borat

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=Borat Sagdiyev: The Cultural Phenomenon.=

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Genre
Comedy > Mockumentary

Plot
Sasha Baron Cohen, better known as Ali-G, brought us Borat Sagdiyev, the Kazakhstani journalist who has made the world talk about a small former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. The movie begins with the main character "Borat" documenting life in his home land of Kazakhstan (IMBD). In Kazakhstan it seems as if time has been turned back at least by a century. The women are treated like sex slaves, Jewish/gay/African American people are continously mocked, education is limited to men and incest is highly accepted. Being the only TV reporter in Kazakhstan, Borat is hired by his Government to go the United States and report on traditions which can be utilized in the country of Kazakhstan (IMBD). It is during Borat's stay in the USA that he encounters many different types of people that do not exist in his home land. With the aid of a documentary crew, Borat becomes more interested in locating Pamela Anderson than focusing on studying the traditions of America, which leads his mission to be rerouted from its original destination of NYC to Pamela's place of residence in Los Angeles (IMBD).

Production
Most scenes and characters throughout the film seem to be unscripted, with the exception of Borat. According to Borat (Sasha Cohen) The country and people which are depicted in the movie especially main characters are completely fictional and in no way related to the actual country or its culture (IMBD). In fact, the part of the film that was supposedly filmed in Kazakhstan, was filmed in Romania. The people in the film very rarely, if at all, speak Kazakhi, Borat himself speaks Hebrew/Yiddish combination (this adds to the comedy and political satire of it; a kazakh (kazakhs are primarily muslim) with a hatred for jews speaking in hebrew) with some gibberish words, while his producer speaks some Russian and Ukranian.

Criticism
Recently, Borat has received criticism from various sources. Yerzhan Ashykbayev, Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry spokesman, denounced Baron Cohen's character, saying it to be "utterly unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is completely incompatible with the ethics and civilized behavior of Kazakhstan's people". (Daily Mail, September 2006).

Baron Cohen's character has also received criticism on online sites like [|SomethingAwful.com]. SomethingAwful.com featured Borat in their spoof segment, Philosophy Sunday, and generated a false statement from Borat:

"Hello! My name-a Borat! I don't feel to care much of your question! This would be because I have list of stock response to all query! Haha! You listen! I dislike the Jews! Barbara Bush look like old man! I say word for genitals in unexpect ways and then mention sex! Then I say is nice or hi-five after saying this! Also I sometimes imply incest to people who might be offend by this! This called "sharp social satire". Now I fart! Haha! Why yes, I //do// love money, I thank you very much! Great success!" - [|SomethingAwful.com], "Philosophy Sunday"

Various opinions reflect the use of Borat as a cardboard character composed of stock responses and crude stereotypes. Despite this criticism, however, the success of the Borat film as a means of entertainment and social commentary is not to be underestimated. Joe Williams, film critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, regards Borat as both "a serious work of social criticism and the funniest movie [he has] ever seen" (Williams, 2006).

In additon to the social value of Cohen's comedy, the entertainment value is also high, having been placed as number one in box office ratings and grossing $26.4 million (CNNmoney.com, 2006) in its opening weekend.

"Punishment" and "Consequences"
Recently Sasha Baron Cohen was beaten. In New York, he approached a man on the street and said: "I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with it." After that, the man, who was not aware of his Borat character, punched him repeatedly, until rescued by fellow actor Hugh Laurie. The full story can be found at [|News24].

Borat's movie continues to receive public attention and it seems his movie has affected the rocky relationship between Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock. Kid Rock was less than impressed with Pamela Anderson's involvement in the movie, and actually got very angry at her at a friend's house where he first saw the movie. Subsequently, the couple gone their own ways. The full story can be viewed at [|CBS3.]

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Box Office Sensation
Completely catching box office analysts off guard, Borat well exceed the $12 million weekend gross most pundits predicted. Opening at a rather smallish 837 theatres, it grossed an unbelievable $26.4 million during its first weekend in the U.S, giving it a scorching per screen average of $31,607. Part of its success was due to a combination of Sacha Baron Cohen's strong fanbase, brilliant marketing and a good release date.

In a way, Borat's landmark opening is similar to two other films: 1999's //The Blair Witch Project// and Michael Moore's //Fahrenheit 9/11// (2004). Both opened well under 1,500 screens and grossed $29.2 and $23.9 million respectively on their opening weekend.

To date, due to the overwhelming success on its first weekend, Borat expanded to 2,500 screens on the following weekend, propelling its second week gross to $29 million, leaving its nearest competitor (The Santa Clause 3 : $14.1 million) in the dust. It is fair to conclude that Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazahkastan will end up with a total gross well over $100 million domestically.

Kazakhstan
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