Borat

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For the Bora car, sometimes called "Borat", see Volkswagen Jetta.

Image:Borat happy time.jpg

Borat Sagdiyev (assumed Cyrillic: Борат Сагдиев) is a satirical Kazakh journalist caricature invented and portrayed by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Borat evolved from a previous character that Cohen portrayed, an Albanian TV reporter called Kristo, and was also possibly influenced by Internet celebrity Mahir Çağrı or a Russian doctor Cohen once met named Mak Bavcic.

He appeared regularly on Da Ali G Show, with skits featuring him often relying on Borat's outrageous behavior and actions, and the reactions of uninformed individuals around him. In some cases, Borat's guests embrace his outrageous anti-Semitism and misogyny by agreeing with him, while other guests attempt to explain Western values to him.

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Background and technique

Based on a doctor that actor Sacha Baron Cohen met in southern Russia, Borat is featured in each episode of Da Ali G Show, doing satirical interviews with various people who apparently do not realize the show's nature. He has visited Britain and the United States.

Borat often finds himself in ridiculous situations that involve extreme physical comedy. Some have compared Cohen's Borat character with some of Peter Sellers' work. However, it is not clear whether one of Sellers' characters would have told a female member of the Oklahoma City Council that he wishes to "make romance inside of you", followed by the exclamation "all day I think of you, no clothes, wa-wa-wee-wa. That is very wonderful."

Image:Borat thank Portugal.jpg The character's supposed Kazakh origins are purely a plot device, and almost all of his statements about that nation are false. However, the almost complete lack of knowledge about Kazakhstan and its culture among typical Westerners gives Borat's character license to do whatever he wants; the people Borat interacts with are often extremely afraid of offending him by being intolerant of what they perceive to be cultural differences. Most people in Kazakhstan have never heard of Borat.

In order to pass himself off as foreign, Sacha writes his alleged notes in Hebrew, and uses occasional Polish words (Dziękuję thank you, Jak się masz? how are you?,Dobry Dzień good day, Przepraszam sorry) when speaking to people—not using Kazakh or Russian (the state and official languages of Kazakhstan) This is likely in reference to the Polish diaspora in Kazakhstan. This has nearly had Sacha exposed as a fake in midfilming. He has also lapsed into Hebrew while purporting to sing the Kazakhstani national anthem (in fact a simple reciting of major Kazakhstani cities) at a Savannah Sand Gnats game. In Hebrew, he kept on repeating a famous folk song: קום בחור עצל וצא לעבודה (kum bachur atzel ve'tze la'avoda) [...] קוקוריקו קוקוריקו תרנגול קרא (kookooriku kookooriku tarnegol kara) ("get up lazy guy and go to work [...] cock a doodle do the cock crowed"), and also called Kazakhstan a "hole" (חור). The hair and mustache are real, and it takes Sacha six weeks to grow them; some women find Borat to be attractive, and ask for dates after filming. Borat's suit has never been washed, which may cause him to smell "foreign" to those he encounters, adding to the apparent authenticity of his character.


On November 3, 2005, Borat was the host of the MTV Europe Music Awards 2005 show in Lisbon. [1]

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Controversy

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Borat has been the cause of some controversy, mostly related to his frequent displays of anti-Semitism but also notably for his portrayal of Kazakh culture.

Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays Borat, is himself Jewish. Sacha explains his character's racist nature by stating that the segments are a "dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry," rather than a display of racism by Cohen himself. [2]

However, the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish anti-racism group, complained to HBO after Borat performed a Country and Western song that called on people to 'throw the Jew down the well', warning them that 'you must be careful of his teeth' and that 'you must grab him by his money' (The full chorus is: "Throw the Jew down the well, so my country can be free, you must grab him by his horns, then we have a big party") , to applause and participation from an audience in Tucson, Arizona.

