There are many reasons why the Borat sequel has made headlines. The satirical comedy (full title: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan) was streamed by “tens of millions of customers” during its opening week on Amazon Prime Video. Many viewers were drawn to see the movie for the prank that the titular character, Borat Sagdiyev (a daring Sacha Baron Cohen), pulls on President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Guiliani.
Apart from these large-scale accomplishments, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm also provides audiences with one of the most heartfelt scenes of 2020. This will likely come as a surprise to fans of the original Borat movie, who are familiar with the character’s crude and often bigoted behavior. By portraying this larger than life character, Sacha Baron Cohen pokes fun at those who share his character’s ignorance. It’s as if he’s telling us, “Look at how narrow-minded people like Borat are. That is the real joke.” For this joke to land, there has to be an emotional core that brings out the film’s humanity.
In this case, it’s real-life babysitter, Jeanise Jones.
When disgraced Kazakhstan journalist Borat is tasked with repairing relations between his country and the U.S., he resolves to give his 15-year-old daughter, Tutar (24-year-old breakout star Maria Bakalova), as a gift to “Vice Premier” Mike Pence. Before spending the day to raise supplemental funds for Tutar’s plastic surgery, Borat leaves her with Jones.
“I just thought I was doing a documentary about how we do things in America,” Jones recently told Variety. According to Jones, the crew had told her that they were filming “a documentary on that little girl [Bakalova], who turned out to be a grown actress.” Concerned for the woman she believed to be a child bride in the making, Jones had an unscripted conversation with “Tutar”.
When Jones asks what her plans are, Tutar replies that she “will get the [plastic] surgery so that my daddy can give me as a present for this American man.”
“Do you want that?” Jones gently asks. In the silence that follows, Jones answers for her, “No, you don’t, because you would’ve said yes.”
Upon seeing that Tutar is still unconvinced, Jones tells her that she doesn’t “think you need to do [the surgery] because you’re pretty, and you’re young, and any man should like you as you are. You shouldn’t want to be anyone else but yourself.” Not only is the content of Jones’s speech incredibly moving, but the unprompted nature of it makes her words even more meaningful.
To add some humour to this emotional moment, Tutar counters with “If I have enormous titties [from the surgery], I don’t have to learn how to swim,” to which Jones informs her that “Your titties will not keep you from drowning. You would still have to learn how to swim.”
Before saying goodbye, Jones urges Tutar to “think about some of the stuff I said. Think about going to school… [some place where you can] use your brain, because your daddy is a liar.”
With Borat Subsequent Moviefilm owing part of its success to Jones, the movie’s star and producer Baron Cohen donated $100,000 to benefit her community of Oklahoma City. According to IndieWire, this donation “will be distributed by the Ebenezer Baptist Church at Jones’ request, and have been earmarked for essential needs like shelter and food.”
Please consider donating to Scobey’s GoFundMe page to aid Jones in her time of need.
Photos: Her Campus Media