Borat

[three_sixty]

i saw this movie recently. the media tries to spin it like it is a mirror held up to the ignorance of the common American - as if it is some slick and crafty social commentary. having seen this movie i think there is a lot more at work here. given the present geo-political climate, a movie like this is at the very least irresponsible and at the worst, a strategic propaganda film aimed at desensitizing "the common American" even more by belittling a people who live in a land which holds much strategic importance in the global resource wars.

i have noticed that movies have taken a turn for the absolute worst in recent times in regards to violence, perversion and sick dark "humor." i do not think this is just a result of the "artistic" vision of hollywood producers. movies are a medium of profound ability to influence the people's perceptions. the standard excuse that media cannot be blamed for influencing the attitudes and potential actions of people is incorrect. a population which gets most of its views of the world from mainstream media sources and popular entertainment is most definitely at risk of being influenced by films such as borat. we are a pop culture driven society and this being so,  the media is one of the most important tools in the arsenal of the perception management teams for the powers that be.

i hope that people who see this film will try to look into a little bit of what is trying to be driven into them and not dismiss a movie like this as merely a harmless piece of entertainment. there is much at stake in regards to how you view the world, don't let them shape that vision for you.

[Tracey]

was reading an article that expressed some of the sentiments you highlighted....


Borat: That Crazy Kazakh Correspondent

By Adam Doster, November 3, 2006


Borat reveals American bigotry, double standards, and might supply the most scathing and significant "movie film" of the year.
Introductions at a new school can be awkward. Anxious to find friends, students ask nervous and often contrived questions about each other's families, backgrounds and interests. But when Kazakhstan native Roman Nurpeissov arrived at the University of Michigan in September to start law school, nearly everyone he met was dying to ask him the same question: "Oh man, have you seen Borat?"

"I had heard about him, but never cared to go online and check it out," says Nurpeissov. "But after people kept asking, I went to YouTube.com and had to watch clips."

Nurpeissov's experience reflects the staggering popularity of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat Sagdiyev, whose movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of American for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" opens nationwide on November 3. Borat, a citizen of the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan, works as a foreign correspondent for Kazakh television. Despite his clumsiness and limited understanding of English, the self-proclaimed "sixth best journalist in all Kazakhstan" seeks to grasp American culture through interviews and use that knowledge to improve life in his homeland.

But as Borat tries to make sense of American customs, he unveils some intense prejudices. Borat, who first surfaced on Baron Cohen's popular television program "Da Ali G Show," is surprised to learn that American women can vote and claims that it is harder to marry in the United States because "you can't go to her father's house and swap her for 15 gallons of insecticide." He is also virulently racist and often asks if gypsies or "chocolate faces" are granted entrance to selective social functions. Borat is best known, however, for his anti-Semitism, which creeps up in virtually every interview. During a segment at a karate class, Borat forces the instructor to teach him tactics he can employ to ward off the dangerous "Jew Claw."

Although amusing for his slapstick antics, Baron Cohen's blundering brainchild has a more profound aim. Borat examines how the anti-Semitism, racism, sexism and homophobia of Westerners are perpetuated, often through conformity rather than hatred. It makes sense Baron Cohen, who was raised by a Jewish mother of Iranian descent and a British father in London, would be sensitive to issues of discrimination. As a youth, Baron Cohen joined Habonim Dror, a socialist, Zionist youth organization whose aim is to "upbuild the State of Israel as a progressive, egalitarian, cooperative society, at peace with its neighbors." He later attended Cambridge University, where he studied history and focused on Jewish and black relations during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

As conceived by Baron Cohen, Borat's behavior pointedly calls attention to the cruel realities of American's divisive social relations and ignorance of other cultures. Recognizing that most Americans have no knowledge of Kazakhstan, Baron Cohen constructs a virtually original culture, fresh with an unintelligible language and perverse customs like "dog-shooting." Next, he develops the seemingly innocent yet painfully intolerant journalist, a person who Americans are either too ignorant or polite to challenge. Finally, he uses deeply offensive rhetoric in interviews with folks who are not in on the joke, usually resulting in either unnerving agreement or equally outlandish retorts. During one sketch, Borat partakes in a wine tasting with two white gentlemen from Mississippi. When a black wine steward refills their drinks, Borat asks "he is your slave?" "No, he's not a slave at all," replies the white man. "We don't have slaves down here any more � which is a good thing for them." "But not so much for you," Borat quips. "Right, right," utters the Mississippian.