An interview with James Broadwater, a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, caused Broadwater to receive some hateful emails after an episode of Da Ali G Show aired in which he stated that Jews will go to Hell. He was told that the interview would be played in foreign countries to teach others about the American political system. Broadwater later posted a letter on his website denouncing Da Ali G Show, explaining that his statement referred to a theological belief that anyone that "accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will spend eternity in Heaven, while everyone who rejects Him will spend eternity in Hell." Broadwater did not apologize for his comments, which some saw as insensitive and inflammatory. Instead, he insisted that "the liberal, anti-God media needs to be brought under the strict control of the FCC, and that as soon as possible." [3]

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Conflicts with Kazakh Government

Image:What borat believe.jpgIn November 2005, following Borat's hosting of the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry voiced their concerns about the character. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news conference "We view Mr. Cohen's behaviour at the MTV Europe Music Awards as utterly unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is completely incompatible with ethics and civilised behaviour", concluding "We reserve the right to any legal action to prevent new pranks of the kind".

Baron Cohen has since posted a video on the "Official Borat Homesite" where Borat responds to Ashykbayev in character. In the video, Borat states, in part, "In response to Mr. Ashykbayev's comments, I'd like to state I have no connection with Mr. Cohen and fully support my Government's decision to sue this Jew. Since the 2003 Tuleyakiv reforms, Kazakhstan is as civilized as any other country in the world. Women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear the blue hats, and the age of consent has been raised to eight years old."

Reuters has quoted an unnamed Western diplomat as saying "They (the Kazakh Government) are damned if they do (respond) and damned if they don't," he said. "It's sort of unfortunate that he hit upon Kazakhstan."

The next week, the government hired two Western public relations firms to counter Borat's claims, and ran a four-page advertisement in The New York Times. The ad carries testimonials about the nation’s democracy, education system and the power and influence enjoyed by women. On a previous occasion, Borat responded to official Kazakh complaints by issuing his own press release, which consisted of random Cyrillic characters.

Borat's conflict with Kazakh authorities has recently come to a head. On December 13, 2005 www.borat.kz was suspended [4] :

"We've done this so he can't badmouth Kazakhstan under the .kz domain name," Nurlan Isin, President of the Association of Kazakh IT Companies, told Reuters. "He can go and do whatever he wants at other domains."

Reporters Without Borders has petitioned the ICANN ombudsman to intervene and reverse this decision. [5] Meanwhile, the "Official Borat Homesite" has been moved to the .tv domain.

He was, however, recently defended by Dariga Nazarbayev, a politician and the daughter of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev. She stated Cohen's website "damaged our image much less than its closure, which was covered by all global news agencies," and "We should not be afraid of humour and we shouldn't try to control everything, I think".

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Quotes

  1. "Nice... Nice, I like."
  2. "My sister was named by Almaty chamber of commerce best sex in mouth, than any other prostitute in country of Kazakhstan. She number two three best prostitute in all of country."
  3. "Throw the Jew down the well, so my country can be free..."
  4. "Sexy time!"
  5. "One time I carry a woman against her will for near one mile."
  6. "I make liquid explosion for camel."
  7. "Wa wa wee wa!"
  8. "Can I put camera in ladies toilet ? ... NO ... why not ??"
  9. "My sister, she is a prostitute...Why?...Because she like a to make the money, high five!"
  10. "My wife, she is dead...but it is okay, I have a new one now."
  11. (regarding porn) "I like it! I like it! I like a shaved pussy!"
  12. "How many punch it take you to kill cow? For me my record is 11."
  13. "What is best way to silence a woman?"
  14. "I will not leave until you swear on the eyes of your child that you will vote for him"
  15. "I want to do a romance inside of you"
  16. "If you vote for him, he will make sure you and your family will have very good years, if you do not... you will be sorry"
  17. "Sorry to interrupt politic, please is possible I make a shit your house immediately?"
  18. "My mother, she never love me, She tell me sometimes she wish she was raped by someone else"
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Fictional background

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Family and personal life

Borat often discusses his family members with the people he interviews. Borat's sister is a prostitute (awarded "Best sex in mouth" by the Almaty Chamber of Commerce, and rated the "number 2 and 3" prostitute in Kazakhstan) and the two of them like to pretend to be "husband and wife." He has a younger brother Vilo who has a son born with an unusually excessive amount of body hair who travels "in a tent"; and another brother who is mentally ill. Borat states that the latter 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, have led some to question Borat's sexual ethics.

All the images where he is supposed to be in Kazakstan are actually filmed in Romania. The people, including those who are presented as being his family and friends, are Romanians from poor remote villages. The person who appeared on MTV Europe Music Awards pretending to be the president of Kazakhstan also spoke Romanian.

