Behind the Schemes

Unfortunately for Rowe, the rodeo man, he caught on too late. Once Borat took the mike at the rodeo, he saluted President George W. Bush by saying, "May he drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq," then butchered the national anthem so badly that a horse reared up and fell over. Rowe, in a word, freaked. "I go out there," he recalls, "and I say, 'Get the hell outta this dadgum building! Half the sumbucks in here are probably packin' heat, and they'll put you in front of the firin' squad.' Boy, they got in their trucks and hauled boogie." When Rowe later learned that Borat was an actor on HBO, he breathed easy. He doesn't get HBO, and neither do his friends. Then a couple of months ago, a pal called him up after seeing the "Borat" trailer in a theater and said, "Hey, movie star!"

Most of Borat's victims manage to avoid saying anything that might embarrass them in front of, say, an international audience. Others aren't so careful. Before sending Borat out to sing the anthem, Rowe imparts some advice about blending in with Americans and, along the way, makes derogatory comments about gays and Muslims. Reminded of what he said on camera, the normally gregarious Rowe falls silent. "Man, oh, man," he says. "I guess I'll go see that sumbuck so I know whether to run off and hide." Late in the film, a trio of fraternity brothers from the Chi Psi house at the University of South Carolina pick up a hitchhiking Borat, share a few beers with him, offer their commentary on sexual politics and generally do America not-so-proud. (The fraternity's national chapter did not follow up on a request to locate the young men.)

Given the likelihood that Baron Cohen's movie will make piles of money--and the loose legalese of those release forms--someone is sure to try taking Borat to court. It's one of the few lessons in American life that Borat doesn't learn on screen: in this country, we sue. "I have a lawyer friend who said, 'Let me represent you! This is fraud!' " says Linda Stein, a New York-based sculptor whom Borat interviewed alongside Welch. Stein says she'll leave it alone, but she has terms. "If he invites me to the screening," she says, laughing. "And if he comes to my next gallery opening." Be careful what you wish for.

© 2006