Worst Date Movie Ever
I made it a goal to see "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhistan" this weekend. This is harder than it sounds, because I have a rule about seeing movies in the theater: I do it only if (a) I believe the movie is so visually and thematically spectacular that it cannot be properly appreciated on the relatively small screen of a television set, (b) if I share the experience with someone else, or (c) screw the rule, I can't go on with life as I know it unless I see the movie immediately.
"Borat: (etc)" was clearly not a case of (a), and after a bit of soul-searching, I decided it probably was not a case of (c) either. So I accepted the possibility that I might not be seeing it this weekend after all; it would depend on the schedules of others. In any event, I had chosen this weekend as a good one to hang out with my friends in Houston, and so I thought to pose the question to them.
My circle of friends in Houston includes a few people I don't know all that well--friends of the friends, whom I like well enough to get to know better. One happened to be cute and recently single; and, sure enough, she was available for general socializing on Sunday.
This set two separate plans in motion. First, of course, was the culmination of my desire to drag some unsuspecting friend to the theater, thereby making a theater viewing of Borat an example of rule exception (b) and therefore worth the time and money. But knowing that I had the opportunity to spend some time with a friendly single woman, I instinctively knew that no one else could be invited to participate in our goings-out. This was time to be reserved solely for the two of us. Very like, had I allowed my mind to wander into that dangerous territory, a date.
Now, I'm happy to be dating this woman. I liked her right away when I first met her, and if someone had set me up with her for a date, I'd have been quick to accept. But I've discovered that when I think of an impending meeting with a woman as a "date," I panic a little. I think of third dates, expensive dinners and flowers and candlelight and moonlight and serenading and all that. So as a rule, when I'm in a first-date scenario, I try to avoid applying that label to it. It's just me and some interesting woman I'd like to get to know. We can call it a date afterwards, if we must.
Had I reflected on it, however, I'd have realized that much as I wanted to see Borat, there was the excellent possibility of the movie being horribly unsuited for a date.
Sure enough, it was cruelly, brutally funny, so impolite that one wondered from time to time whether it was a faux pas to not avert one's eyes. There was cringing and wincing from both of us, as if we had been watching one of the "Jackass" movies. In all, I loved Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhistan; and she liked it, though her appreciate of it appeared to have been marred by its being extremely rude. But next time we see a movie together, it's probably going to be something warm, and light, and perhaps just a little bit safer.
If you're still wondering whether this is an endorsement of the movie, let me assure you that it is. So long as you do not think of yourself as easily offended, you will either learn something about yourself by watching it, or enjoy the hell out of it, or both. Just... don't bring a date. All I'm sayin'.
"Borat: (etc)" was clearly not a case of (a), and after a bit of soul-searching, I decided it probably was not a case of (c) either. So I accepted the possibility that I might not be seeing it this weekend after all; it would depend on the schedules of others. In any event, I had chosen this weekend as a good one to hang out with my friends in Houston, and so I thought to pose the question to them.
My circle of friends in Houston includes a few people I don't know all that well--friends of the friends, whom I like well enough to get to know better. One happened to be cute and recently single; and, sure enough, she was available for general socializing on Sunday.
This set two separate plans in motion. First, of course, was the culmination of my desire to drag some unsuspecting friend to the theater, thereby making a theater viewing of Borat an example of rule exception (b) and therefore worth the time and money. But knowing that I had the opportunity to spend some time with a friendly single woman, I instinctively knew that no one else could be invited to participate in our goings-out. This was time to be reserved solely for the two of us. Very like, had I allowed my mind to wander into that dangerous territory, a date.
Now, I'm happy to be dating this woman. I liked her right away when I first met her, and if someone had set me up with her for a date, I'd have been quick to accept. But I've discovered that when I think of an impending meeting with a woman as a "date," I panic a little. I think of third dates, expensive dinners and flowers and candlelight and moonlight and serenading and all that. So as a rule, when I'm in a first-date scenario, I try to avoid applying that label to it. It's just me and some interesting woman I'd like to get to know. We can call it a date afterwards, if we must.
Had I reflected on it, however, I'd have realized that much as I wanted to see Borat, there was the excellent possibility of the movie being horribly unsuited for a date.
Sure enough, it was cruelly, brutally funny, so impolite that one wondered from time to time whether it was a faux pas to not avert one's eyes. There was cringing and wincing from both of us, as if we had been watching one of the "Jackass" movies. In all, I loved Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhistan; and she liked it, though her appreciate of it appeared to have been marred by its being extremely rude. But next time we see a movie together, it's probably going to be something warm, and light, and perhaps just a little bit safer.
If you're still wondering whether this is an endorsement of the movie, let me assure you that it is. So long as you do not think of yourself as easily offended, you will either learn something about yourself by watching it, or enjoy the hell out of it, or both. Just... don't bring a date. All I'm sayin'.