After being sued by South Carolinian frat boys, driving instructors, and Romanian villagers is Borat in the clear?
Jeffrey Lemerond filed a law suit against 20th C. Fox last year for damages including humiliation (because he runs like a girl), and some other cry baby crap, because they used footage of him getting chased down a street in Manhattan by S.B. Cohen in the Borat movie. The law states, and it's a over a century old, you can't use someone's likeness without their consent for commercial purposes. BUT it's been interpreted to exclude “newsworthy events or matters of public interest”. Makes sense- you'd be staring at a blank screen every time you turned on the local news.
The great thing about this case is the judge's interpretation of the Borat movie. She says, "the movie employs as its chief medium a brand of humor that appeals to the most childish and vulgar in its viewers". Thank you judge, you've just described 90% of the comedies ever made worth watching. Nonetheless, she goes on to say, "at its core, however, “Borat” attempts an ironic commentary of “modern” American culture, contrasting the backwardness of its protagonist with the social ills [that] afflict supposedly sophisticated society." Well, I'd say that's pretty fucking far from childish and vulgar. Why can't she just say, "Douchebag! This movie rocks! Fuck you, get your cryin' mamma's boy ass out of my hall."
The Judge tops it off with "Indeed, its message lies in that juxtaposition and the implicit accusation that "the time will come when it will disgust you to look in a mirror.” Such clearly falls within the wide scope of what New York courts have held to be a matter of public interest."
Only one word comes to mind- fathomless. In effect, Lemeronds disgust with his own image accessible to millions, even billions, of fellow morons, is what scuttles his ass. Niiiiccce.
