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Borat Sagdiyev

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For other uses, see Borat Sagdiyev (disambiguation).

Borat Sagdiyev (Russian: Бора́т Сагди́ев) is a fictional Kazakhstani journalist invented and portrayed by the British comedian provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen for Da Ali G Show, an unstaged and unscripted show in which Borat interviews people who believe that he is a real Kazakhstani television journalist. Sacha Baron Cohen first presented his foreign reporter concept to Channel 4 in 1994[1], and within a few years Borat was great success. He is the main character portrayed in the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Fictional background

Biography

Sacha Baron Cohen provides Borat's backstory as follows. Borat is a reporter, born in 1972 in Kuçzek, Kazakhstan. He is the son of Asimbala Sagdiyev and Boltok the Rapist, who is also his maternal grandfather. He is also the former husband of Oksana Sagdiyev, who was the daughter of Mariam Tuyakbay and Boltok the Rapist. His relationship with his mother seems to be unpleasant, and Borat has commented that "she wishes she was raped by another man." Borat has a sister named Natalya, regarded as the third-best prostitute in Kazakhstan, and with whom he often fornicates, and a younger brother named Bilo, who is mentally retarded and must be kept locked behind a metal door or in a cage. In an interview, Borat said, "My brother Bilo has a small head but very strong arms. He have 204 teeth (193 in mouth 11 in nose)! You can do anything to him - he do not remember nothing! He is a sex crazy ... all day long he in his cage look on porno & rub rub rub!"[2]

Borat attended the Astana University, where he studied English, journalism, and plague research. He has been married several times, once to his half-sister's plough. His first wife was Oksana Sagdiyev, another half-sister. She was shot and killed by neighbour Nursultan Tuyakbay, who mistook her for a bear, while accompanying her brother-in-law Bilo on a walk in the forest. Borat was largely unaffected by this event and even celebrated it, as he was able to buy a new wife who he claimed was not boring. He maintains extramarital relations with a girlfriend, a mistress and at least one prostitute. He has three children: 12-year-old Bilak, 12 year-old Biram (whose mother is Borat's sister, Natalya), and 11 year-old Hooeylewis (his favourite child); and seventeen grandchildren. Borat used to have a pet pig, Igor, whom he claims to have loved, although he and his family eventually did eat it, including the eyes. He has had many jobs ranging from ice maker to animal sperm retriever (he claims that rumours of a connection between these jobs are unfounded). He also claims to have previously worked as a Gypsy catcher, boasting that he can "hit a gypsy with a rock from fifteen meters away if chained — ten if not". He also claims that he can carry a woman against her will and has done so, once carrying his future wife for 1600 meters (one mile), and carrying Pamela Anderson in the movie.

Baron Cohen has listed Borat's hobbies as ping pong, disco dancing, sunbathing (while wearing a green "slingshot" thong), shooting dogs, and taking pictures of women on the toilet. In addition to being a sexist and a homophobe, Borat is prejudiced against Jews, Uzbeks and Gypsies. Borat has said that he once suffered a "very bad Gypsy attack," in which his wife Oksana Sagdiyev's plough was stolen and "they touch my horse in very bad way; it get depressed for very long time". Borat claims to have the tightest anus of his village, tight enough to open a bottle of Pepsi. He has had many diseases including gonorrhoea, syphilis and herpes.

Borat's religion is not clear, but he states in the movie that he worships "the hawk"; by the end of the film, Borat appears to have brought Christianity to his village. In Da Ali G Show, Baron Cohen (as Borat) travels to Britain and the United States, to report on the different cultures. Baron Cohen's plot for the motion picture has the government of Kazakhstan sending Borat to the United States to film a documentary on American culture. As Borat, he said about the film, "if it not success, I will be execute."

Overview

Borat evolved from previous characters that Sacha Baron Cohen had developed: An unnamed Moldovan TV reporter (for LWT/Granada TV and the BBC's Comedy Nation) and an Albanian TV reporter called Kristo (for the Paramount Comedy Channel).

Borat appeared irregularly on Da Ali G Show, for Channel 4 and HBO, with sketches featuring him often relying on outrageous behaviour and actions, and the reactions of uninformed individuals around him. In early appearances his name was given as Borat Karabzhanov as well as Borat Dutbayev but from 2003 his name was changed to Sagdiyev. In some cases, Borat's guests embrace his anti-Semitism and misogyny by agreeing with him, while other guests express displeasure and attempt to correct his behaviour. Borat has also appeared on BBC1's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, he appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on July 14 2004 and on November 2 2006 in his own feature film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Cohen (in character) promoted the film with appearances on Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Opie and Anthony, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Howard Stern Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, Late Show with David Letterman, on which he played the berimbau as a guest musician with Beck, The Today Show where host Matt Lauer interviewed him and CBS's The Early Show where host Harry Smith interviewed then playfully wrestled with Borat.[2] Just minutes before the CBS appearance, Borat appeared on Fox News where both hosts laughed constantly throughout the interview. But Gretchen Carlson could not stop even when Borat expressed his astonishment when she stated that she would see the movie on Saturday: "You let women in cinemas here? In my country we have a pen outside for the animals and womens!"