"With Borat, people let down their guard because they feel more relaxed," Baron Cohen told NPR's "All Things Considered" in 2004. "When they're in a room with someone who seems to have these outrageous opinions, they feel more relaxed about letting out their own outrageous, politically incorrect, prejudiced opinions."

What is so impressive about the satire is Baron Cohen's intense commitment to the character. In the lead-up to the film's release, Baron Cohen has refused to give personal interviews, instead speaking only in Borat's iconic voice. This devotion pays off during his performances. Even under hostile circumstances, Baron Cohen knows exactly what Borat would say and when he would say it. "He doesn't break character ever," says Anthony Kaufman, a freelance journalist who viewed a sneak-preview of the film. "People buy him and they buy everything that comes with him."

Despite its success, not everyone is enthusiastic about Baron Cohen's provocative satire. Detractors think that Borat offends more than he sparks dialogue.

In 2004, Borat took the stage at a Tucson, Ariz. country-western bar. Festooned with a cowboy hat and spurs, he sang a ditty entitled "Throw the Jews Down the Well" to a frighteningly enthusiastic audience, who clapped and sang along. A week later, the Anti-Defamation League sent a letter to Baron Cohen, claiming that they were "concerned that the irony may have been lost on some of your audience--or worse, that some of your viewers may have simply accepted Borat's statements about Jews at face value."

A year later, Borat was invited to host the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon. Baron Cohen took advantage of the intense media exposure by calling singer Shakira "a whore," commenting on his wife's inability to travel outside of Kazakhstan because of her gender and bringing a gift-bag full of Romanian birds to a pre-show press conference, seemingly unaware that they posed a threat during the height of the Avian Flu scare.

This high-profile appearance elicited a response from Kazakhstan's government, which was furious at Borat's misrepresentation of their country. After a conspiracy-laden tirade that questioned whether "Mr. Cohen is serving someone's political order designed to present Kazakhstan and its people in a derogatory way," President Nursultan Nazarbayev shut down Borat's Web site, whose domain-name looked Kazakh-based but was actually hosted outside of Kazakhstan.

In recent weeks, the government made their second major public relations push to coincide with Nazarbayev's September 29 meeting with President George W. Bush and the growing anticipation surrounding Baron Cohen's movie. This time, they took out large ad spreads in various international publications like the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune and made "educational" commercials that aired on American network and cable television.

Because Baron Cohen chose Borat's homeland arbitrarily, the Kazakh government sits between a rock and a hard place. "On one hand, [the government] could ignore Borat and not take him seriously," says Nurpeissov. "On the other hand, there are people in Kazakhstan who don't like what [Borat] does at all, so the government feels obliged to respond."

While Baron Cohen originally set out to satirize bigotry, the comedian unintentionally ended up highlighting the emptiness of the Bush administration's foreign policy rhetoric. Kazakhstan is an important ally for the United States: After 9/11, it offered the U.S. Air Force landing rights for operations in nearby Afghanistan and have since opened up the country's oil reserves, which are expected to pump 3.5 million barrels of oil a day over the next 10 years to various American oil companies. After their private meeting, Bush wasted no time in lauding the achievements of Nazarbayev, thanking him for his "commitment to institutions that will enable liberty to flourish."

Yet Kazakhstan maintains a pitiful record of democracy and human rights. According to the U.S. State Department, the Kazakh government restricts women's rights, workers' rights, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly.

"Nazarbayev is an enlightened autocrat," says Sean Roberts, Central Asian Affairs Fellow at Georgetown University. "Despite some progressive economic policies � the president controls political expression and competition with a tight fist." Indeed, it wasn't only international observers who raised their eyebrows when Nazarbayev was re-elected in 2005 with 91 percent of the vote. Of course, Nazarbayev's suspiciously high plurality may have resulted from the mid-campaign "suicide" by his only viable challenger, who somehow managed to shoot himself in both the chest and head.

How can Bush disregard the major tenets of democracy when discussing the "free nation" of Kazakhstan? Simply put, the squashed Kazakh democracy is in the administration's best political interest. Yet with no engagement around these issues, the Bush administration appears insincere in its calls for "democratization."

"The rhetoric is that you're either with us or against us, you have democracy or you must change," says Roberts. "[Countries] think the administration is talking out of both sides of their mouth."

Borat, unlike Bush, is quick to dispel any rumors of Kazakh human rights improvements. Certain that the recent advertising campaign was the work of neighbor Uzbekistan, Borat countered that "if there is one more item of Uzbek propaganda claiming that we do not drink fermented horse urine, give death penalty for baking bagels or export over 300 tons of human pubis per year, than we will be left with no alternative but to commence bombardment of their cities with our catapults."

