Borat and Kazakhs

[Jaga]

The successful and controversial movie Borat has been deemed offensive to both the people of Kazakhstan and to the people of Middle America.

But what about Kazakhs living in Middle America?

We took Kazakh grad students Zhandos Yessenbayev, 25, and Abzal Daribayev, 25, to a screening of the new movie to see what they thought. (Yessenbayev is a PhD candidate in computer science at the University of Chicago, and Daribayev is a PhD candidate in molecular biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.)

Despite their studies, both academics are well aware of the movie (a mock documentary about Borat's journey to America; the film's full title is Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan).

"I've been here for a year," Daribayev said, "and each time I introduce myself to a colleague and say where I'm from they say, 'Oh, Kazakhstan, right. Borat.'"

After the screening, we discussed the film over cups of hot tea at a local cafe. Answers and questions were given in both Russian and English. The following is an edited and translated transcript:

MCT: So cultural representations aside, how would you rate "Borat" as a comedy?

ABZAL DARIBAYEV: I would give it two stars.

ZHANDOS YESSENBAYEV: I would give it less. I smiled only two or three times. I didn't understand a lot of the jokes. I don't think it was Kazakh humor.

How would you rate it as a representation of your country?

ZY: There was no representation of Kazakhstan except for the name and the flag.

AD: Even the (the village) was like from somewhere in the Caucasus, maybe Georgia. (Actually it was shot in Romania.)

Did anyone even look like a Kazakh?

AD: We have many ethnic groups in our country, but these people didn't look like (ethnic) Kazakhs. You can find someone who looks like (star Sacha Baron Cohen) in Kazakhstan, but I would probably think he was a Ukrainian from Kazakhstan.

...
www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2006/11/13/movies/20061113094650&sec=movies

[Jaga]

Did any of you had a chance to watch this movie?


Here is another fragment from the link above:

ZY: I liked the scene when he was singing the (fake Kazakh) national anthem at the rodeo. He started by praising America and the war ("of terror" as Borat says). He says that George Bush should "drink the blood of Iraqis," and the American people there (in the movie) liked that and clapped for him. Because most people in Kazakhstan don't agree with the war, they would find that funny. But as soon as he started singing the (Kazakh) anthem about the greatness of another country, the crowd turned on him. Watching that transformation on their faces was very interesting. I like that kind of dark, black humor.

[hussar]

Yes, I saw this movie on Saturday night. Alot of people will and have found this movie offensive (lawsuits already starting), but I think that Cohen makes a point through stupid comedy. If anything, he's making fun of those (I personally think the majority of Americans) who take themselves seriously and treat everything so seriously.

But, on that note, I would really suggest seeing this movie although there is alot of stupid, immature, and maybe even adult rated material in the movie.

[Jaga]

Hussar,

I also heard from other people that this is very controversial movie. The guy - a traditional Jew plays antisemite

[rdywenur]

Jaga and Hussar, This opened when I was in Florida and was watching the feedback about it in the news while in Florida. It did not look the type of film that I would be interested in seeing. I just don' t go for movies that are dumb and stupid humour. I'll wait for it to show up on some late night movie and possibly watch it then if desperate. But then there is an audience for everything.


I am looking forward to seeing The Departed, or Casino Royale (although I highly disagree with their choice of J. Bond in this picture or even Happy Feet (which is really for kids)

[hollister]

The best article I read about the movie made some very interesting points.

The full article is at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15560971/site/newsweek/

Here is the part that made me stop -

"Paul Provenza, the director of the documentary "The Aristocrats," which explored the boundaries that comics push in the creation of a classic filthy joke, says: "It's very important to understand that Sacha Baron Cohen doesn't feel the way that Borat feels, and that's why it's comedy." Borat, the uncouth outsider whom everyone condescends to because—well, what do these ignorant foreigners know about our great civilized culture?—turns the tables on his sometimes too-accommodating hosts, holding up a mirror to American culture that's savage, sometimes silly and not always fair. "I think it's funny that people are saying he shines a negative light on American culture," says stand-up comic Kathy Griffin. "Because you know what? Sometimes America has a negative light. That's why it's funny. A positive light is not funny."

Comedy is always at someone's expense: that's what mothers-in-law are for, not to mention lawyers. "My bristles go up when I hear somebody complain about crossing the line," says Bill Maher, who hosted ABC's "Politically Incorrect" until he himself was deemed too un-P.C. for network television. "Let the audience decide. An audience is very quick to tell a comedian when they feel he has crossed the line. They don't laugh, or they boo." Comedy allows you to say things you couldn't in any other form. "One of my favorite types of laughs," says Maher, "is the kind where you can almost feel this harpoon go through [the audience], because it was so true, but then they laughed. They didn't want to laugh. It's that to-the-bone. The great thing about laughter is that it's an involuntary response." Griffin, who, like Rivers, has been accused of comic cruelty for barbs at celebrities, insists that good comedy demands that you don't censor yourself. "When I started out I thought, Oh, I can never talk about AIDS, I can never talk about cancer. And then I met AIDS patients and cancer patients, and they told me the sickest jokes. It was the first thing out of their mouths. And I thought, What am I worried about? And frankly, if you're worrying about people's feelings you kind of can't do the job."

But comics do draw lines; their art depends on knowing just which ones can be trespassed. Paul Mooney, who wrote for Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle, firmly believes that "comedy is the funniest when it's mean and shocking. If you study African-American comedy, it's always been politically incorrect because it's always been politically incorrect to be a Negro. Moms Mabley, Redd Foxx—they were as mean and nasty as you could find, and they were great." But each comic has to find his own comfort zone. "When Richard [Pryor] decided not to use the word 'nigga' anymore, it was because he was growing as a person. He understood the pain of the word. I, on the other hand, use 'nigga' all the time and I know the pain behind."

Does Baron Cohen wrestle with his conscience when he destroys the merchandise in an antiques shop, or when he insults the appearance of a defenseless woman at a dinner party—a definite low blow? Yes, according to director Larry Charles. "When we were making the film, we had this almost Talmudic questioning of ourselves. Who are we? What do we really believe? How far are we willing to go? What is our line in the sand that we're not willing to cross? We were constantly asking ourselves, Are we being fair? Do the ends justify the means?" And what did they decide? "We certainly tried to avoid taking advantage of people who would be perceived as the meek or the weak of society. We tried to explore the aristocracy, the elite, the vain, the egomaniacal—that was one of our lines in the sand."