Because of his outrageously offensive and bigoted behavior, of which Borat seems innocently unaware, and the stereotypes of a backwards second world country, as he portrays Kazakhstan, the character has sparked controversy. The most outspoken critics of Borat so far have been government officials in Kazakhstan who have vilified Baron Cohen for the way their nation is characterized. The differences between Borat's fictional homeland in Kazakhstan and the actual people and way of life in the country are so far apart that some speculate whether Baron Cohen made it that way to be a satire of American views of the world.[3]

Da Ali G Show

Borat is shown in each episode of Da Ali G Show, doing satirical interviews with often-unwitting subjects in the United Kingdom and the United States. The segment was shot in low-quality video to keep a satirical feeling of poor quality European television (similar to Chanel 9 segments on The Fast Show). Of Ali G, Borat says on his website, "I appear on alee g shows -he idiot, but it give me lot of muney- i like..."

File:Borat in New York.jpg
Borat in New York

In order to pass himself off as a foreigner, Baron Cohen writes his alleged notes in Hebrew, and uses occasional Polish words (Dziękuję thank you, Jak się masz? how are you?, Dzień Dobry good day, Przepraszam sorry, though rarely in the correct situations) when speaking to people—not using Kazakh or Russian (the state and official languages of Kazakhstan). He also lapsed into Hebrew while purporting to sing the Kazakhstani national anthem at a Savannah Sand Gnats game. He kept on repeating a famous Hebrew folk song: קום בחור עצל וצא לעבודה (kum bachur atzel ve'tze la'avoda - "get up lazy guy and go to work [...]" ) [...] קוקוריקו קוקוריקו התרנגול קרא (kookooriku kookooriku ha'tarnegol kara) ("cock a doodle do the cock has crowed"), and also called Kazakhstan a "hole" (חור)(hor).

Essentially, to elicit the trademark reactions from unsuspecting members of the public, Baron Cohen depends on two premises: 1) the American public is generally not familiar with Borat or his routine(s), and 2) the American public is generally not familiar with discussion relating to Kazakhstan.

The hair and moustache are real, and it takes Baron Cohen six weeks to grow them. It should be noted, however, that Borat has made at least one public appearance with a fake moustache.[3]

On November 3 2005, Borat was the host of the MTV Europe Music Awards 2005 show in Lisbon.[4]

On October 14 2006 Borat won the German Comedy Award as the best international comedian.

Controversy

File:What borat believe.jpg
Borat sings a not-so-innocent song about "children" at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards.
See also Da Ali G Show: Controversy

Borat has been the cause of some controversy, mostly related to his frequent displays of anti-Semitism. Sacha Baron Cohen (who plays Borat) has also been accused of his character being a derogatory portrayal of Kazakhstanis.[5]

Baron Cohen is himself Jewish, and explained 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 Baron Cohen himself.[6]

However, the Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based Jewish rights group, complained to HBO after Borat performed a country western song titled "In My Country There Is Problem" 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 horns', to applause and participation from some members of an audience in Tucson, Arizona, USA. The full chorus goes: "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."

At a press conference just hours before the live broadcast of the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards, he shocked local and international journalists in Lisbon, Portugal by bringing a bag of birds from Romania (the first European country to detect avian influenza) as a gift, then proceeded to say he was sorry that they had all died.

One Borat scene involves his visiting the Serengeti Range in Texas, where the owner of the ranch reveals himself to be so anti-Semitic as to believe that Hitler's 'Final Solution' was a necessity for Germany. He further implies (with the egging on of Borat) that he would have no problem running a ranch where people can hunt, in Borat's words, "deer... then Jew."

An interview with James Broadwater, an evangelical Christian and Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Mississippi, caused Broadwater to receive some hateful emails after an episode of Da Ali G Show aired in which Broadwater 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 were widely seen 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."[7]

In January 2005, after convincing the authorities that he was shooting a documentary, Borat managed to infuriate a crowd at a rodeo in Salem, Virginia, USA: first by saying that "I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards...and may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq"; and then, by rendering a mangled version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that was misreported as ending with the words "your home in the grave" by the Roanoke Times (Borat had actually sung "home of the gays"). "If he had been out there a minute longer, I think somebody would have shot him," said one witness. "People were booing him, flipping him off." For his own safety, Borat was escorted from the venue. Much of the event appears in the movie. [8]

Conflicts with Kazakhstani government

In November 2005, following Borat's hosting of the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, the Kazakhstani Foreign Ministry voiced their concerns about the character. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news conference "We view Mr. Cohen's behavior at the MTV Europe Music Awards as utterly unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is completely incompatible with the ethics and civilized behavior of Kazakhstan's people", concluding "We reserve the right to any legal action to prevent new pranks of the kind."[9]

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 blue hats, and age of consent has been raised to eight years old. Please, captain of industry; I invite you to come to Kazakhstan where we have incredible natural resources, hardworking labour, and some of the cleanest prostitutes in whole of Central Asia. Goodbye! Dzienkuje!"

