Borat Sagdiyev

Borat Sagdiyev Борат Сагдиев
Borat Sagdiyev
Borat
Portrayed by	Sacha Baron Cohen
First appearance	F2F
Last appearance	Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Event for Autism Education
Created by	Sacha Baron Cohen
Profile
Occupation	Journalist/broadcaster, singer, actor
Residence	Kazakhstan
Relationships Parents Asimbala Sagdiyev (mother) Boltok (father/grandfather/uncle/brother) Sibling(s) Natalya Sagdiyev (sister) Bilo Sagdiyev (brother) Lilya Utbarkan (half sister) Unnamed sisters Unnamed half sister Spouse(s) Oksana (deceased) Ludmilla Luenell (2006–present) Children Hooeylewis (son) Biram (son) Bilak (son) Grandchildren seventeen unnamed

Borat Sagdiyev (Kazakh/Russian: Борат Сагдиев) (born February 27, 1972) is a satirical fictional character invented and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. He is presented as a Kazakhstani journalist and is the main protagonist of the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Borat's humour derives from his mocking of society through outrageous sociocultural viewpoints, his violation of social taboos and his use of vulgar language and behaviour. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "The Kazakhstani journalist gave us some of the most incisive cultural commentary ever filmed. That, and a wrestling match between butt-naked men. Something for everyone."^[1]

Origins

The character was first developed for short skits on F2F on Granada Television that Cohen presented in 1996–1997. He was given another run by Paramount Comedy 1 before being picked up by BBC Two's Comedy Nation. This early version of Borat was nearly identical in looks and demeanor to his latest incarnation but was as yet unnamed. Initially, the character claimed to be from Albania^[2] before ultimately settling on Kazakhstan.^[3] The character remained dormant while Cohen concentrated on his Ali G persona for Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show. With the subsequent success of Ali G and the creation of Da Ali G Show (also on Channel 4), Cohen regularly revisited his Borat character.

Fictional character biography

Borat claims to have been born on February 27, 1972 in the fictional village of Kuzcek, Kazakh SSR to Asimbala Sagdiyev and Boltok the Rapist (who is also stated to be his paternal grandfather, uncle and former father-in-law until the demise of Oksana);^[4] he says his mother gave birth to him when she was nine years old. He has a thirteen-year-old son named Hooeylewis (believed by some to be a reference to Huey Lewis), twelve-year-old twin boys named Biram and Bilak, and seventeen grandchildren. He has a sister, Natalya (whom he has claimed at different times to be "the number four best prostitute in Kazakhstan") and a younger brother, Bilo, who is mentally retarded and kept in a cage.

It is unknown how many times Borat has been married, after first having been betrothed to his half-sister's Plough while in his teens. One of his wives (Ludmilla) is said to have been shot by a hunter when he mistook her for a bear as she plowed the fields. His former wife, Oksana, is reported in the Borat film to have been attacked, "violated", and "broken" by a bear while taking his brother Bilo for a walk in the forest. Borat is not saddened by the tragedy; he thanks the man who brings him this "good news" by giving him a high five and celebrates his new-found freedom by pursuing Pamela Anderson and eventually reunites with and marries Luenell, an American prostitute he met while filming his documentary.

According to various in-character interviews with Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat attended Astana University, where he studied English, journalism, and plague research. He created five new plagues which "killed over 5 million goats in Uzbekistan."^[5] Prior to his plague research, Borat worked as an ice maker, gypsy catcher, animal puller (one who produces semen from animals) and computer maintenance engineer (specifically, removing dead birds which had nested in the vents in the computers casing).^[6] He now works as a professional journalist and announcer on Kazakh television. This job "helps Borat and other Kazakhs express themselves in ways they otherwise would not have been able to do."

