Big up to you
January 13, 2005 12:19 PM   Subscribe

Borat strikes again. Sacha Baron Cohen, star of HBO's Ali G Show, hits another unsuspecting American audience, this time as Borat Sagdiyev, Kazakhstan's sixth most famous man. "And may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq." Kazahkstanians say the darndest things!
posted by ludwig_van (52 comments total)
 
Love it, love it, love it.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:24 PM on January 13, 2005


(applause!)
posted by Peter H at 12:25 PM on January 13, 2005


Throw the Jew Down The Well!


/Sacha is Jewish
posted by OpinioNate at 12:34 PM on January 13, 2005


At least they didn't sing along with him.
posted by tommasz at 12:36 PM on January 13, 2005


At least they didn't sing along with him.

Check out OpinioNate's link. I wish I had put that in the FPP.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:41 PM on January 13, 2005


I didn't find this funny. Mocking the national anthem in any country is unacceptable.
posted by nathanrudy at 12:42 PM on January 13, 2005


You already know how this thread is going to turn out.
Put me down in the "for" column.
Rednecks getting their genocidal bile spewed back at them - priceless.
posted by 2sheets at 12:47 PM on January 13, 2005


This is such fresh news :rolleyes:
posted by bizwank at 12:48 PM on January 13, 2005


I didn't find this funny. Mocking the national anthem in any country is unacceptable.

I don't think he was mocking the anthem. I think he was mocking the country. [cough, cough...]
posted by 327.ca at 12:49 PM on January 13, 2005


Actually, mocking the national anthem of a country that has shown complete disdain for the rest of the civilized world is quite funny.
posted by xmutex at 12:49 PM on January 13, 2005


This is such fresh news :rolleyes:

Is this old? The story says Sunday, January 09, 2005 at the top, and I've not seen it before.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:52 PM on January 13, 2005


I'm with xmute.

Thanks nate, now you got that Well song stuck in my head.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 12:52 PM on January 13, 2005


define 'unacceptable'.
posted by docpops at 12:52 PM on January 13, 2005


This guy said:
"And may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq."
And they booed him?
Why don't these rodeo people support our President in this time of war?
posted by Floydd at 12:54 PM on January 13, 2005


does anyone know if/where you can download sacha's interview on the daily show? that's like my two favorite comics talking to each other and i missed it. tragedy.

on topic: borat is my favorite cohen character. it's absolutely hilarious to watch people try and respond normally to him. i found ali g very funny at first but he has become a bit predictable these days.
posted by christy at 12:54 PM on January 13, 2005


We say in Kazakhstan, that a horse is like a man.
That if a horse is good, it is like a man is good.
And that if a horse is bad, is like a man is bad.
And if a horse is hungry, is like a man is hungry.
And if a horse is sad, is like if a man is sad.
And we say if a horse is happy, is like when a man is happy.
We say if a horse is angry, is like if man is angry.
We say if a horse walk, is like when a man walk.
we say if a horse is old, is like when a man is old.
And we say if horse is young, is like when a man is young.
And the same we say if a horse is old, is like when a man is old.
And if a horse small, is like when a man's small.
And if a horse is dead is like if a man dead.
Also we say if a horse is sleep, goes to sleep like if a man sleep.
And if horse wake, if like if man wake.
And if horse ill, is like if a man ill.
If horse have foot, is like man have foot.
If horse on the grass is like if a man walk on grass.
We say, in Kazakhstan if you hit horse, it is like if you hit man.
And we say if you kiss horse, is like you kiss man.
So we say horse is like man.
Do you understand?
posted by naxosaxur at 12:58 PM on January 13, 2005


I get embrassed whenever I watch him, but I just can't stop. Some of his skits are genius.
posted by eas98 at 12:59 PM on January 13, 2005


If you tell someone that you're filming a Russian immigrant who wants to sing the national anthem, and if they consent to his appearance on that basis and consent to being filmed on that basis, then when the person in question is not in fact a Russian immigrant, and in fact has no intention of actually singing the national anthem by any reasonable standard, then that should be actionable fraud.

Yeah, sure, it's funny and all. But they're still fucking around with people's consent, doing things to them that they would not have consented to have done to them if anyone had bothered to fucking well ask them, and that's not cool.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:15 PM on January 13, 2005


Yeah, sure, it's funny and all. But they're still fucking around with people's consent, doing things to them that they would not have consented to have done to them if anyone had bothered to fucking well ask them, and that's not cool.