Reuters 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."[10] Another unnamed source inside Kazakhstan's Washington embassy called Borat a "one-man diplomatic wrecking ball."

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 advert carried testimonials about the nation's democracy, education system and the power and influence enjoyed by women. On a previous occasion, Borat responded to official Kazakhstani complaints by issuing his own "press release", which consisted of randomly arranged Cyrillic characters. He would make another response when promoting his movie in front of the Kazakhstani Embassy in Washington, roundly denouncing the advertisements as "Uzbek propaganda". [11]

On December 13 2005, the right to use the domain name www.borat.kz was suspended, and the site attached to it was closed down.[12] The domain-issuing body said that they took this action since false names were given for the site's administrators, and also because the site www.borat.kz was hosted outside Kazakhstan. However, the stated underlying cause of the action was in order to censor the content of the site: "We've done this so he can't badmouth Kazakhstan under the .kz domain name," Nurlan Isin, President of the Association of Kazakhstani IT Companies, told Reuters. "He can go and do whatever he wants at other domains."

Reporters Without Borders petitioned the ICANN ombudsman to intervene and reverse this decision.[13] Meanwhile, the "Official Borat Homesite" was moved to the .tv domain, where it remains. (As of November 10, 2006, the former domain name was still suspended.)

Borat has, however, recently been defended by Dariga Nazarbayeva, a politician and the daughter of Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev. She stated on a national news program Karavan that Baron 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."[14]

White House "visit"

On September 29 2006, Baron Cohen appeared in character as Borat at the White House gates to give a press conference [15] and invite "Supreme Warlord Premier George Walter Bush" to a screening of his forthcoming film, along with "O.J. Simpson", "Melvin Gibsons" and other "American dignitaries." Secret Service agents would not admit him to the grounds. The apparent publicity stunt was likely timed to coincide with an official visit by President Nazarbayev the following day.

Complaint by Roma in Germany

On October 18 2006, European Center for Antiziganism Research, which pleads against discrimination of gypsies (e.g. Roma and Sinti people), filed a complaint (PDF file, in German) with prosecutors based on Borat's comments about gypsies in his film. The complaint accuses him of defamation and inciting violence against the ethnic group.[16]

Hoax victims

WAPT (Jackson, Mississippi) TV news producer Dharma Arthur claims in Newsweek she lost her job as a result of her booking Borat on a local afternoon news program, because she did little more than cursory research on the guest she had booked. At the time of the appearance, she was unaware of Baron Cohen's act. During an interview with anchor Brad McMullan, Borat made sexual and scatological references, kissed McMullan, and later disrupted a live weather report.[17]

Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did thereafter.... I spiraled into depression, and before I could recover, I was released from my contract early. It took me three months to find another job, and now I'm thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure.... How upsetting that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comedic genius.

— Dharma Arthur, Newsweek

The broadcast, including the initial interview, the disrupted weather report, and several behind-the-scenes shots made by Borat's own film crew, is seen in the Borat movie.

Two members of the Chi Psi fraternity, also featured in the movie, have brought a lawsuit against Baron Cohen and 20th Century Fox. The lawsuit asserts that the film "made plaintiffs the object of ridicule, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community."[18]

The villagers of Glod, Romania, have also complained that Baron Cohen and filmmakers tricked them into participating in the film. They say that filmmakers told them they were appearing in a documentary about the poverty and hardship in their village. In the film, Glod serves as a stand-in for Borat's Kazakhstani hometown, and its residents are portrayed as a backwards group who engage in casual prostitution, rape, and incest. The villagers have said they are now trying to gather funds in order to sue Baron Cohen. [19]

However, not all hoax victims threaten to sue. Behind-the-scenes interviews with Randall Shelley (Guide to Baseball), Danny Passmore (Guide to Hobbies USA), Jennifer Defrancisco/Charles Di Cagno (Guide to Acting), Ken Goldberg (Guide to being a real man) and Peta Heskell (Guide to English Gentlemen) have all decided not to press charges. [20]

Litigation

Film

Sacha Baron Cohen as 'Borat' promoting his film at the 2006 ComicCon in San Diego, California.
Main article: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Subtitled Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the film is a low-budget mockumentary comedy. Most of the actors in the film are not paid, but rather real people who Borat met during his journey. The distributor of the film is 20th Century Fox and the director is Larry Charles. It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and was released across Europe and North America on November 3 2006.

