1-rhiannon-1.livejournal.com]

I'm with you hon - I can't stand Borat/Bruno and punk'd makes me snarl. And it is quite tacky that people do these things - it's like no one stops to consider that the people behind these comics/tv shows/movies/whatever are actual human beings with feelings that can be hurt. It's not funny to do things like that - I just don't understand how people can do things like that and look at themselves in the mirror.

Hey, I ruined ThisGuy's shoes at the Con, high five! Pfft. Whatever.

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

I remember one episode of Punk'd where they tried doing it to Katie Holmes -- she not only had no idea what was going on, but as the joke became more complicated, she became more upset to the point of tears. That's not funny. I wanted to reach into the TV and slap all of them.

That said, I've never liked Cohen either. I find the premise of both films offensive, which means I'm probably playing right into what he wants me to be.

[norda.livejournal.com]

Agreed on all counts, and you just put two and two together for me as to another reason why one of my own recent convention experiences disturbed me so much... not just the obvious "I can't believe he said that" reaction.

[lavendergem.livejournal.com]

ITA. When Borat came out, all the girls at school were talking about how hilarious it was, but as they related why they thought it was hilarious, I found it to be the most cruel, asinine and UN-funny concept I'd ever heard off.

I bristle every time I see a Bruno commercial. That kind of "humor" leaves me cold.

[yendi]

*nod*

I hate ambush humor in general. It's not just pranking -- I can get a kick out of, say Ted Nancy or Lazlo Toth -- it's something bordering on assault, and something that removes someone's safe space when it's practiced at a con.

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. I couldn't quite put my finger on why I didn't like this Borat crap, other than the obvious low-brow appeal. You nailed it.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

It is not funny at all, to me. Really.

[gcuvier.livejournal.com]

I find it disturbing how people can laugh at an act of cruelty. I hate all of those candid camera and funniest home videos and prank shows. I remember a few of the much older candid cameras that were just clever things that made people stop and shake their heads in wonderment or amusement at seeing something absurd but it all became vicious so quickly.

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

I'll confess - I would have found the simple act of buying that book for Liefeld and giving it to him to have been funny, even ironic, given his foibles as an artist and history with Marvel. It could have been played well, with a wink and a nod. Maybe there would have been laughs afterwards. (Or maybe not, who knows.)

But demanding an apology for Heroes Reborn? And that inscription? That pushed it over the edge into sheer jackassery and ruined it completely. Sigh. I mean seriously, whatever you think about his art, Liefeld's still a human being who's done an assload more for/to/in the comics industry than just about any fan he meets ever has or will. Grrr, argh.

[ladytalker13.livejournal.com]

I've watched CANDID CAMERA and enjoyed it - aslo will admit to watching GIRLS BEHAVING BADLY on occasion, too... but the difference is that these shows aren't mean-spirited and hurtful, like ambush humor is...

I can't believe the guy who poured water on Harlan's shoes is still breathing! And I can't imagine ever having the nerve to do something like that to someone... anyone...

[beeker121.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. I tend to avoid ambush humor in general, and you articulated very well the reasons why.

In the trailer for Bruno when he's back stage at a fashion show in his velcro suit getting stuck to everything all I could think was that some poor assistant was likely in tears trying to fix the things that were being messed up before they went onstage. Making other people's lives more difficult just isn't funny.

[sneezythesquid.livejournal.com]

I totally agree on SBC and his style of "humor." I think it's cheap, underhanded and with the edge he likes to dance on, I keep waiting to hear that one of his victims has responded with violence.

If I don’t like someone’s writing or art or acting or whatever, I don’t support it. I don’t buy their wares. I leave them alone at conventions or social functions.

That's because you have something that's sorely lacking all too often these days. Class.

[wherdafux-d-cat.livejournal.com]

Ambush humor is a misnomer. If there's an ambush involved, there's no real humor. I do agree with the above commenter on early Candid Camera (and the ilk) versions 'that made people stop and shake their heads in wonderment or amusement at seeing something absurd.' I think the key for me is if the person laughing were on the receiving end of the ambush, would they still be laughing?

What I find most telling in your YHG recap is Liefield's account of their meeting, specifically, 'The guy tossed the book on his table in a bag and ran.' Chickenshit. I'm sure YHG's version is much more manly (for want of a better word) but I have no doubt that Liefield's is more accurate. There is no pwnage here. Just a sad disconnect from courtesy, reasonable behavior, and maturity.

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

I am completely with you on that. I will say, though, that some of my favorite comics could be termed "insult comics," such as Kathy Griffin and the great Don Rickles. Of course, they tend to pick on people in the public eye, and they also do a lot of self-deprecating humor.

I suppose that's different than ambush humor, even if it's not "nice."

[merlodge.livejournal.com]

I am for the most part the same. I dont want to give bad publicity and help them make more money.