While issues of foreign policy and sensitivity remain in question, the success of the film is almost guaranteed. "In Toronto [at The Toronto Film Festival] when Baron Cohen got there, it was like a rock concert," says Kaufman. "It has total widespread awareness. � I think it's going to be really popular."

Given the effectiveness of the satire, Borat could supply the most scathing and significant "movie film" of the year.

http://www.wiretapmag.org/arts/42827/
 

[three_sixty]

greetings Tracey.

have you seen this movie, or do you plan to? i would really like to know what you thought of it. after i wrote that post, i thought about it more and thought perhaps i was reacting to it too much, but then i thought about it more and thought that there definitely seemed to be an agenda to it(and not necessarily the one which is claimed in articles such as the one you posted.)

[Tracey]

Greets Iyah,

No, I have not seen the film yet but I did happen to catch a few blips of "Da Ali G" show and must admit being quite captivated with how his character was able to set the snare for one's to fall into (without them realizing) and lampooning hidden biases  through the antics of his silly but oh-so serious character. Sometimes he gets a little too stupid and raunchy but he definately has a way of poking through the facade.

[three_sixty]

i encourage you to read the book "the politics of Anti-Semitism" if you already haven't. there is a partial truth that Borat holds a mirror up to the conscious and unconscious ignorance of people who reveal themselves when their defenses are down - and this is the line  that is touted in virtually all the mainstream media reviews and articles about this movie. this IMO, however is  also a smokescreen for the deeper intent of the movie. the image of the ignorant "anti-semitic" middle easterner reinforces the sterotype that serves the interests of the American-Israeli-British axis which thrives on the re-iteration and perpetual repeat of the view that Jews are a threatened people worldwide. it is interesting that it does this by playing into an exact replica of the common European anti-semitic view that was widespread in past times - i.e. that Jews are dirty, have strange, non-western and anti-social customs and applies them to a people in the middle east. the message is that it is o.k. to apply anti-semitism to semites, just not Jews. but oh yeah, we are just supposed to laugh and if you don't "get it" you just need to get a sense of humor . . .

the character Borat's anti-Jewish sentiments are most vividly displayed when he is put up for the night by a kindly elderly American Jewish couple(and as a subtle re-iteration of the underlying message, the woman has an American flag sweater on). 

this movie is subtle, with many messages to be seen if one cares to look beyond "where we are supposed to look."


"Kazakhstan has nothing to do with Borat or this film - unfortunately, it is simply a placeholder for some "Asiatic savages" in the old imperial lingo. Hardly anyone in Kazakhstan looks anything like Borat, and potassium is not the main export (oil is, hence the presence of huge investment banks like ABN Amro and HSBC). So, the film is casually racist - probably not as much as in the usual Hollywood fare, but still. Actually, what is irritating about it is that the ADL worries that people will go along with the antisemitic sentiments Borat expresses, whereas it is far more likely that people will think, when they’re laughing at this cheap racist caricature called ‘Kazakhstan’, that this kind of racism is harmless fun. However, the bulk of the film exposes American racism and sexism and homophobia and outright insanity. . . . "

source: http://leninology.blogspot.com/2006/11/borat.html

"The thing that worries me about it (and I will see it and I imagine I will laugh a lot) is that the most prevalent racism today is Islamophobia, into which the image of the coarse anti-Semitic Eastern European obviously feeds. Yes, I know Borat is explicitly not Islamic but he seems Islamic and that’s what really matters.

As for the Ali G character, what would have been the reaction had a black man performed skits in which he pretended to be a stereotypical Jew? To ask the question is to answer it.

One of the weird developments of recent years is the establishment of two different discourses about racism. Anti-semitism remains entirely beyond the pale (and rightly so). Yet the most glaring prejudices against people who, coincidently enough, look rather like the people whose countries we’re occupying in the middle-east pass almost entirely without comment.

Here’s the recommended reading list for the US Marine Corp (h/t Digby). You’ll note that second lieutenants are expected to read Patai’s The Arab Mind, a book which explains the history of the middle-east by reference to the inate characteristics of Arabs.

 According to one professor at a US military college, The Arab Mind is "probably the single most popular and widely read book on the Arabs in the US military". It is even used as a textbook for officers at the JFK special warfare school in Fort Bragg.

In some ways, the book’s appeal to the military is easy to understand, because it gives a superficially coherent view of the Arab enemy and their supposed personality defects. It is also readily digestible, uncomplicated by nuances and caveats, and has lots of juicy quotes, a generous helping of sex, and no academic jargon.

