Behind the anti-semitic Borat, the pompous “hip-hop wannabe” Ali G, and the gay fashion show presenter Bruno, is a well-educated, intelligent writer and actor named Sacha Baron Cohen. He grew up from an orthodox Jewish well-to-do family that hails from Hammersmith, London, England.
His jokes are unconventional, astray from an old-age comedic commentary style as what guys like Bill Maher or John Stewart exhibits. Sacha’s style is unique and it’s what I call shape-shifting. Instead of doing stand-up, he’d rather wear the shoes of his social nemesis and prove his point by acting out their disturbing behaviors.
With this kind of comedic style, Sacha became the comedian who can get away with bad taste. He can easily survive from lawsuits (with much dignity) from ordinary people or critics who label his work as “outrageous offensive material”. Amazingly, he even becomes more larger than life for every criticism he gets, in this world full of sensitivities.
When he guested as Borat in the famous Dutch TV late night talk show “Jensen!” (RTL 5), he stated the following words:
“…in Kazakhstan now, we treat all people with equal respect no matter what they are. Last April, we opened the Almati Retard Center for people who are…you know…cannot think so good. We have 300 cages for them to live in…and you can look on them, there is a gallery where you can look on them and laugh…and for 510 K which is equivalent to 1 guilder (?) you can throw potatoes on them…They like! “ — from Jensen! : Episode that aired October 16, 2006.
When I saw this, I told myself this may offend organizations like the Autism Society of America—which of course didn’t happen. I really can’t say the reason why but I recently found out that his cousin Simon Baron-Cohen, is a respected researcher in the study of autism spectrum disorders and Asperger syndrome. Perhaps, most of the people ran over by his jokes are able to differentiate between the diplomatic Sacha from the bigoted character he plays.
Sacha is apparently a substantial person. He once wrote a thesis on Jewish involvement in the American Civil Rights Movement, during his days at Christ’s College in Cambridge. His thesis emphasized on 1964 murders of And
rew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney. Pretty heavy for a supposed “junk” comedian.
When the film “Borat” was released, there were no Jewish demonstrations against the said movie It seemed the Jews were silenced by Sacha even though the title-character “Borat” was outspoken with his indifference from the Jews.
There was a scene when Borat and his stout producer/assistant, expressed much fear from two hospitable geriatric Jews. When the old lady gave them hamburgers, Borat would chew the food with much finicky, thinking he’s being poisoned by the Jews. There were even some parts when they said the Jews turned into cockroaches (one of the most derogatory symbolisms I’ve seen). and a “Jew run”—it’s like Spain’s “Bull Run” except that the devil is chasing the Jews instead of Bulls chasing the people.
Coming from an Orthodox Jewish family, Sacha would be probed about playing Borat. Here’s what he said in an interview from USA’s NPR (National Public Radio). I believe his response already explains why his comedy allows him to push so many buttons without leading to much distress.
“Borat essentially works as a tool. By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice…dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry,” - Sacha Baron Cohen interview from by NPR’s Robert Siegel
In ABC’s show “The World Today”, it’s reported that the government of Kazakhstan was offended by the film “Borat”.
“…But constantly irritated by the Borat character, the film has struck a raw nerve with Kazak authorities. So much so, that the government is spending more than $50 million to create its own film featuring an 18th century Kazakh warrior named Mansur, who’s on a mission of courage and romance to united the Kazakh tribes and free them from the invaders from Mongolia…”
“…Senior Kazak diplomat, Roman Vassilenko, has defended his country in an interview with the BBC. The diplomat stated: I can tell that what Borat presents in his movie is not Kazakhstan. And it’s… we can call is Borat-istan or something. People in their sane minds would know that a real country cannot be like that.”
The Kazakh people are offended, why shouldn’t they? However, some of them seem to share Borat’s humor. When Ambassador Vassilenko was asked what people of Kazakhstan think about Borat? He replied, “We have mixed feelings. “
Apparently, Borat’s outrageous sense of humor had struck some reality chords. When the Soviets broke up in 1991, the newly-independent Kazakhstan have had some share of sour notes from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. This is in-line with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who’s administration is heavily criticized by the said organization for abuse of human rights.
I was asking myself, when Sacha conceptualized the character “Borat”, why select Kazakhstan? I believe he’s smart enough to do some research before passing himself off as a “naive” TV reporter of an “existing”country.
“Since the 2003 Tuleyakiv reforms, Kazakhstan is as civilized as any other country in the world. Women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hats, and age of consent has been raised to eight-years-old. “ - Kazakhstan according to Borat
What’s next for Sacha now?
Sacha realized that he had to let go of Ali G and Borat. He understood that the blood of show business is constant reinvention. Last December 21, 2007, he announced that his characters Borat and Ali G needs to retire because they’ve become “too famous”. In fact, he played Borat so well, whenever I read Borat’s quotes using my head, I hear Borat’s voice.
I searched IMDB.com and found out that Sacha is currently working on a new film, this time he plays Bruno—the gay fashion reporter (perhaps a spoof of Cojo or Jay Hernandez). It’s simply entitled “Bruno” and the film tells the story of a flamboyant Austrian reporter who brings his flair to America. I can’t wait to see it. The synopsis is enough to make me smile.
How can anyone forget that “provocatively gay” stint when he and Will Ferrel accepted their 2007 MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss. Do you think the plans of making Bruno, had something to do with that MTV stint? It’s possible because Sasha (as himself) is somewhat an oblivion in the United States.
What’s the strength of Sacha Baron Cohen? It’s best to end this observation with a YouTube comment from user FSActor101.
“I usually would find dat gay but dat was really funny”
Video: Sacha as the gay Austrian fashion reporter “Bruno”.
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