The film follows Borat in his travels across the United States as he commits cultural solecisms and exposes a few American ones. Over the course of the film, Borat falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching a re-run of Baywatch and vows to make her his wife.

The film opened at number one in the U.S., taking in $26.4 million on a limited release of 837 screens during its first weekend, beating out Fahrenheit 9/11 as the biggest opening weekend for a film released in under 1,000 theaters. Sacha Baron Cohen celebrated the release of the film with a host of promotional 'in-character' interviews, like this one with stv.tv. However, on November 9, 2006 the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography banned the movie, citing "it could offend viewers in relation to certain ethnic groups and religions."

The film expanded its release on the second weekend to 2,566 screens, where it took in an additional $29 million. [8]

Lingo

Most of the "Kazakh" dialogue in the film is actually Polish or Hebrew, as Baron Cohen speaks Hebrew nearly fluently and uses this language around unfamiliar Americans when keeping up his character's foreignness. This is a list of common Borat vocabulary with definitions:

  • "Wa wa wee wa" was invented by an Israeli comedian Dovale Glikman on the TV show "Zehu Ze" and is in popular use in Israel [citation needed].
  • Khrum - Male genitalia. (from the Russian slang word "хрен" ["khrien"] of the same meaning). Used to refer to the scrotum or testicles as well as the penis. Notice that "khrum" in Russian means temple, church and is seen as something sacred.
  • Dzienkuje - "thank you" Sometimes used as a greeting in the opening of the Borat segments of Da Ali G Show (from the Polish Dziękuję). Also spelled as "Chenquieh" when written by Borat, e.g., his speech on the Kazakhstani embassy.
  • Jagshamesh - "how are you?" (from the Polish "Jak się masz?", the Czech "Jak se máš?"). Returning to Central Asia, the Uyghur greeting "yahşimusiz" means "are you well?", and in Uzbek it's "yaxshimisiz". Perhaps ironically, especially in light of Borat's views on Uzbeks, "yaxshi emas" means "not good/well" in Uzbek.
  • Krutzouli - small or insignificant animal of ambiguous identity, placed not too far below women in the fictional Kazakhstani caste system. In Poland, "Krasula" ("Pretty Cow") is also a common name given to cows.
  • Vazhïn - vagina (once referred to as Shakira)*
  • Running of the Jew - an annual traditional festival in which the 300 bravest men of Kazakhstan chase large papier-mache caricatures of Jews on the streets and chase them into wells, while spectators break the eggs they lay, as well as throwing stones and potatoes at the Jews. "It is for the childrens" as quoted by Borat in his interview on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross".
  • Festival, or Feast, of Shurik - annual one-day festival when it is appropriate to have sexual intercourse with one's sister, animals, and minors; takes place the day following the "Running of the Jew".
  • Sport of Shurik - Sport similar to 'baseballs' where they take a dog and shoot it in a field, and then have a party; played during Festival of Shurik

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The History of Borat from Electronic News Network
  2. ^ You dirty Borat!
  3. ^ Note that on this photo Sacha Baron Cohen has no facial hair; over the next few days he made public appearances in Australia as Borat.
  4. ^ http://ema.mtv.co.uk/
  5. ^ http://radar.smh.com.au/archives/2006/10/is_borat_racist.html
  6. ^ http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20060908/115774501000.html
  7. ^ http://www.webgeordie.co.uk/borat/broadwater.htm
  8. ^ "Rodeo in Salem gets unexpected song rendition", The Roanoke Times, January 9, 2005.
  9. ^ "Kazakhstan on Borat: Not Nice", Josh Grossberg, E! Online, Nov. 14, 2005.
  10. ^ [1], Reuters, Nov. 11, 2005.
  11. ^ "Borat denounces Uzbek propaganda" College Humor
  12. ^ "Kazakhstan Strips Borat of Site", Sarah Hall, E! Online, Dec. 13, 2005. A different version of this article was formerly available on Reuters.
  13. ^ "Reporters Without Borders raps censorship of UK comedian's "Borat" website" Reporters Without Borders online press release, issued Dec. 14, 2005.
  14. ^ "Daughter of Kazakhstan's president defends Borat", CBC, Friday, April 21, 2006.
  15. ^ BORAT SAGDIYEV - White House Press Conference on YouTube
  16. ^ Now Gypsies want Borat banned, Sydney Morning Herald, October 18, 2006.
  17. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,226960,00.html
  18. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061110/ap_on_en_mo/film_borat_lawsuit
  19. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=415871&in_page_id=1770
  20. ^ http://www.webgeordie.co.uk/borat/behindscenes.htm
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