Although nominally pagan for most of his life, sometimes remarking that his people "follow the hawk", in the film he attends a Pentecostal church service and later converts his village neighbours to Christianity. Borat greatly admires the political views of Joseph Stalin, and claims that both he and Stalin are strong men with powerful "khram" (genitals). He is strongly against women's rights and was quite aghast upon learning of women's suffrage (stating that government scientist Dr. Yarmulka says a woman has a brain the size of squirrel). He frequently comments that it (woman's suffrage) is like "a monkey driving a car" or "a monkey with a gun". In his spare time, he enjoys playing ping pong, sunbathing while clad in a lime green "mankini", disco dancing, spitting, sitting on comfortable chairs, and taking pictures of women while they "make toilet". He also enjoys hunting Jews in his homeland. He is particularly fond of "mouth-party" and "hand-party" Borat also states that he "very much like Korky Butchek" who is a fictitious musician and sex which he likes to call "sexy time".

However, Kathleen Tracy states in her book Sacha Baron Cohen, the Unauthorized Biography: from Cambridge to Kazakhstan that the character Borat was never intended to be entirely consistent, meaning that incongruities in Borat's personal details can be noticed if they are examined closely.

Cohen retired Borat due to widespread recognition, and used Brüno as his 'proper' alter-ego, but this character has also been retired.

Da Ali G Show

In each episode of Da Ali G Show, Borat is shown doing satirical interviews with often unwitting subjects in the United Kingdom and the United States. The segments were shot in low-quality video to maintain the satirical feel of poor quality television (similar to Chanel 9 segments on The Fast Show).

The Borat segments on Da Ali G Show use the rock-rendition Russian folk tune "Korobeiniki" as the theme song.

Guide to Britain

Shown as part of a six-part Ali G show originally on Channel 4 (UK) in March 2000.

Five Borat sketches were shown, in the form of "Guides" to "Etiquette", Hunting, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Henley. The "Guides" to "English Gentlemen", "Politics" and "Sport" were also filmed at this time but released at a later date as part of Ali G DVDs. The Cambridge sketch is the only major Borat material from this series not to have made it onto the compilation DVDs.

Guide to USA 1

Shown as part of a six part Ali G Show originally on HBO (USA) in February 2003. This series was screened and released in the UK as Ali G In The USAiii.

Six Borat sketches were shown in the form of "Guides" to "Dating", "Etiquette", "Acting", "Men", "Baseballs" and "The (Deep) South". A "Guide to Animals" was filmed but released at a later date as part of an Ali G DVD. (Alyssa Greenfill was his co-star.)

Guide to USA 2

Shown as part of a six-part Ali G Show originally on HBO (USA) in July 2004. (Channel 4 was the UK channel where Ali G and Borat originally appeared, and the series for America was a joint HBO/Channel 4 co-production). This series was re-edited for the UK to remove all the Ali G material, becoming two prime-time Borat's Television Programme specials for Channel 4. These specials also embodied the Bruno segments from the series and Borat's "Guide To Hunting", not screened in the US version. The uncut second series as it appeared on HBO was later given a UK courtesy transmission on digital channel E4.

Six Borat sketches were shown in the form of "Guides" to "Wine Tasting", "Politics", "Country Music", "Hobbies", "Buying a House" and "Jobs" (careers), with "Hunting" airing in the UK only.

Films

Ali G Indahouse

Borat had a small role in Cohen's film Ali G Indahouse as a Kazakhstani diplomat, in which he greets Cohen's other character Ali G with a hug and kiss, but is rebuffed and accused of being a homosexual "batty boy", thus calls Ali G a "cocksucker".

Borat film

Main article: Borat

Borat at the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2006.

Subtitled Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the film Borat is mockumentary comedy. Most of those appearing in the film are not paid performers, but real people whom Borat met on his journey.^[7] The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox, and directed by Larry Charles. It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released across Europe on 2 November 2006 and North America on 3 November 2006.

The film follows Borat in his travels across the United States, as he commits cultural solecisms and exposes a few American ones. Over the course of the film, Borat falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching a rerun of Baywatch, and vows to make her his wife.

