Comments on: Borat: Military intervention against Uzbekistan?

By: johnnie b. baker

johnnie b. baker — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 19:16:35 +0000

Regardless of the idiotic political ramifications of all this, Cohen and his Borat must certainly go down in history as the greatest performance art of all time.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 15:41:58 +0000

Let’s not forget that the US media is playing this up to try to boost their box office. The Borat movie is being put out by Fox Searchlight pictures–a pretty big movie studio. Not sure what their affiliations are, but in many cases the studios have a “synergy” with news media companies…

Can’t wait to see the movie!

By: yomama

yomama — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 04:21:39 +0000

I wonder who is the 1 st, 2nd and 3 rd best prostitute in
kazakville and what their rates are?

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 20:03:24 +0000

Oh and David, the SCO is “one of the world’s dullest and most useless international organisations”, is it? Well, it’s exciting enough for the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe to be talking about. For the fascinating transcript, go here:

http://www.csce.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=ContentRecords.ViewTranscript&ContentRecord_id=381&ContentType=H,B&ContentRecordType=H&CFID=23517084&CFTOKEN=84508218

Sorry, can’t do hypertext in html.
Anyway, all the speakers are hedging their bets big time, Martha Brill Olcott above all. It does, nonetheless, make for an interesting read. If you like that kind of thing, of course.

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 15:14:42 +0000

Borat’s supposed Kazalh is indeed Polish. Note that his hello is the Polish “Dziękuję”, as is “Jak się masz”. He probably learnt it off a pizza delivery man or a long-distance bus driver in Britain, all of whom seem to be Poles these days.

By: David

David — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 13:35:49 +0000

‘Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – that’s where the fun’s at!’ Its a great new slogan for one of the world’s dullest and most useless international organisations. Elect Borat as honorary chairman, perhaps?

I don’t expect the Uzbeks will react with even the limited sense of humour of the Kazakhs. Its all a bit close to the surreal reality…

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 21:49:19 +0000

In Polish “jak sie masz?” means “how are you” as well.
It’s like ciao. Borat hasn’t quite jumped the shark. I think it will when Borat II: Cultural Learnings of Electric Boogaloo comes out.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 21:32:42 +0000

Jak se mas, (pronounced yak say mash) Czech for ‘how are you?’ One of Cohen errors on Kazakhstan. Why aren’t the Czechs pissed?

By: Nathan

Nathan — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 20:37:02 +0000

Peter, now that Cohen seems to be trying to create additional controversy, I do think the story’s jumped the shark. However, the media seems bent on playing up the conflict to the point that they are suggesting that just about everything Kazakhstan has done in recent weeks is somehow aimed at countering Borat. I do think that, as another sign of how bad media coverage of Central Asia is, is a story worth discussing.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 20:02:02 +0000

Well, the Kazakh Ambassador to the United Kingdom just said on Sky News that he plans to see the film. He is also the first Kazakh official to have the gumption to note that the character is, as much as anything, a satire on American and (in the earlier TV incarnation, at any rate) British society. Indeed, I cannot help but feel that the relevance of this film to this blog is fast dwindling as it is now becoming a Hollywood story instead of one that can really interest us Central Asia buffs.
Less Borat, more Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. That’s where the fun’s at.
Yakshimash!