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"...Mr. Cohen is serving someone's political order..."

Started by The Plaque Goblin, November 14, 2005, 07:08:49 PM

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The Plaque Goblin

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051114/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_kazakhstan_borat;_ylt=AsCmWMkYesXrDzumU5NzC9cuQE4F;_ylu=X3oDMTA4cmUwbnA1BHNlYwMxNzAy
QuoteKazakhstan threatens "Borat" with court

ASTANA (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry threatened legal action on Monday against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who wins laughs by portraying the central Asian state as a country populated by drunks who enjoy cow-punching as a sport.

Baron Cohen, who portrays a spoof Kazakh television presenter Borat in his "Da Ali G Show", has won fame ridiculing Kazakhstan, the world's ninth largest country yet still little known to many in the West.

Baron Cohen appears to have drawn official Kazakh ire after he hosted the annual MTV Europe Music Awards show in Lisbon earlier this month as Borat, who arrived in an Air Kazakh propeller plane controlled by a one-eyed pilot clutching a vodka bottle.

"We do not rule out that Mr. Cohen is serving someone's political order designed to present Kazakhstan and its people in a derogatory way," Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news briefing.

"We reserve the right to any legal action to prevent new pranks of the kind." He declined to elaborate.

Cohen's earlier jokes about the Central Asian state include claims that the people would shoot a dog and then have a party, and that local wine was made from fermented horse urine.

"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," Ashykbayev said.


quadraspazzed

Quote"We do not rule out that Mr. Cohen is serving someone's political order designed to present Kazakhstan

Well, I do know that his brother is a member of the CWI in Israel - and indeed, SBC once saved the main theoretician of the CWI (Peter Taaffe) from the riducle of appearing on some round-table hosted by Ali G.

Course Taaffe was unaware of the comedy situation at the time, and apparently flew into a rage over 'censorship'.

(This is secondhand info, so it may not even be true, but I'm pretty sure it is. I know the person who told me quite well.)

Pinball

That is a superb photo! hehe. I'm quite surprised there's been no complaints before. Nice to know a few Kazakhs have satellite dishes ;-)

Godzilla Bankrolls

I seem to recall the original Kazakh 'controversy' being written off as some PR nonsense generated by Baron-Cohen (or his cohorts). Also, there was that nonsense about Ali G upsetting people at the MTV Awards a few years back because he called Atomic Kitten 'slappers' or somesuch. Hard-hitting satire!

Johnny Yesno

That's funny because a while back there was a Grauniad article where they went to Khazakhstan to interview people about what they thought of Borat. The overwhelming view seemed to be that the character was too ludicrous to be offensive.

That is a cracking picture :-D .

Edit: Ah, here you go. And here's an extract:

QuoteSo is Borat misrepresenting Kazakhstan? The opinion on the street seems to be that if Borat had used real Kazakh words, looked Kazakh, or referred to actual Kazakh traditions, then the generally positive reception to the show would have been different, especially when he starts being crude. But Borat hardly touches on the real Kazakhstan, so as Ulan, 32, puts it: "It's just comedy really."

Ainura, 25, recently spent a year living in the US. Does she think Borat is giving Kazakhstan a bad name. "Borat's not making fun of Kazakhs, he's making fun of Americans," she says. "They are gullible. Not one of them said, 'No way - that can't be true.' The show describes a US stereotype, not a Kazakh one. It lays bare the American attitude towards foreigners: strong accents, loud voices, stupidity, male chauvinism."

Blumf

Bump for a last minute heads up:

The Politics Show is going to have a bit on SBC's Borat character with Stewart Lee. Be quick it's on BBC1 now and the actual bit will be on soon.

The Mumbler

But first it's Rod Liddle with his top two shirt buttons undone.  Oh!  And smoking a cigarette, as Daniel Kitson so memorably pointed out.

quadraspazzed

I'd never seen or heard Liddle speak before tonight (only read his now defunct[?] Guardian column).