The film opened at #1 in the U.S., taking in $26.4 million on a limited release of 837 screens during its first weekend, beating Fahrenheit 9/11 as the biggest opening weekend for a film released in fewer than 1,000 cinemas. Cohen celebrated the release of the film with a host of promotional in-character interviews.^[8] The film expanded its release on the second weekend to 2,566 screens, where it took in an additional $29 million.^[9]

In 2007, Cohen won a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy". With a production budget of $18,000,000 the film has grossed $128,501,044 in the United States of America and another $128,848,505 internationally, for a worldwide gross of $257,349,549 by mid-March 2007.^[10]

Book

In 2007, a book from Baron Cohen was released, titled "Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan/Touristic Guidings to Minor Nation of U.S. and A.", with humor about both countries in a similar vein to the movie.^[11]

Fate

Sacha Baron Cohen has stated that the character of Borat, alongside his Ali G character, will be retired.^[12] Borat's last appearances were at Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Event for Autism Education 2006 television special and an online public service announcement ahead of the 2008 United States elections.^[13]

Criticism and controversy

See also: Da Ali G Show#Controversy

Criticized as unfair smear against Kazakhstan

There have been arguments that the film's portrayal of the people of Kazakhstan is unfair and unjustified.

In August 2004, the Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan, addressing an international religious conference in Brussels, stated that in 10 years in the country he had never faced anti-Semitism. He praised the Government of Kazakhstan for its treatment of the Jewish community.

On 19 October 2006, the BBC reported that Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister, Rakhat Aliyev, had invited Cohen to visit Kazakhstan to see how inaccurate his portrayals were. In an interview, Aliyev asserted that:

His trip could yield a lot of discoveries—that women not only travel inside buses but also drive their own cars, that we make wine from grapes, that Jews can freely attend synagogues and so on.^[14]

Denigration of Roma

Borat's movie has been accused of promoting antiziganism. The scenes supposedly filmed in Borat's Kazakhstani village were actually filmed in an impoverished Roma village of Glod in Romania. USA Today reports that poverty-stricken villagers were offered between $3.30 and $5.50 to bring animals into their houses and perform other acts some critics called humiliating.^[15] The studio contends that participants were paid double the rate recommended by the Romanian film office for extras.^[16] The villagers (none of whom knew English) were told that they were being filmed for a documentary on village life and Cohen was a famous documentary host called Nicolae Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, which aroused suspicions among the villagers because the name sounded like a portmanteau of the names of the Romanian Communist leaders Nicolae Ceauşescu and Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.^[17]

Two villagers of Glod hired reparation attorney Ed Fagan to sue the makers of the film for $30 million for human rights abuses. Fagan intended to submit lawsuits in New York and Florida state courts, as well as in Frankfurt, Germany. Fagan said that he hoped to "teach Hollywood a very expensive lesson." The lawsuit was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in a hearing in early December 2006 on the ground that the charges were too vague to stand up in court. Fagan plans to refile.^[18]

Denigration of Jews

The Borat character has been accused of anti-Semitism but Baron Cohen, himself an Orthodox Jew, has explained that the segments are a "dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry."^[19] "Borat essentially works a tool. By himself pretending to be anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice," Baron Cohen explained to Rolling Stone.^[20] Baron Cohen, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, says he wishes in particular to expose the role of indifference:

When I was in university, there was this major historian of the Third Reich, Ian Kershaw, who said, 'The path to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.' I know it's not very funny being a comedian talking about the Holocaust, but it's an interesting idea that not everyone in Germany had to be a raving anti-Semite. They just had to be apathetic.^[20]

(The actual line from Kershaw’s 1983 book Popular Opinion and Political Dissent in the Third Reich was that "the road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference"^[21][22])

However, the Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based group that “...combat[s] anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds”, complained to HBO after Borat performed his country western-style song "In My Country There Is Problem". It called on people to "throw the Jew down the well", warning that 'you must be careful of his teeth' and that "you must grab him by his money", and was welcomed with applause and participation from some members of an audience in Tucson, Arizona. The full chorus goes: "Throw the Jew down the well/So my country can be free/You must grab him by his horns/Then we have a big party."^[23][24] Regarding the enthusiastic response to "In My Country There Is Problem", he says, "Did it reveal that they were anti-Semitic? Perhaps. But maybe it just revealed that they were indifferent to anti-Semitism."

