Apparently the Kazakh government plans to take him to court, says this article.

Ooooooh, touchy!

Paranoid much?


I suppose they have reason to be a little cheesed, but imagine if we took every american entertainer to court over 'Bad Teeth' and 'Gay' jokes.

Looks like he'll have to put that planned tour of Kazakhstan on ice for the time being then. Probably for the best.

Good.

Maybe they'll kick the shit out of him and leave some space available for some humour.

Ah the return of the always reasonable and reasoned voice of Ghost_862

Not a fan of Cohen then?

C

Well, he is bordering on racial hate. But what is comedy when you can't take the piss out of each other? Kazakhstan should do a spoof english bloke who learns about shagging when he's nine and gets a burberry certificate when he leaves school at 14 to raise his three year old son.

Chris, watch it with the personal attacks. Please see section 3.2 of the forum rules; Criticise Ideas, Not People.

The thing is, I'm sure the character Borat isn't against Kazakhstan in particular, kazakhstan was probably just chosen as it's relatively unknown. He probably would have been safer inventing a country but it probably wouldn't have had the same impact. And playing it safe is hardly what cohen does.

In a way, Ali G is a character that takes the mick out of a British stereotype. In a way.
The thing about Borat is, it's as much about people's perceptions of a place like Kazakhstan than it is about Kazakhstan. In the TV series 'Borat' would trick people into doing and saying all sorts of stupid and ignorant things because they were unaware that Borat is too ridiculous to be real. The character plays on stereotypes of cultures that the mainstream west has very little idea of.

How can anyone take something so silly so personal? It's the character that's supposed to be the subject of laughter, not the country. Borat could have been from any country, including England, and he'd still be the same guy. It doesn't make a difference.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there, mr K.

He is indeed the Hammer of Reason.

hasn't he just? and it was the same with ali g too - people getting offended were missing the point.

Aw, cheers guys. Just when I feel like I spout nothing but ignorant drivel you say something like that and make me feel all warm.
Like I've drunk some soup.
I've just ruined it, haven't I?

No, you've just made me hungry for soup.

thats the pee pee in your panties.

You're right, it's everyone having a chuckle at their own ignorance. That's why the things Borat does, like speaking Polish for example, are funny.

A couple of years back I had a girl from Kazakhstan work with me in a group of six or seven. I introduced her to the rest of the team, when she mentioned she was from Kazakhstan one of the girls in the group replied with:

"Bloody hell! You mean it's a real country? I thought Ali G made it up!"

Explaining to Kazakh with poor English exactly who Borat was was... interesting to say the least.

What a stupid idea.

Borat comic strikes back at legal threat
Friday, November 25 2005, 14:52 GMT -- by Miriam Zendle

Sacha Baron Cohen has responded to a legal threat from the Kazakhstani Foreign Ministry.

The comic, who came under fire after appearing as spoof journalist Borat at the MTV Europe Music Awards, responded in character to the possible threat.

Cohen, who is Jewish, stated: "I have no connection with Mr Cohen and fully support my government's position to sue this Jew."

He continued to poke fun at the staid Kazakhstani authorities, jokingly adding that "women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hat and age of consent has been raised to eight years old."