Christ, the twatosity was unbelievable. Am I alone in thinking he looks like a less attractive (and a much less funny) Jo Brand?

And the Lee thing was a bit on the shit side wasn't it?

Johnny Yesno

Quote from: "quadraspazzed"I'd never seen or heard Liddle speak before tonight (only read his now defunct[?] Guardian column).

Christ, the twatosity was unbelievable. Am I alone in thinking he looks like a less attractive (and a much less funny) Jo Brand?

And the Lee thing was a bit on the shit side wasn't it?
Damn! Missed it. Liddle is a fuckhead, isn't he? I thought you were going to say he looks like a less attractive (and a much less funny) Jeremy Clarkson.

Bogey

He writes for the Sunday Times, and his picture in that is oh, oh so punchable.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: "Bogey"He writes for the Sunday Times, and his picture in that is oh, oh so punchable.

But not as punchable as he was in his Channel 4 anti-immigration  documentary in which he enjoyed a pint and a chat with Nick Griffin.

quadraspazzed

Quote from: "Ignatius_S"
Quote from: "Bogey"He writes for the Sunday Times, and his picture in that is oh, oh so punchable.

But not as punchable as he was in his Channel 4 anti-immigration  documentary in which he enjoyed a pint and a chat with Nick Griffin.

You ... are ... joking ... right ???

I think that elevates him beyond 'fuckhead' into the realms of the supreme cuntocracy.


Ignatius_S

Quote from: "quadraspazzed"
Quote from: "Ignatius_S"
Quote from: "Bogey"He writes for the Sunday Times, and his picture in that is oh, oh so punchable.

But not as punchable as he was in his Channel 4 anti-immigration  documentary in which he enjoyed a pint and a chat with Nick Griffin.

You ... are ... joking ... right ???

I think that elevates him beyond 'fuckhead' into the realms of the supreme cuntocracy.

(picture)

Sadly, I'm not - it was called 'Immigration is a Time Bomb' -  Channel 4 had to respond to the complaints.

quadraspazzed

Quote from: "Ignatius_S"'Immigration is a Time Bomb'

Jesus Christ! Was this before or after the Tube bombs do you know? Either way, what a terrible title.

I'm reminded of the BNP leaflet my cousin got through his letterbox in Wrexham before the last election. "Britain is EXPLODING with immigrants!"

Kinda funny though, as my cousin is Irish, as is his co-habiting girlfriend, and the other people that lived in the house were two Zimbabwean blokes and a Spaniard. Picked the wrong house there methinks.

Mister Cairo

He writes for the Spectator as well, and was involved in an affair recently that was splahsed all over the papers like news spunk. May have been connected to Blunkett and Quinn's little sortie.

To me he looks like he has permanent toothache. Which would cheer many people up no end.

weekender

This news page has an updated story:

QuoteALMATY (Reuters) - Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who uses a boorish, sexist and racist Kazakh alter ego called Borat to poke fun at interviewees has responded to a legal threat from the Kazakh authorities by satirically welcoming the move.

Cohen, who plays the spoof Kazakh television reporter in his "Da Ali G Show", incurred the wrath of Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry this month after appearing as Borat at the annual MTV Europe Music Awards.

He described shooting dogs for fun and said his wife could not leave Kazakhstan as she was a woman. The Foreign Ministry said his behaviour was unacceptable and that Cohen might be serving political orders to tarnish Kazakhstan's reputation.

Responding in character as Borat, Cohen, who is Jewish, said: "I like to state, I have no connection with Mr Cohen and fully support my government's position to sue this Jew.

"Since 2003 ... Kazakhstan is as civilised as any other country in the world," he said on his website, www.borat.kz.

"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.

One Western diplomat in the Central Asian state's biggest city Almaty said he at least partly sympathised with the Kazakh government in trying to set the record straight.

"They are damned if they do (respond) and damned if they don't," he said. "It's sort of unfortunate that he hit upon Kazakhstan.

Mr. Analytical

Nice... the website includes a "reference" to that "I like sex!" greek guy whose website became a meme about 10 years ago.