The Rudy Giuliani Borat scene is somehow more horrifying than expected
The secret's out: President Trump's personal attorney and top campaign surrogate Rudy Giuliani was duped by a potentially career-ending prank as part of Sacha Baron Cohen's sequel to 2006's Borat. Having watched it, I can confirm that even knowing what's coming won't prepare you for the shock and revulsion of the scene.
Discourse Blog's Jack Crosbie concurred, writing that the moment is "far more graphic than any of the reviews make it sound." The scene involves Borat's supposedly 15-year-old daughter, Tutar — played by 24-year-old actress Maria Bakalova — who is posing as a journalist with the intent of seducing Giuliani, 76, in a hotel room.
During the interview, Giuliani spouts off lies about China supposedly having "manufactured" the coronavirus and "deliberately spread it all around the world." Tutar, all the while, plays the part of a charming but inexperienced journalist. Several times during the interview she flirtatiously touches Giuliani's knee, and at the end she invites him to "have a drink in the bedroom."
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Once in the suite, Giuliani helps Tutar remove her microphone (though the room is of course bugged with Borat 2's hidden cameras and mics) and tells her "you can give me your phone number and your address." He then proceeds to lean back on the bed and "pushes both hands into the front of his pants, possibly re-tucking his shirt," writes Crosbie, "but they stay there as he rummages around a bit, sighing."
Before anything else happens, Borat (wearing what Giuliani would later describe as "a pink transgender outfit") bursts into the room, causing Giuliani to sit up and yank his hands quickly out of his pants with an "oop!"
"She's 15, she too old for you! … She's my daughter, please, take me instead!" Borat tells Giuliani, at which point the police were promptly called. (Giuliani, for what it's worth, also bafflingly clarifies to Cohen, "I don't want you.")
The whole movie will be available to watch on Amazon starting on Friday. You can read the full transcript of the scene's aftermath — although trust me, there can't be "spoilers" for a moment quite like this — at Discourse Blog.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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