Natchez foils Borats poor taste plans

Published 12:00 am Friday, December 15, 2006

Borat, Schmorat! A few smart Natchez residents outfoxed the fox by thwarting Borat, the fictional journalist from Kazakhstan, when he came to Natchez looking to poke some filmmaking fun.

Months ago Borat, or more precisely, the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen who portrays him, came to Natchez in hopes of including some scenes from Natchez in his recently release film.

The filmmakers conned their way into a Natchez home, purportedly to film part of a documentary about Southern culture. Natchez, of course, welcomed the visitors with open arms. The real plan, however, was to pull the wool over the eyes of the unsuspecting dinner guests.

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From off-color, offensive humor and comments, to the &8220;surprise&8221; arrival of a prostitute as Borat&8217;s guest, the filmmakers had a cornucopia of questionable comedy waiting to unleash.

Fortunately, the Natchez people with whom the comedian chose as the butt of his humor were a bit too quick for him. The group caught onto the ridiculous behavior and put an end to it quickly and politely.

The crew was politely ushered the shenanigan-wielding actor out the door and locked it. Although no Natchez scenes appear in the final cut of the film, the filmmakers managed to recreate the entire dinner party stunt on an innocent group of participants in another city.

In Natchez, the joke was on Borat. Natchez and its people may not be as backward and as gullible as he may have heard in Kazakhstan.