In another scene, Borat visits the Serengeti Range ranch in Texas, where the owner of the ranch confides that he believes the Holocaust was a necessity for Germany. He further implies that he would have no problem running a ranch where people can hunt, in Borat's words, "deer... then Jew."

An interview with James Broadwater, an evangelical Christian and Republican candidate for the United States' Congress from Mississippi, caused Broadwater to receive some hate emails after an episode of Da Ali G Show aired in which Broadwater stated that all non-Christians (including Jews) will go to Hell. He was told that the interview would be played in foreign countries to teach others about the American political system. Broadwater later posted a letter on his website denouncing Da Ali G Show, explaining that his statement referred to a theological belief that anyone that "accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will spend eternity in Heaven, while everyone who rejects Him will spend eternity in Hell." Broadwater did not apologise for his comments. Instead, he insisted that "the liberalism, anti-God media needs to be brought under the strict control of the FCC, and that as soon as possible."^[25]

In the film, Borat continues his anti-Semitic stance. When he mentions his decision to avoid flying while in America, Borat says that his colleague "insists we not fly in case the Jews repeat their attack of 9/11". Later, he finds himself in a bed and breakfast run by a kindly old Jewish couple. He tries to 'escape', and throws money at two cockroaches that have crawled into his room, apparently fearing that the Jewish owners have shapeshifted into the cockroaches. He was amazed that they had managed to look human and states that one "can hardly see their horns". Borat is completely oblivious to his hosts' religious beliefs when he first meets them, despite the immediate evidence: the man wears a kippah and the woman openly displays her paintings of Jewish people all over the house. Borat does not understand until the woman explicitly tells him "I'm Jewish."

Cohen later joked, upon receiving a British comedy award, that Borat was a guest of honour at the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran.^{[citation needed]}

The movie has enjoyed particular success in Israel because Israeli filmgoers understand what Borat is really saying when he is supposedly spouting Kazakh: throughout the film, Borat speaks fluent Hebrew.^[26] The movie has enjoyed similar success in Armenia as well because Armenian filmgoers understand what Azamat Bagatov (Kenneth Davitian), Borat's producer and second character in the movie, is actually saying when he is supposed to spout in Kazakh: through the film, Azamat speaks fluent Armenian.

Iraq War sarcasm

In January 2005, after convincing the authorities that he was shooting a documentary, Cohen managed to infuriate a crowd at a rodeo in Salem, Virginia. Even though the crowd first cheered at the beginning of his statements of support for the Iraq war:^[27]

"My name a Borat. I come from Kazakhstan. Can I say first, we support your War of Terror! May we show our support to our boys in Iraq! May U.S. and A. kill every single terrorist! May George Bush drink the blood of every single man, woman and child of Iraq! May you destroy their country so that for the next thousand years not even a single lizard will survive in their desert!"

He then went on to sing an off-key rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner with the lyrics replaced by those of a fictitious "Kazakh national anthem", beginning with "Kazakhstan is the greatest country in the world/All other countries are run by little girls..."

"If he had been out there a minute longer, I think somebody would have shot him," said one witness. "People were booing him, flipping him off." For his own safety, Cohen was escorted from the venue. (Much of the event appears in the movie.^[28] A credible news report about the incident, aired on a local television station, is included in the DVD extras.)

