Don’t expect Kazakhs to laugh at ‘Borat’

‘An easy target’
In London, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Erlan Idrissov, published a spirited rebuke of the Borat movie in Britain's Guardian newspaper.

“We are an easy target. Borat could have been made the citizen of a country with a truly awful record on human rights — say Afghanistan in the days of the Taliban. But that would have been risky for Baron Cohen,” wrote Idrissov. “Many Kazakhs who have seen Borat on television have been offended and incredulous. But the critics of my country, including Baron Cohen, are more likely to receive an invitation to address their concerns at an expenses-paid conference in Kazakhstan than they are to receive a fatwa.”

And the Kazakh government is determined to stay on message. When NBC tried to verify press reports that Kazakhstan will prevent the movie from being screened anywhere in the country, an official at Kazakhstan’s embassy in London denied them.

“It’s all rumors,” dismissed Oral Abubakir, First Secretary responsible for press issues at the Kazakh Embassy. “Of course, we are a free society and we respect freedom of speech and media.”

It may be that audiences elsewhere in the world will wonder why Kazakhstan is so hot under the collar. After all, the movie lampoons Americans far more. 

Borat, as naïve and hapless as he may appear, is ultimately a sympathetic character. He has a good heart and demonstrates a genuine curiosity about the United States.  But his earnest efforts to understand the ways of Americans more often than not reveal unpleasant dimensions to America the culture.

And so when the Kazakh embassy press secretary admitted he had seen “Borat,” he was also quick to deflect probing questions about the movie, offering up a prim but meaningful, “No comment.”

MORE FROM MOVIES

Movies Section Front

‘Avatar’ blasts off with $232 million worldwide Streep and Baldwin — not a ‘Complicated’ pair Downey brings action to ‘Sherlock Holmes’ ‘Nine’ women latest to bewitch and bewilder You’ll wish you didn’t ‘Hear About the Morgans’ Sarah Jessica Parker can’t wait for Christmas Jeff Bridges is Bad to the bone in ‘Crazy Heart’ Cameron aims for ‘Titanic’ results with ‘Avatar’ Clooney, Streep, Bullock earn SAG Award nods This was not the decision Lucas was looking for Movies Section Front   Add Movies headlines to your news reader: