Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Have anyone seen it?
I agree completely. I haven’t seen the movie but I did see the preview and I was astonished at the racism of it. Most of the complaints about the show have been directed towards the fake, sarcastic anti-semitism of Borat’s character - my complaint about it is directed at the real, genuine degradation of the Kazakhs.
It is painfully obvious that Cohen (whose being Jewish does not give him a free pass to mock other ethnicities) chose the Kazakh culture as his target of ridicule because they were an obscure ethnicity and he knew that not many people would be offended. Well, I for one am disgusted.
A similar show degrading Jews would NEVER see the light of day.
Today at lunch, I listened on NPR to what I assume was a BBC broadcast about this. While many of the interviewees expressed that Cohen was poking fun at Americans, an astute poster asked why he(Cohen) didn’t change the name of the republic to something fictional rather than something real. The presenter said something to the effect of “well, many are asking that, but Mr. Cohen doesn’t answer questions directly, he only talks in character.” Or something along those lines.
Mr. Cohen may not be a racists, but he is a jerk. And a clueless one at that. But then perhaps I don’t understand British humour.
I edited your thread title, WildfireMM**, to make it more descriptive.
Of course not, as Jews have been the target of specific racial hatred for generations whereas Khazaks have not. Not that I’m saying what he’s doing is OK, just that the comparison with the Jewish vilification situation is not valid.
It’s pretty obvious that the targets of Cohen’s humor aren’t Kazakh’s but the foolish Americans who fall for his over the top impersonations. The only people who would believe Borat is really Kazakh are idiots. He needed to pick a real country as his scheme would have had more chance of being exposed if he made some place up. Not every Kazakh is offended, as the wiki article notes. I saw a BBC interview with a Kazakh diplomat who said the whole thing wasn’t that big a deal, and Kazakhstan had more important things to worry about.
In my country there is problem…
No, I think the movie is still horrible, and he portrays the villagers as crude and degenerate:
*Borat often discusses his family members with the people he interviews. Borat’s sister, Natalya, is a prostitute (awarded “best sex in mouth” by the Almaty Chamber of Commerce, and rated the “number 2 or 3” prostitute in Kazakhstan) and the two of them like to pretend to be “husband and wife.” He has a younger brother Bilo who is mentally ill and has a son born with an unusually excessive amount of body hair who travels “in a tent”; and another pubescent brother Vilo, who has grown a moustache since Borat left his home village. Borat states that the former has “small head, but very strong arm,” and thus must be kept locked behind a metal door or in a cage. His relationship with his mother seems to be unpleasant, and Borat has commented that “she wishes she was raped by another man.” According to the Official Borat Homesite, he also has an 11-year-old son named Biram, who is the father of his two grandchildren. Borat has a pet pig Igor which he claims to love, although he and his family end up eating it (including its eyes).
In one episode, Borat reveals that he suffered a “very bad gypsy attack,” in which his wife and plough were stolen and “they touch[ed] [his] horse in [a] very bad way; it was depressed.” Borat also claims to have previously worked as a Gypsy catcher, boasting that he can “hit a gypsy with a rock from fifteen metres away if chained—ten if not”. Tragically, his first wife was accidentally shot in a field after a hunter mistook her for a bear. Borat was able to cope with the loss of his first wife and he has remarried several times. Still, Borat’s exceptional sexual virility has compelled him to maintain extramarital relations with a girlfriend, a mistress, and at least one prostitute (although the latter relationship seems to consist exclusively of dancing). Incestuous relations with his sister, as well as incidents of bestiality with domesticated animals, and accidental homosexuality, have led some to question Borat’s sexual ethics.*
Cohen is portraying the Kazakh villagers as comical savages, plain and simple.
A similar representation of Africans, Asians, Mexicans, Jews, or any other group with widespread recognition would never fly, and with good reason - a little lighthearted ethnic joking is fine and generally harmless, but what Cohen is doing is pretty brutal, in my opinion. I’m not happy about this at all and I thought the preview was extremely offensive.
It would be one thing if Cohen was himself from Kazakhstan - for the same reason why I don’t mind Dave Chappelle, Jeff Foxworthy or Sarah Silverman’s takes on their respective ethnic cultures - but he is an outsider, mocking a culture that he’s not part of and probably knows little about.
The key of Borat, though, is his investigative reports on Americans - the amount of hate he draws out of interview subjects by expressing more radical (and in truth, totally fictional) hate that makes other hate seem moderate.
You haven’t even seen the movie, Towers, yet you’re the world’s formost experet on it?
The film hasn’t been released yet but the early reviews have been sky high and early screenings have received standing ovations. Sasha Baron Cohen is a genius. Those who have seen “Da Ali G Show” already know that what Borat really is, is a practical joke. The humor comes from reactions he gets from real people (the majority of the movie is Cohen doing what he does on the show – interacting with real people, being outrageous and getting reactions).
The target of his humor is not Khazikstan, but Americans. One of the most brilliant sketches he ever did on the show was when he performed “Throw the Jew Down the Well” at a redneck bar in the American south. What made it brilliant was not that it was shocking but that he got the entire bar (of real, unscripted rednecks) to clap and sing right every antisemitic word right along with him without batting an eye (Cohen himself is Jewish, btw).
As for Khazakhstan…fuck Khazakstan. He uses a real name but Borat’s “backgroumd” is so obviously farcical and over the top that only a complete moron could think that it really has anything to do with Khazakhs.
I never noticed Chapelle or Silverman taking any special efort to only make jokes about their own ethnicities. Both can be pretty savage when talking about other cultures, too.
OK, whatever. I’m not going to convince anyone. I’m out of this discussion.
Diogenes said all that needs be said. Cohen is a genius, anyone who takes any of it seriously shouldn’t be watching anything he does, because its obviously over their heads. Comparing what he does to degradation of Jews or anyone is so ludicrous it doesn’t merit comment. What he does is no different that someone making over exaggerated caricatures of people from the US deep south- where’s the outrage at the Family Guy episode where the Griffin’s relocate to the south? There wasn’t any, because it’s not intended to be taken seriously, same as Borat. FG depicted Southerners to be inbred, ingnorant hicks who have never seen “talkin pictures, flying machines and perfume for your armpits”. Why couldn’t they set this episode in a fictional country? See how silly that is? Same for critiquing Borat.
(Bolding mine) Have you seen Jesus is Magic? Because I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of her standup is mocking other cultures. Just sayin’.
The description you quoted makes me want to see it. Before, I was only so-so.
Sasha Baron Cohen isn’t really from Kazakhstan? Wow, how did he know the national anthem so well? 
And how in the hell is he supposed to fool anybody if he claims to be from a non-existent country? Granted most of the people he interviews don’t even know Kazakhstan is a country, but some do, and it would totally blow the whole thing if he claimed to be from a country that did not exist.
I think I will wait for this one to be released on DVD or TV
Listen to this interview with Cambridge-educated Sacha Baron Cohen (not in character) and NPR’s Robert Siegel.
My vote is for genius.
It is worth knowing that this wasn’t originally a joke on Americans, but one on British people, for a fairly low-budget TV show. And we were assholes too, and fell for it as much as people in the US. Unsurprisingly, though, in the US Cohen’s character has tapped into a seam of even more extreme opinions than found in the UK.
The Kazakh government, and others, are very annoyed, but the vox pop interview held with young (English-speaking) Kazakhs showed it to be extremely popular, since they understood the satire: Borat’s version of their country is totally different from the reality, and really exposes the people who fall for it. Possibly offensive, but very funny.