The Tao of Borat
Nov. 3 2006 — -- Borat Sagdiyev isn't the first sexist, racist anti-Semitic media sensation in America. Archie Bunker revolutionized American TV with his bigoted rants back in the 1970s -- and even he probably wasn't the first.
Borat is the creation of British comic Sacha Baron Cohen. And the character -- like Archie Bunker -- makes fun of hateful stereotyping, by taking it to an outrageous extreme.
But if you're not familiar with Borat, who describes himself as "the second most successful" TV news reporter in all of Kazakhstan, it's hard to appreciate just how offensive he can be -- or why Kazakhstan officials got so mad that at one point, they were threatening to sue him.
Here, then, is a smattering of Borat's philosophy, with quotes culled form HBO's "Da Ali G Show," where the character first became a sensation, recent interviews, and Cohen's film, "Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan."
The film will not be shown in Kazakhstan, and the quotes below are guaranteed to offend. So, before you consider reading any more, you should be warned.
On his country's stand on U.S. foreign policy:
"We support your war of terror!"
On feminism:
"In U.S. and A. they treat horses like we in Kazakhstan treat our women. They feed them two times a day. They have them sleep on straw in a small box. And for entertainment, they make them jump over fences while being whipped."
On feminism:
"Yakshemash! In US of A, democracy is very different from Kazakhstan. In America, woman *can* vote, but horse -- *cannot*!"
On Marriage:
"Yakshemash! In US of A, if you want to marry a girl, you cannot just go to her father and swap her for 15 gallons of pesticide. Here you have to do something called dating. I find out more."
On the culinary arts:
"American wine is like Kazahkstani wine, but not made from fermented horse urine."
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