Word: borat
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...would inflict more. Brad Jarvis Arvada, Colorado, U.S. Throughout history, great men with vision and courage have stood alone in the face of political opposition. Hurrah for the Lone Ranger! John Wiedersatz Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S. Bigotry As Comedy Joel Stein's story on comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's movie Borat stated that "Any normal person over 35 is going to find [Baron Cohen's character] Borat horrifying" [Nov. 6]. I disagree; I'm 37, and although I thought the film was as vulgar and far removed from political correctness as you can get, I was not horrified...
Over the past two weeks, however, huge audiences across the country have filled movie theaters to laugh off their worries about this seeming “clash of civilizations” by going to see the new movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” Starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles, best known for his work as a writer on “Seinfeld,” “Borat” resonates so much with audiences because of the West’s unease...
...Borat, the movie’s protagonist, hails from Kazakhstan, a nation which we are told has some of the cleanest prostitutes in central Asia. Cohen himself looks vaguely Muslim (Cohen is actually half-Israeli and half-Welsh) and his character Borat is incredibly out of sync with Western mores. Borat’s blend of misogyny, anti-Semitism, and general backwardness all carefully correspond with American stereotypes of Islam. Importantly, these are not always traits that Americans impute indiscriminately to all other cultures...
...although these are the hallmarks of a “stereotypical Muslim,” the movie makes it very clear that Borat is, in fact, not a Muslim (and even appears to have converted to Christianity by the end of the movie). There is also little evidence that Cohen tried to portray his character as a Muslim. Despite all this, a largely subconscious tension exists between the similarity of Borat’s “Muslim” attitudes and his claim not to be an adherent to Islam...
This tension comes to the fore when a rabidly xenophobic cowboy asks Borat directly in the movie if he is a Muslim or not. Caught off-guard by the question, Cohen states in character that he is not a Muslim but a Kazakh (a curious answer owing to Kazazhstan’s large Muslim population). Cohen’s Borat then tries to lighten up the moment by saying that instead of following Islam he “follows the hawk” (a flippant reference to Kazakhstan’s flag...