Borat stretched out on Myspace Black Carpet rug

TO ME, MySpace is the definition of a Love-Hate relationship. I hate most of its users, the ads, the layout, but it's a fantastic source to find information about parties and events.

When Fox decided to buy MySpace, the community went nuts, and by community I mean five to 18 year old students across America.

I didn't have an opinion either way but I knew it would just probably bring more ad's, related to every franchise owned in Rupert Murdoch's right pocket, in my face, in an every annoying fashion. Yet recently I did something I haven't done in years ... I clicked an ad!

About a week ago, logging into the MySpace homepage presented me with an advertisement for the upcoming Borat movie. Now I saw the trailer for Borat during my attendance of Clerks II and I knew then and there it was going to be a riot. I had to check this ad out because I couldn't believe what I was reading. A free screening two months before the release of the film at 25 locations across the globe, most are in America, however.

The instructions were simple enough. You had to add "Borat" and "MySpace presents Black Carpet screenings" as your friends. Then you had to place these two as your top friends. Last you had to print out your profile and bring it to the screening. For those unfamiliar with the basic concept of MySpace, you setup a profile: pictures, text, whatever floats your boat. Then you get “friends,” now everyone can see who your friends are, but by default only your top 8 friends show up on your profile. Many 15 year old boys relationships have ended because Billy didn't put Jenny in his Top 8. So now the few people in America who actually know who Borat/Ali G/Bruno (thank you HBO for bringing Da Ali G show to America) will be spreading the word unintentionally. It's word of mouth without you having to tell anyone.

As September 20 drew closer and closer people were wondering when we would get more information. We knew the film was going to play in so many places but we have yet to find out the venues and time. We had to watch our bulletins (MySpace terminology that roughly means a mass email to all your MySpace friends) for more details. 48 hours before the screening we receive the information, it would be playing at 9PM in quite a few time zones across the globe. Borat himself will be attending one of these screenings!

To my horror the movie theatre MySpace chose was 35 miles away from my house, but it was on a Wednesday and there is no better way to get over hump day then by seeing a comedy. With the movie starting at 9PM I knew that there would probably be a line around the block. Loading up my book bag with a book, psp, ds, protein bar, and a liter of water I was ready to camp. I arrived 5 hours early and to my surprise the movie theater was closed. When you're in Texas you really don't want to be sitting out in the sun for more than 10 minutes at a time. Luckily I was spotted by an employee who let me hang back in the lobby while he was cleaning the place up. Not 10 minute go by and 3 people show up, one holding the lawn chairs, one holding a box of pizza, another with a 12 pack. I quickly befriended these men and we did what any other fans would do: run by our Ali G, Borat and Bruno impresionations while the damn show was playing on my laptop. More and more people started to trickle in and we had to leave the lobby and actually stand outside in line. At this point I wish I brought a lawn chair.

At around 7PM I officially can't see the last person in line since they are so far away, the hype was on. Would Borat come to Plano, TX? Would he high five us or give us kisses on the cheek? We were pondering the day away and enjoying the beautiful Texas sun set, which for us means a 20 degree (Fahrenheit) drop in temperature. At around 8PM a Hummer pulls up and three girls with large breasts and tight MySpace tank tops come out. With a megaphone they tell us that seating will being at 9PM and the movie will play at 10PM. We aren't allowed entrance with either laptops or cellphones. The crowd basically erupts unanimously with the question: Can I just turn it off? Nope, we had to go back to our cars and actually leave behind our precious mobile connection to the world behind. With one hour to go this isn't bad at all. People were holding peoples place in line while droves were walking thru the parking lot with arm fulls of mobile phones. With no electronic equipment in sight, people were starting to get fidgety, they wanted to go on MySpace or call their friends, but instead something beautiful happened. Remember earlier I stated we needed to bring a print out of our profile to the screening? Well random strangers just started to swap profiles and read each others information. Laughs were shared, profanity was uttered, but more importantly friendships (at least in my case) were made. We were given the command to sound off to see if the theater has enough capacity. With around 200 people on line we had to trim the line a little, sadly.

8:45PM comes, 15 minutes left before we need to go inside, you couldn't hear people more than five feet away since everyone was conversing so loudly. Another Hummer pulls up and a man with a suitcase hand cuffed to his wrist comes out. It was the film reel! We were just going bonkers, five hours of poor impersonations and Texas heat left us in a state of excitability that only a 10 year old on Christmas day can process.

The MySpace girls come out: "Please have your ID ready, we will also be using metal detectors so be prepared to empty your pockets." These folks were serious. They did not want anything that runs on batteries to enter this theater. I was starting to think they were treating us like the gypsies Borat hates so much. It was a minor inconvenience but being in front of the line we got the best seats of course. It takes about half an hour to screen and seat everyone. We were handed out surveys and pencils for us to complete with your typical questions: Age, sex, what shows do you like or do not like, have you seen these movies, how did you hear about Borat. It was 20 quick questions that everyone filled out more out of boredom then out of actual wanting.

The MySpace girly girls take stage and tell us Borat isn't attending but they are proud of the turn up and look forward to doing this more often. Borat appears on the screen and gives a message to all us “My Spaces” users. A few trailers play, then the next two hours is filled with laughter beyond which I've ever had in my life weather sober or drug induced. Forget Clerks I. Clerks II, Wedding Crashers, Bad Santa, this my friends is the funniest movie I have ever seen in my life.

Nine times out of 10 when I log on to MySpace I hate it, because a stick of deodorant is trying to add me as a friend, I get messages from random porn websites asking me to check out their web cam, or someone wanting to be cute and imbed a song into their profile which makes my ears bleed since MySpace seems to ignore whatever volume setting my computer has.

This one time, though, I have to applaud you MySpace. The marketing genius behind this needs to be given a nice big fat bonus. Of all the screenings, midnight showings, or product launches I've camped for, this one was hands down the best.

MySpace, and advertisers in general, are starting to learn that you can't market with a fish net anymore. Sure you may be a hit in mainstream America, but it's the long tail that counts. Personally I will be bringing many of my friends to this release, and telling even more people about this film. MySpace has advertised to the influentials, we heard their offer, we took the bait, and honestly it worked.

I'm not telling you to watch Fox News, I'm not telling you to check out Desperate House Wives, I'm not even telling you to like Rupert Murdoch, but I am telling you to see this movie and the PR guy behind this Black Carpet screening event needs to be brought a drink. High Five! ?