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Beliefs

Borat has a great admiration for Joseph Stalin, whom he describes as being both "strong" and "powerful" and having a big "khram".

Sacha Cohen is, himself, Jewish and uses the Borat character to expose anti-Semitism and racism. By having Borat make anti-Semitic and racist statements, Cohen is able to show people's favorable reaction and thereby expose anti-Semitic/racist sentiment in society. He visited a bar in Tucson, Arizona where he sang a song about problems in his country, but the subject quickly changed from transportation to Jews, with the lyrics "Throw the Jew down the well/ so my country can be free./ You must grab him by his horns,/ then we have a big party." Rather than reacting in shock or disgust, the crowd at the bar gleefully sang along and clapped with the beat, as per Borat's instructions. While taking a self-defense class, Borat asked the instructor to teach him how to defend against the "Jew Claw", and then he made a claw with his hand and had the instructor defend himself against it.

He was shocked to discover that American women have the right to vote; on said discovery, he recited the "chain of importance"—"God, man, horse, dog, woman, then rat, then small krutzouli"—to a female voter. When looking for a home in the US, Borat stated that his wife was afraid of "men with chocolate face" , referring to American blacks.

Most of Borat's interviews carry a strong homoerotic undertone. Interviews inevitably involve discussion of "khram" (one's "testes satchel") or about the sexual preferences of the interviewee, or other celebrities, such as Freddie Mercury. Borat enjoys touching and holding men, but has a noticeable aversion towards women. Often he will kiss men on the cheek (and occasionally the lips) but when approached by a woman he will shy away or merely offer a handshake. Borat describes his ideal mate as having at least some plough experience, no history of mental retardation in the family, and additionally, "must be tight like a man's anus".

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The Borat movie

A Borat movie is currently in production (2006) [6] [7]. The movie is believed to be a low-budget mockumentary comedy. The film's plot is "Kazakh immigrant" Borat's coming to the U, S and A on a mission (segments from "Ali G Show" and never before seen). While in America he watches an episode of Baywatch and falls in love with Pamela Anderson, so he buys an ice cream truck and drives from New York to L.A. to make her his wife. Through the course of his trip he interviews people from across the country.

The distributor of the movie is 20th Century Fox and the director is Larry Charles.

In January 2005 a creative clash between the original director Todd Phillips and Sacha Baron Cohen prompted Phillips to drop out of the project.

Before Borat the movie, Borat had already appeared in a movie, making a brief appearance in Ali G Indahouse.

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The Borat code

In each Borat segment, there are Cyrillic letters behind the English captions. These letters are a rough cipher of the English text, according to the following correspondence:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Ф И С В У А П Р Ш О Л Д Ь Т Щ З Й К Ы Е Г М Ц Ч Н Я

The Cyrillic letters are not really the equivalents of the English ones for which they are substituted in this cipher. On a computer, this cipher can be produced by typing English letters on a standard QWERTY keyboard whilst having the standard Russian keyboard layout activated (QWERTY → ЙЦУКЕН).

For example, the caption "Borat's Guide to America" appears under the letters:

ПШВ ИЩКФЕФ Л ФЬУКШПШ

Which, decyphered, says:

GID BORATA K AMERIKI

Which, after transliterating back to Cyrillic text and translating from Russian, reads:

"Guide of Borat to America."

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Lingo

  1. Barbra bush - literally, to "eat pubic hair"
  2. Entry - to gain access to the Vagïn
  3. Football - nuclear retardation disease where man grows foot out of testis satchel
  4. Hands relief - masturbation or sexual contact involving the hand
  5. Khram - testicles, sometimes penis
  6. Korki Butchiek - fictional popular Kazakhi musician, author of the song Bing Bang
  7. Krutzouli - small or insignificant forest animal
  8. Liquid explosion (sexy time explosion) - ejaculation
  9. Sexy time (sexy intercourse) - sexual intercourse
  10. Shurek - popular Kazakhi game where dogs are taken into a field and shot
  11. Strip Strip Bang Bang - popular striptease club in Kazakhstan
  12. Testis satchel - scrotum
  13. Vagïn - vagina
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See also

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External links

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