Conflicts with Kazakhstan's government

Baron Cohen has also been accused of creating a derogatory image of Kazakhstan.^[29]

In November 2005, following Borat's hosting of the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry voiced its concerns about the character. Spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news conference: "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 the ethics and civilised behaviour of Kazakhstan's people", concluding "We reserve the right to any legal action to prevent new pranks of the kind."^[30]

Baron Cohen has since posted a video on the "Official Borat Homesite" where Borat responds to Ashykbayev in character. In the video, Borat states, in part:

In response to Mr. Ashykbayev's comments, I'd like to state I have no connection with Mr. Cohen and fully support my government's decision to sue this Jew. Since the 2003 Tuleyakiv reforms, Kazakhstan is as civilized as any other country in the world. Women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hats, and age of consent has been raised to eight years old. Please, captain of industry; I invite you to come to Kazakhstan where we have incredible natural resources, hardworking labour, and some of the cleanest prostitutes in whole of Central Asia. Goodbye! Dzienkuje!^[31]

Reuters quoted an unnamed Western diplomat as saying "They (the Government of Kazakhstan) are damned if they do [respond] and damned if they don't," he said. "It's sort of unfortunate that he hit upon Kazakhstan." Another unnamed source inside Kazakhstan's Washington embassy called Borat a "one-man diplomatic wrecking ball."^[32][33]

The next week, the government hired two Western public relations firms to counter Borat's claims, and ran a four-page advertisement in The New York Times. The ad carried testimonials about the nation's democracy, education system and the power and influence enjoyed by women. On a previous occasion, Borat responded to such official complaints by issuing his own "press release", which consisted of randomly arranged Cyrillic characters. He would again respond when promoting his movie in front of the Kazakh Embassy in Washington, roundly denouncing the advertisements as "Uzbek propaganda".^[34]

On the 13 December 2005, the right to use the domain name www.borat.kz was suspended, and the site attached to it was closed down.^[35] The domain-issuing body said that they took this action since false names were given for the site's administrators, and also because the site www.borat.kz was hosted outside Kazakhstan. However, the stated underlying cause of the action was in order to censor the content of the site: "We've done this so he can't badmouth Kazakhstan under the .kz domain name," Nurlan Isin, President of the Association of Kazakh IT Companies, told Reuters. "He can go and do whatever he wants at other domains."^[36]

Reporters Without Borders petitioned the ICANN ombudsman to intervene and reverse this decision.^[37] Meanwhile, the "Official Borat Homesite" was moved to the .tv domain, where it remains. As of 8 November 2008 (2008 -11-08)^[update], the former domain name was still suspended. The 2006 annual human rights report released by the US State Department cited the loss of the .kz website as evidence of the Kazakhstani government's efforts to curb free speech.^[38]

Borat has, however, recently been defended by Dariga Nazarbayeva, a politician and daughter of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev. She stated on a national news programme Karavan that Cohen's website "damaged our image much less than its closure, which was covered by all global news agencies," and "We should not be afraid of humour and we shouldn't try to control everything, I think."^[39]

Diplomatic relationship (CIS and USA)

White House "visit"

On the 28 September 2006, Cohen appeared in character as Borat at the White House gates to give a press conference to invite "Supreme Warlord Premier George Walter Bush" to a screening of his forthcoming film, along with "O.J. Simpson", "Melvin Gibsons" and other "American dignitaries", after which they would join him for drinks at Hooters. Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers would not admit him to the grounds. The apparent publicity stunt was likely timed to coincide with an official state visit by Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev the following day.^[40]

Complaint by Roma in Germany

On 18 October 2006, European Centre for Antiziganism Research,^[41] which pleads against discrimination of Roma, filed a complaint^[42] with prosecutors based on Borat's comments about "Gypsies" in his film. The complaint accuses him of defamation and inciting violence against the ethnic group.^[43]

Avian Flu "Gift"

At a news conference for the press just hours before the live broadcast of the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards, he shocked local and international journalists in Lisbon, Portugal, by bringing a bag of birds from Romania (the first European country to detect avian influenza) as a gift, then proceeded to say he was sorry that they had all died.

