Daily Archives: November 1, 2006

Borat’s Dupes Play “Victim Card”

Irritations

So Borat hasn’t even released yet, and already the tom-toms of potential litigation are being pounded by many of the dupes that the in-character Sacha Baron Cohen got over on. Newsweek already did a full-fledged feature piece on the matter, interviewing some of those who appear in the movie and talking about some of the production’s slick tricks with release waivers. The reaction seemed to be kind of mixed, with most people claiming they figured out something was amiss.

The latest bit to catch my eye, though, came from the magazine’s October 30 issue’s letters to the editor, in which D.A. Arthur of Panama City, Florida, describes him/herself as “one of Cohen’s many victims.” The letter relates how Arthur booked Borat Sagdiyev on a morning news show in Jackson, Mississippi, thinking he was a legitimate reporter from Kazakhstan. Arthur goes on to say, “Because of [Borat], my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did thereafter. I spiraled into depression, and before I could recover I was released from my contract early. It took me three months to find another job and now I’m thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure…. Think of all the other people who’ve probably been fired because of his antics.”

What someone on the hook can’t say, for fear of it winding up in court filings, I will go on record as saying: D.A. Arthur, you are an idiot. If you were indeed let go early from your job, I can assure you it wasn’t due to this one incident, but rather an accumulated opinion regarding your work. If it took you three months to find work, that may be a reflection of general opinion of your skill sets. And finally, if you are thousands of dollars in debt after only three months without work, you are not particularly financially astute, and likely living beyond your means. I’m not discounting or short-selling depression by any means, but c’mon… grow a pair, of your choice. For the full letter, click here, and scroll down.

Come Early Morning

Musings

I can’t find my notes at the moment, but one of the films I caught last week was Joey Lauren Adams’ writing and directorial debut, Come Early Morning, with Ashley Judd. The full review will post next week, timed to coincide with its November 10 opening from Roadside Attractions, but it’s not necessarily a bad little film, rooted in some of Adams’ own experiences and infused with a realistic sense of atmosphere and place.

Very few in Hollywood today do the whole rural-woman-making-poor-decisions thing as well as Judd, and the movie deepens as it moves along. Come Early Morning is one of those get-it-off-your-chest-type directorial debuts, kind of like Gary Oldman’s Nil By Mouth, except of course completely not. If it expands one’s reading of Adams as a person and actress, though, it’s unlikely to necessarily lead to much outside, mainstream directing work.

(Still) Feeding the Machine

Ephemera

So, just as another heads up, we’re still in the process of importing over all
kinds of archived material here at “Shared Darkness,” and will be for the next couple of weeks. That means you’ll
see the database swell accordingly as we move
closer to our big re-launch. There will also be new stuff posted daily, including reviews, features and other tidbits, as well as coverage of AFI FEST 2006, which kicks off this week. So what’s the difference? Well, simply fanfare, that’s all. That means you’re even cooler for reading now, before Don Cheadle chips in with his “Cooking Corner” column and things really blow up.

Err… whoops, I’ve said too much. In the meantime, by all means, explore. There’s plenty of evergreen material, loads of reviews and even a brief, illuminating and only quasi-nerdy introduction here.