Giving the army a textbook entitled The Jewish Mind is the kind of stunt Borat would pull. But a book about Arabs is apparently not outrageous at all."

source: http://www.leftwrites.net/2006/11/07/borat-ali-g-and-racism/

". Borat and his author, Sacha Baron Cohen, indeed manage to challenge British liberal discourse as well as the deeply deceptive image of multi-culturalism. Yet, I would suggest the application of the 'Khaled Abu Aziz Test'. Khaled Abu Aziz is an imaginary character. He is merely a test case that should be put into play each time the issue of multi-culturalism and racial equality is under scrutiny. The appropriate question to ask is whether Khaled Abu Aziz, a British Muslim comedian from Birmingham, would get away with performing Borat's crude anti Semitism or not. Would Khaled Abu Aziz get away with performing Ali G's retarded Black celebrity? I don't think so. Would Khaled Abu Aziz receive the support of British Television and the entire UK media for acting a buffoon, for being a Jew hater? Not really.

Let's face it, Khaled Abu Aziz may become an award winning celebrity for performing an anti-Muslim caricature as long as he means it for real. Clearly, Borat, aka Sacha Baron Cohen, a Golders Green Jew, enjoys certain freedoms Khaled Abu Aziz lacks. This is obviously far from being Sacha Baron Cohen's fault. It It is something that hits at the very heart of British Society. If anything, we better thank Baron Cohen for exposing it.

2. Clearly British people do not meet Kazakhs on a daily basis. But they meet many Albanians, Romanians, Poles, Czechs, Kurds, Turks, Afghanis and other people who search for a new future in the prosperous West. Worryingly enough, Borat is made to look very much like an amalgam of an asylum seeker to the UK or any other European country. It is rather interesting that Sacha Baron Cohen, himself a son of a Jewish immigrant to Great Britain, invested so much energy portraying such a low image of Western Europe's newcomers.

3. While howling with laughter as you watch Borat's articulate misogynist performance, I suggest you bear in mind that Ali G, aka Borat aka Sacha Baron Cohen, is himself a practising reactionary misogynist. Seemingly, Sacha Baron Borat Cohen has put back his wedding to former Home And Away star Isla Fisher due to some deep tribal considerations and religious reasons. "The couple," so I learn, "have postponed the big day so Isla can study the Bible in Israel before converting to Sacha's religion of Judaism."

Although Borat, sorry--Sacha Baron Cohen--has the full right to demand religious uniformity and conformity within his own family cell, one would expect Baron Cohen, a critical voice of reactionary conservatism and backward thinking, to transcend himself beyond obvious clannish considerations and religious boundaries. Seemingly, Sacha Baron Cohen is not that different from Borat. Apparently, he imposes a tribal conformity upon his woman. This is not a critique. On the contrary, the similarity between Borat and Baron Cohen, is just something to bear in mind. If anything, it makes Borat into an authentic expression of Baron Cohen's worldview. If to be honest, it makes Borat and Baron Cohen far more interesting characters.

4. With the help of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen gives a bad name to anti-Semitism. This is obviously more than legitimate. Borat, the stereotypical anti-Semite is indeed a primitive vulgar creature. He eloquently brings to life the full scope of medieval anti-Jewish stereotypes as well as superstitions. In an old TV clip Borat manages to draw in a bunch of cowboys to join him shouting 'throw the Jew down the well'. In the film it is an old Jewish couple that happens to be transformed into cockroaches and money suckers. Yet, it shouldn't take one by surprise that Cohen, a man who spends his holidays in Israel, would portray anti-Semitism as a primitive medieval adventure.

However, after last summer's Israeli extravaganza of brutality in Lebanon and the seemingly endless and daily flood of Palestinian blood made to spill by the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank, anti-Jewish feelings seem to be fuelled by Zionist crimes. Moreover, nowadays, when the Jewish State's influence within the American administration is academically and historically established in studies such as that by Walt and Meersheimer, when the Neocon-inspired crusade that has lead to a genocide in Iraq is largely endorsed by Zionist intellectual and ideological voices , some forms of anger against the 'Jew' should be comprehended as a political criticism rather than merely a primitive irrational outburst. This is, of course, not justifying 'throwing Jews down the well' but rather trying to explain from where such anti-Jewish feelings are originating.

Borat is set to present anti-Semitism as a backward reactionary tendency. By doing so Baron Cohen and his team are there to block or even to shutter any form of criticism of global Zionism in general and of Israel in particular. This is indeed a non-violent legitimate political agenda, yet something to keep in the back of your mind while having an evening out at the cinema."

- source: http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon11072006.html