Dharma Arthur

WAPT (Jackson, Mississippi) TV news producer Dharma Arthur states in Newsweek she lost her job as a result of her booking Borat on a local morning news program. At the time of the appearance, she was unaware of Cohen's act. During an interview with news anchor Brad McMullan, Borat made sexual and scatological references, kissed McMullan and later disrupted a live weather report.^[44] She said: "Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did... I spiralled into depression, and... was released from my contract... It took me three months to find another job, and now I'm thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure... How upsetting that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comedic genius."

The broadcast, including the initial interview, the disrupted weather report, and several behind-the-scenes shots made by Borat's own film crew, is seen in the Borat movie.

Litigation

• The state prosecutor in Hamburg, Germany, filed a complaint against Cohen, accusing him of slander, inciting violence against the Sinti and Roma Gypsy groups, and violating Germany's anti-discrimination law.^[45]
• Two of the University of South Carolina fraternity brothers who appeared in the film, Justin Seay and Christopher Rotunda, sued the producers, claiming defamation.^[46][47][48] On 11 December 2006, an L.A. Judge denied the pair an injunction to remove them from the film.^[49] The suit by Seay and Rotunda was dismissed in February 2007.^[47] The students also had sought an injunction to prevent the DVD release of the film, which was denied.^{[46][47][48][50]}

• Cindy Streit, the owner of Etiquette Training Service in Birmingham, Alabama, had claimed mistreatment and fraud after Borat attended a dinner party and subjected her and the other guests to "ridicule and humiliation". Ms. Streit had hired attorney Gloria Allred, who was demanding an investigation by the California attorney general. Allred says that her client agreed to be filmed as part of a documentary for Belarus television, and for those purposes only. She is asking the attorney general to consider all appropriate relief, including a percentage of the profits from the film. 20th Century Fox denied the claims and stated that there was nothing in writing about only being shown in Belarus; the studio also asserted that the release form clearly stated the footage could be distributed worldwide.^[51] The case was dismissed on Sep. 3, 2008.^[52]
• Michael Psenicska, the owner of the driving school in Perry Hall, Maryland, has filed a lawsuit seeking $100,000 in compensatory damages and unspecified punitive damages. His lawsuit states that Twentieth Century Fox and Sacha Cohen fraudulently convinced him to approve his appearance in the movie by telling him that it would be for a documentary of immigrants integrating into American life. The case was dismissed on Sep. 3, 2008.^[52]
• Kathie Martin, the owner of Etiquette Training School of Birmingham, filed a lawsuit on similar grounds, which was dismissed on Sep. 3, 2008 along with the Streit and Psenicska actions.^[52]
• Jeffrey Lemerond, who was shown running and yelling "go away" as Borat attempted to hug strangers on a New York street, filed a legal case claiming his image was used in the film illegally, and that he suffered "public ridicule, degradation and humiliation" as a result. The case was dismissed.^[53]

