Re: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhst
Russia in general is no joke.
Anyways,
Kazakhstan is seeming to distance itself from the movie and Borat himself...Could you imagine Bush breaking the ice with Borat jokes?! :y4:
Russia in general is no joke.
Anyways,
Borat On The Agenda?
Despite media reports to the contrary, Bush and Nazarbaev probably won't discuss the upcoming movie, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." The British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has invented a character called "Borat" who supposedly hails from Kazakhstan. Cohen portrays a fictional character named Borat, and Kazakhstan, as ignorant, rude, racist, anti-Semitic, and antifemale, among other things.
Roman Vassilenko, the press secretary at the Kazakh Embassy in Washington, D.C., has given dozens of media interviews in recent weeks about exactly this. The Kazakh government has shut down the "Borat" website in Kazakhstan and held a press conference to officially protest Cohen's act. There have been reports that the government planned to sue the movie studio that made the picture, and that Bush invited Nazarbaev to the White House to discuss the controversy.
"We were particularly upset about his portrayal of Kazakhstan as a country of virulent anti-Semitism and misogynist people who mistreat women and hate Jews," he said. "It is absolutely wrong, has nothing to do with the real Kazakhstan, and we are hoping that people would learn about what the real Kazakhstan is, and what it stands for, particularly in the area of interreligious and interethnic relations."
But since the diplomatic flap began, Vassilenko says the government's thinking has "evolved" and it now sees the satire as a comment on the "societal ills" of the West and people's ignorance of the wider world. In this sense, he says, Cohen is doing a public service by highlighting the problem. He says people know Borat is an invented character and that his description of Kazakhstan is also fictional.
The Kazakh government has indeed been running a public relations campaign in the United States for months. There are special sections in newspapers like "The New York Times" that contain information about Kazakhstan's economic progress, investment opportunities, and cultural diversity -- and the campaign will peak just before Nazarbaev arrives in Washington. But the campaign does not mention Borat.
As to the question of whether Bush and Nazarbaev will discuss Borat, Vassilenko says "no" and adds that the presidents will decide themselves what to talk about.
And will he go see the movie when it comes out? He laughs and says that he will. Because, Vassilenko says, although it is tasteless it is also funny.
Despite media reports to the contrary, Bush and Nazarbaev probably won't discuss the upcoming movie, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." The British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has invented a character called "Borat" who supposedly hails from Kazakhstan. Cohen portrays a fictional character named Borat, and Kazakhstan, as ignorant, rude, racist, anti-Semitic, and antifemale, among other things.
Roman Vassilenko, the press secretary at the Kazakh Embassy in Washington, D.C., has given dozens of media interviews in recent weeks about exactly this. The Kazakh government has shut down the "Borat" website in Kazakhstan and held a press conference to officially protest Cohen's act. There have been reports that the government planned to sue the movie studio that made the picture, and that Bush invited Nazarbaev to the White House to discuss the controversy.
"We were particularly upset about his portrayal of Kazakhstan as a country of virulent anti-Semitism and misogynist people who mistreat women and hate Jews," he said. "It is absolutely wrong, has nothing to do with the real Kazakhstan, and we are hoping that people would learn about what the real Kazakhstan is, and what it stands for, particularly in the area of interreligious and interethnic relations."
But since the diplomatic flap began, Vassilenko says the government's thinking has "evolved" and it now sees the satire as a comment on the "societal ills" of the West and people's ignorance of the wider world. In this sense, he says, Cohen is doing a public service by highlighting the problem. He says people know Borat is an invented character and that his description of Kazakhstan is also fictional.
The Kazakh government has indeed been running a public relations campaign in the United States for months. There are special sections in newspapers like "The New York Times" that contain information about Kazakhstan's economic progress, investment opportunities, and cultural diversity -- and the campaign will peak just before Nazarbaev arrives in Washington. But the campaign does not mention Borat.
As to the question of whether Bush and Nazarbaev will discuss Borat, Vassilenko says "no" and adds that the presidents will decide themselves what to talk about.
And will he go see the movie when it comes out? He laughs and says that he will. Because, Vassilenko says, although it is tasteless it is also funny.
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