He didn't exactly endanger anyone's safety (except perhaps his own), rob or cheat people anybody, or run over anyone's dog.
posted by ludwig_van at 1:20 PM on January 13, 2005


Don't you have to be damaged, as in losing money, to claim fraud?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:20 PM on January 13, 2005


Schadenfreude, anyone? I have to agree it's not very nice, but where's the harm in it? Andy Kaufman made a career out of this sort of hoodwinking, and many folks would consider him a comedic genius. Chill out, squares.

And oh yeah, he makes me feel embarassed for people too.

Also, Ali G addresses Harvard U.
posted by OpinioNate at 1:26 PM on January 13, 2005


Ludwig - great post! I think Andy Rooney is still recovering after throwing Ali G out of his office.
And ROU - Ali G is hilarious. Totally irreverent but hilarious all the same.
posted by bluesky43 at 1:28 PM on January 13, 2005


Whoa. Chiggity check yo'self before you wreck yourself.
I found this funny. Pissing on the founding principles of any country is unacceptable. Mocking the rest of the world is unacceptable.
posted by punkbitch at 1:28 PM on January 13, 2005


Ali G - lone modern proponent of the Socratic dialogue.

Lets remember this so we dont make him drink poison before we recognize him as one of the centuries great philosophers.
posted by 31d1 at 1:31 PM on January 13, 2005


This is comedy gold for half of America and 95% of the rest of the world. But where does Sacha Baron Cohen go from here? He relies on no one knowing who his characters are, and now Borat's met the simpler half of the US, Baron Cohen's going to struggle to do anything more with him. Given that Borat & Ali G are a good few years old now he's going to have to get some new disguises/characters soon.
posted by simcd at 1:49 PM on January 13, 2005


He didn't exactly endanger anyone's safety (except perhaps his own), rob or cheat people anybody, or run over anyone's dog.

Sure he cheated people. He claimed to be a Russian immigrant wandering the country singing the national anthem, when in fact his intent was to mock or provoke the audience, making them unfriendly to the real acts. That's cheating the hosts or promoters, and for his own long-term financial gain to boot.

Don't you have to be damaged, as in losing money, to claim fraud?

Probably. Maybe they could claim damage to their reputation as a result or something. I don't know that it is actionable, but in my world lying to people in order to trick them into doing or allowing things that they wouldn't otherwise do or allow would be actionable or punishable.

where's the harm in it?

Tricking or fooling people into doing things they wouldn't consent to if told the truth is its own harm, in my book. But then I like the idea that random people can only do things to me that I consent to.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 2:02 PM on January 13, 2005


It's a good thing that Candid Camera never came calling....
posted by bluesky43 at 2:05 PM on January 13, 2005


Well, other than hearing the name mentioned, I hadn't had the opportunity to experience any of this before.

I'm still laughing over OpinioNate's link. This stuff is great, even if I do get a tad uncomfortable watching some if it. Hilarious.
posted by Stunt at 2:07 PM on January 13, 2005


But they're still fucking around with people's consent, doing things to them that they would not have consented to have done to them if anyone had bothered to fucking well ask them, and that's not cool.

Whatever. It's not like he invaded the country and started launching cruise missles or anything.
posted by RockCorpse at 2:12 PM on January 13, 2005


This is comedy gold for half of America and 95% of the rest of the world. But where does Sacha Baron Cohen go from here?

i guess he could go to another country. why do you think he came here in the first place?
posted by joedan at 2:15 PM on January 13, 2005


He claimed to be a Russian immigrant

Kazakhstani, please.
posted by cosmonik at 2:30 PM on January 13, 2005


i guess he could go to another country. why do you think he came here in the first place?

Money.
posted by fizz-ed at 2:32 PM on January 13, 2005


ROU_Xenophobe: Damn, you are kind of discounting like a huge and timeless institution of comedy there.

Did you get humiliated by some hidden camera show or something?
posted by xmutex at 2:36 PM on January 13, 2005


I loved it.
posted by The God Complex at 2:43 PM on January 13, 2005


nathanrudy: Mocking the national anthem in any country is unacceptable.

Well our national anthem contains the word "girt". If that doesn't make it a suitable target for mockery, I don't know what does.

To make matters worse, the popular candidate for a replacement anthem celebrates stealing sheep. Important to remember that cultural heritage.
posted by blender at 2:43 PM on January 13, 2005


Tricking or fooling people into doing things they wouldn't consent to if told the truth is its own harm, in my book.