See also

• Mahir Çağrı

Notes and references

1. ^ Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "THE 100 Greatest MOVIES, TV SHOWS, ALBUMS, BOOKS, CHARACTERS, SCENES, EPISODES, SONGS, DRESSES, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND TRENDS THAT ENTERTAINED US OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84
2. ^ "Early Borat Video". boyakasha.co.uk. http://www.boyakasha.co.uk/borat/early-ali-g-and-borat-video. Retrieved 2011-03-21. 
3. ^ Robert A. Saunders (2008). The Many Faces of Sacha Baron Cohen: Politics, Parody, and the Battle over Borat. Lexington Books. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-7391-2336-2. http://www.lexingtonbooks.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=978-0-7391-2336-2. 
4. ^ inside jacket flap, Borat: Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
5. ^ "When CNN's Becky met Borat". CNN. 2006-10-28. http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/27/becky.borat/index.html. Retrieved 2007-07-17. 
6. ^ "Borat's Career and Skills". BoratMovieOnline.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930002935/http%3A//boratmovieonline.com/careerandskills.php. Retrieved 2007-07-17. 
7. ^ David Marchese and Willa Manu (2006-11-10). "What's real in Borat?". Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2006/11/10/guide_to_borat/index.html. 
8. ^ "Borat interview". STV. SMG, PLC.. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20071012152946/http://stv.tv/out/showArticle.jsp?source=opencms&articleId=/out/dontmiss/Borat. Retrieved 2006-12-22. 
9. ^ "Movie Borat". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC.. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2006/BORAT.php. Retrieved 2006-12-22. 
10. ^ Boxofficemojo page on Borat's earnings
11. ^ Wolk, Josh (November 2, 2007). "Borat: Touristic Guidings to Minor Nation of U.S. and A. and...Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2007)". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20156321,00.html. Retrieved October 29, 2011. 
12. ^ Yahoo Movies: Sacha Baron Cohen to shed Borat persona for good Yahoo, 21 December 2007
13. ^ YouTube - Don't Vote (Starring Will Smith, Snoop Dogg, Borat & More)
14. ^ "Kazakh invite for Borat creator". BBC News. 2006-10-19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6066040.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
15. ^ "Now Romanians say 'Borat' misled them". USA Today (Gannett Co, Inc.). 2006-11-15. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-11-14-romanians-borat_x.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-22. 
16. ^ Pancevski, Bojan (2006-11-20). "Villagers to sue 'Borat'". Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles Times). http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-borat20nov20,0,1256926.story?coll=la-home-headlines. Retrieved 2006-12-22. ^{[dead link]}
17. ^ "Irish-American law firm to defend makers of Borat"^{[dead link]} Archived December 19, 2006 at the Wayback Machine^{[dead link]}
18. ^ "NYC Judge Questions Viability Of Villagers' 'Borat' Lawsuit"
19. ^ ""Borat" satire turns to farce at Toronto festival". Reuters Movie News. Reuters Limited. 2006-09-08. http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20060908/115774501000.html. Retrieved 2006-12-22. 
20. ^ ^{a b} Strauss, Neil (2006-11-14). "The Man Behind The Mustache". Rolling Stone (Rolling Stone). Archived from the original on 2006-12-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20061219060600/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/sacha_baron_cohen_the_real_borat_finally_speaks/page/2. Retrieved 2006-12-22. 
21. ^ Evans, Richard In Hitler's Shadow, New York, NY: Pantheon, 1989 page 71
22. ^ Marrus, Michael The Holocaust in History, Toronto: KeyPorter, 2000 page 91.
23. ^ Letter to Sacha Baron Cohen ("Ali G")
24. ^ Statement On The Comedy Of Sacha Baron Cohen, A.K.A. "Borat"
25. ^ The Unofficial Borat Homepage | Behind the Scenes: James Broadwater
26. ^ "Secret of Borat's fluent Kazakh - it's Hebrew". The Guardian (London). 2006-12-20. http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1975928,00.html. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
27. ^ Jahozafat.com - Borat: canisayfirst.mp3
28. ^ "Rodeo in Salem gets unexpected song rendition", The Roanoke Times, 9 January 2005.
29. ^ Pamela Anderson, Liam Skivington (2006-10-12). "Is YA MOM racist?". Fairfax Digital (The Sydney Morning Herald). Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20080411142333/http://radar.smh.com.au/archives/2006/10/is_borat_racist.html. Retrieved 2006-12-22. 
30. ^ "Kazakhstan on Borat: Not Nice", Josh Grossberg, E! Online, 14 November 2005.^{[dead link]}
31. ^ Welcome to Foxmovies.com
32. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}, Reuters, November 11, 2005. [Link broken]
33. ^ Hollywood Jesus
34. ^ "Borat denounces Uzbek propaganda" College Humor
35. ^ "Kazakhstan Strips Borat of Site", Sarah Hall, E! Online, 13 December 2005. A different version of this article was formerly available on Reuters.^{[dead link]}
36. ^ "John Ya Mom" (^{[dead link]}). Daily Mail. 2006-09-12. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=404852&in_page_id=1770. 
37. ^ "Reporters Without Borders raps censorship of UK comedian's "Borat" website"^{[dead link]} Reporters Without Borders online press release, issued 14 December 2005.
38. ^ [2]^{[dead link]}
39. ^ (^{[dead link]} – ^{Scholar search})CBC. 2006-04-21. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/04/21/borat-kazakhstan-defence.html?ref=rss. 
40. ^ BORAT SAGDIYEV - White House Press Conference on YouTube^{[dead link]}
41. ^ [3]^{[dead link]} Archived August 23, 2006 at the Wayback Machine^{[dead link]}
42. ^ PDF file, in German^{[dead link]} Archived April 8, 2008 at the Wayback Machine^{[dead link]}
43. ^ Now Gypsies want Borat banned, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 October 2006.
44. ^ Friedman, Roger (2006-11-02). "Dharma and... Borat? A 'Victim' Complains". FOX News (FOX News Network, LLC.). http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,226960,00.html. Retrieved 2006-12-22. 
45. ^ Rights group files complaint against 'Borat' in Germany^{[dead link]}
46. ^ ^{a b} "US students sue over Borat film". BBC News. 2006-11-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6136944.stm. Retrieved 2007-03-17. 
47. ^ ^{a b c} Finn, Natalie. Judge Nixes Borat Suit. E! Online 2007-02-21. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
48. ^ ^{a b} "Bamboozled By Borat?". The Smoking Gun. 2006-11-13. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1113061borat1.html. Retrieved 2007-03-17. 
49. ^ "L.A. judge sides with 'Borat' against frat boys" ^{[dead link]} 11 December 2006, Reuters [Link broken]
50. ^ Borat 'victims' fail to block DVD. BBC News, 2006-12-12. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
51. ^ Court TV
52. ^ ^{a b c} http://howappealing.law.com/JudgePreskaBoratOpinion.pdf
53. ^ "Judge dismisses Borat legal case". BBC News. 2008-04-03. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7327892.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 

