'Borat' sequel controversy: People of Kazakhstan upset with film, want it to be cancelled
Sacha Baron Cohen ( Best Actor in Musical/Comedy)
Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Borat’ sequel has piqued interest of people all around the world. Amid all kinds of reactions for the film, the mockumentary comedy film seems to have ticked off the people of Kazakhstan.
The film’s titular character is a Kazakhi journalist and TV personality Borat Sagdiyev, played by none other than Sacha Baron Cohen. His character is characterised by his exaggerated racist, antisemitic and misogynist views, which are portrayed in the film as being typical in Kazakhstan. This has not gone down too well by the people of Kazakhstan.
The film ‘Borat’ sequel titled ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’ is helmed Jason Woliner and was released on Friday on Amazon Prime.
While the movie is a satire on American ignorance and prejudice, rather than an attempt to mock Kazakhs, not everyone in Kazakhstan has appreciated the joke. Prior to the movie’s release, more than 100,000 people signed an online petition to cancel the film. In fact, groups of people gathered in front of the US consulate in the Kazakh city of Almaty on the day of the premiere.
The hashtag #cancelborat appeared on Twitter and Instagram, with thousands of Kazakhs outraged by the alleged racism of the movie and accusing Baron Cohen of insulting the nation.
But while many want the film to be cancelled, there are others who feel that the movie is also bringing attention to their Central Asian nation. One Tatiana Fominova, a Kazakh marketing specialist, told Al Jazeera,“Borat has once again split the Kazakhstanis into two camps. Some people are deeply outraged and say that the film is a lie because it was shot in Romania, not Kazakhstan. Our country is only 30 years old and state symbols are still sacralised.”
“The other half understands that the film is primarily about the United States and Sacha Baron Cohen has picked Kazakhstan almost randomly,” she said.