If that's the case, I owe an apology to a few of the girls I knew in undergrad.
posted by joshshmenge at 3:02 PM on January 13, 2005


Every time my husband and I watch the Ali G show, we sit their with our mouths agape in incredulity-- how does he get away with it? The Daily Show does this (joke interviews with people not in on the joke) to a lesser extent, but Cohen is the King. Long may he reign!
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:19 PM on January 13, 2005


Are Americans still interested in this guy? Jeez, he ran out of jokes about 8 years ago.

/ european superiority
posted by ascullion at 3:25 PM on January 13, 2005


Funny or not, that took serious balls. Maybe for his next trick, he could wear a "FUCK ISLAM" shirt and walk the Gaza strip.
posted by fungible at 3:31 PM on January 13, 2005


It's a good thing he didn't pull this trick 20 miles down the road in Lynchburg.
posted by Arch Stanton at 3:54 PM on January 13, 2005


Did you get humiliated by some hidden camera show or something?

No, but I do sympathize with the dupes, just like my sympathies are with the people being made fun of in high school and not the jerks making fun of them, which is basically how I see it. He's the guy who pantses you in the cafeteria line or otherwise humiliates you, and then gets huffy when you complain because it was totally just a joke, man. There you are, a show promoter thinking you're giving some poor schlub a break, and he's actually this rich jerk who's bent on humiliating you for fun and profiting by it.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 4:09 PM on January 13, 2005


This is comedy gold for half of America and 95% of the rest of the world. But where does Sacha Baron Cohen go from here?

somewhere gorgeous, most likely.
posted by soi-disant at 4:58 PM on January 13, 2005


but in my world lying to people in order to trick them into doing or allowing things that they wouldn't otherwise do or allow would be actionable or punishable

I couldn't agree with you more.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:19 PM on January 13, 2005


Some of what I've seen by Ali G was genuinely funny, but this reads like it was a complete miscalculation and failure.

I mean, he said something very offensive to a large crowd, the crowd realized that it was offensive and booed him out, instead of cheering him on or being indifferent as he was apparently expecting them to be.

If one of those cowboys had actually roped him up, now that would have been funny.
posted by sour cream at 6:31 PM on January 13, 2005


Actionable fraud? Are you out of your gourd? These are people in a public forum with no reasonable expectation of avoiding the public view. Do we need a disclaimer that there might be a podunk local reporter there seeking color shots, or a jumbotron?
posted by esquire at 6:41 PM on January 13, 2005


I also used to watch him years ago, pre-HBO, but America has given him a new canvas for his material. As skallas said, he's revealing things about American society that generally doesn't get exposure. Just as he did with English society. He's good at it.

sour cream: his antics and interviews generally end in uncomfortable silences and walkings-out, rather than any cheering or kudos. It's part of what makes it so amusing.
posted by cosmonik at 6:45 PM on January 13, 2005


Borat stuff.
posted by e40 at 7:05 PM on January 13, 2005


. . .he's revealing things about American society that generally doesn't get exposure.

Sometimes. When Borat was a guest at a dinner party in South Carolina? it was all bathroom humor.

I thought that dinner party was a perfect opportunity to explore topics like money & religon that would of have normally been taboo. That would have been interesting to see.

. . .and how easily he got them to sing it was pretty disturbing. Red State people are the best, aren't they?

Don't want to rehash that whole thing (seem to remember it was the topic of an earlier thread) but a viewing of that episode would show several white males wearing cowboy hats who were not singing along or stomping their feet.
posted by mlis at 7:40 PM on January 13, 2005


He doesn't forcibly pants anybody. They do it to themselves. They pull down their own pants. It's the sign of good pranksterism.
posted by destro at 8:41 PM on January 13, 2005


Meh. I think it still boils down to the lame old "asphinctersezwhuh?" gag, and that this bit only happened because he lied his way into the show, but I'll shut up about it.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:08 PM on January 13, 2005


I live in Roanke, right next to Salem. Believe me when I say that the hicks in Salem would certainly have had no problem if someone had got up and shot him. He's lucky to have gotten out of their alive. To give some background, I was in a bar one night in Salem, when the guy sitting next to me asked me if I believed in Jesus. Keep in mind, I wasn't talking to him, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine. I told him no, and this guy starts yelling about how I'm going to hell and he doesn't want "people like [me]" sitting next to him.
posted by pemdasi at 10:12 PM on January 13, 2005


it's all about context obviously but in general, I agree with ROU_Xenophobe.

Maybe you had to be there. At a rodeo. In Salem.
posted by petebest at 7:31 AM on January 14, 2005


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