External links

• boratonline.co.uk Semi-official Borat site since 1999 - contains interviews with Dan Mazer and Sacha Baron Cohen
• Borat at the Internet Movie Database

Articles

• NPR Fresh Air Interview of Sacha Baron Cohen
• Interview with Dan Mazer about Borat, Producer of Da Ali G Show on 23 April 2003 on boratonline.co.uk
• "Did Ali G Go Too Far?" on 13 August 2004 in The Jewish Week
• "The Borat Doctrine"^{[dead link]} posted 13 September 2004 in The New Yorker
• "'Ali G' Comedian Riles Rodeo Crowd" on 14 January 2005 on CBS News
• "No Joke" by Kenneth Neil Cukier on 28 December 2005 in Foreign Affairs, on what the removal of the Borat site from the .kz domain portends for the administration of the global domain name system
• Borat on Gotuit Video^{[dead link]}
• And Now for the World According to Borat and Sacha Baron Cohen
• "Borat in Paris" on 9 October 2006
• "Offensive and unfair, Borat's antics leave a nasty aftertaste" by Kazakhstan Ambassador Erlan Idrissov on 4 October 2006 in The Guardian
• "Behind the Schemes"^{[dead link]}, Newsweek, 16 October 2006 (profiling several people who became unwitting Borat punch lines)
• "Borat vs. Kazakhstan", brandchannel, 30 October 2006 (discusses Borat's affect on Westerners' perception of Kazakhstan)
• "Mahir to Borat: I Sue You!", Wired, November 2006 (Q&A with Borat look-a-like Mahir Cagri) "Can Borat be Sued by (Mahir Cagri)?", Electronic News Network, November 2006 (evidence Borat was developed before Mahir Cagri's internet fame)
• "We survived Stalin and we can certainly overcome Borat's slurs" by Kazakhstan Ambassador Erlan Idrissov on 4 November 2006 in The Times
• "Borat 2 - A satirical explanation of the Borat movie."