Borat Review: Finally!

by Neil Woodburn on

After posting so many times about Borat, I thought I’d get around to writing a short review having finally seen the film.

In a nutshell: it’s funny, go see it.

I don’t want to focus on the cinematic aspects of the film–that’s not the aim of this website. I do, however, want to discuss some of the more controversial aspects that relate to travel and stereotypes.

As many of you recall, the Kazakh government has been irate over comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s bumbling depiction of a reporter from Kazakhstan. His fictional Borat character encompasses all the backward stereotypes a person might have about far-flung lands they know nothing about.

The character, however, is so over the top that the Kazakh government really shouldn’t worry that people who saw the film will immediately think all Kazakhs are as demented as poor Borat. Only a complete idiot would think this.

I’m one of the very small minority of people who have seen the movie and been to Kazakhstan and I have to say, other than the suit he wears, and a brilliant fake accent with all the proper grammatical mistakes, Borat is no more a Kazakh than I am. In fact, the village featured in the movie wasn’t even in Kazakhstan, but was actually a small gypsy town in Romania by the name of Glod. If anyone should be angry, it should be the country of Romania, a place that people will now think is nothing more than a depressed backwater of gypsy villages. Sadly, even the gypsies are ashamed of this portrayal and are suing Cohen (check out their feelings about the film here).

But the reality is that Cohen isn’t really making fun of the gypsies just as he isn’t really making fun of the Kazakhs. The people that Borat is truly mocking are the Americans. Somehow, his bumbling Kazakh caricature, for whatever reason, has a knack of getting the Americans he comes across in the film to open up and reveal the ugly underbelly of American culture. Along the way we encounter bigots, sexists, homophobics, racists, religious zealots, and numerous other small-brained reprobates far more real than the absurdist Kazakh journalist actually interviewing these people.

Yes folks, I’m ashamed to admit it, but the Americans are the ones being mocked here, not the Kazakhs.

Eating Horse

by Neil Woodburn on

I’ve had my share of suspect meat throughout my travels and have learned to live by the Mystery Meat Rule of Ignorance: Don’t ask and assume it is cow.

I ate a lot of meat in Kazakhstan a few years ago and for the most part, enjoyed whatever I found on my plate. Sure, the meat was a bit strange at times, but hey, it must Kazakh cow!

I don’t recall, however, eating the most famous plate of meat in Kazhakstan, the national dish of beshbarmak. Had I done so, I would have known immediately it wasn’t my friend the cow.

According to a Reuters article by Michael Steen, Beshbarmak actually comes from at least two, and perhaps even more, four-legged animals; the horse and the lamb. More specifically, it is stewed horse head, lamb, and liver. Apparently the liver can come from a variety of different creatures, hoofed or otherwise. The photo above includes beshbarmak served with the ever popular side dish of koybas: a boiled sheep’s head.

The good news is that if the barnyard found on your plate tastes a bit funny, you can always wash it down with a swig of Kumys. That’s fermented mare’s milk for all you non-Kazakhs out there.

The True Kazakhstan (Despite what Borat Says)

by Neil Woodburn on

With all the press that Borat has been receiving about his new movie, not a single article I’ve come across has spent the time to accurately counter the misconceptions that Borat conveys about his “home” country of Kazakhstan.

My guess is that few film critics have ever visited this Central Asian country and can only talk about the movie from their limited Hollywood perspective.

Thankfully, Lucy Kelaart is not one of them. Kelaart is a co-editor of Steppe Magazine and truly knows what the real Kazakhstan is all about.

Steppe Magazine celebrates “the arts, culture, history, landscape and people” of the steppe region–defined by the editors as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Xinjiang. The magazine’s photography and articles seem very impressive, although there unfortunately isn’t any content online.

Kelaart relies on her expertise in the area to dispel some of the stereotyping and outright exaggerations Borat relies on for his humor and to paint a more accurate depiction of the world’s ninth largest country. She writes of “Stylish cities… glorious landscapes,” sushi, wi-fi, skiing, skating, eagle hunting, banyas, the Altay Mountains, and the former capital of Almaty.

I’ve visited Kazakhstan myself and have to agree that the country does have lots to offer, but it is still a very backwards and challenging place, especially for tourists. Borat, like all good comedians, simply exaggerates the very worst and makes up the rest.

Don’t Go, Borat!

by Neil Woodburn on

Borat is our favorite culturally insensitive, pseudo-spokesman for a little-known country who doesn’t want a culturally insensitive pseudo-spokesman yapping his mouth off and otherwise belittling them.

The country of Kazakhstan, which Borat lampoons, has made their dislike for the comedian very clear by threatening lawsuits and censoring his website. But now, government officials are trying a new tactic – invite him to their country with open arms, shower him with love, and, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Rakhat Aliyev, show him that in Kazakhstan “women drive cars, wine is made of grapes, and Jews are free to go to synagogues.”

Hmm… this sounds all very suspicious. Kazakhstan is a dictatorship that has been ruled by Nursultan Nazarbayev since 1990 and suffers from censorship and human rights abuses. Inviting Borat to visit makes me think of the Soviet era when dissidents were invited back under some we-forgive-you pretense; most were never heard from again.

I’m also assuming that regular, rank-and-file Kazakhs probably don’t appreciate Borat making fun of their country either. Showing up in character in Kazakhstan would be like Al Jolson appearing in black-face at a Black Panthers function.

But then again, we all know that stereotyping nationalities is based upon ignorance. And the best way to destroy ignorance about foreign countries we know nothing about, is simply to visit them.

Nonetheless, if Borat actually accepts the invitation, I’m sure he’ll simply come back with even more comedic material to work with. I’ve been myself and believe me, Borat’s comedic reserves will be quickly filled to the brim.

Red Corner: Bizarre Kazakh Pyramid Completed

by Neil Woodburn on

Megalomania has brought us some very bizarre architecture throughout history. It’s nice to know that the dictator of Kazakhstan is keeping up the tradition.

Visitors to the capital of Astana, can now revel in a freaky new pyramid commissioned by President Nursultan Nazarbayev that has finally been completed.

The president had ordered the capital moved in 1997 to a barren spot in which he could build the perfect city and then went about hiring international architects to transform the wasteland into something progressive and, hopefully impressive.

The Pyramid of Peace and Accord is the first of these grandiose, foreign-designed projects to be completed in the new capital. Conceived by British architect Norman Foster, the pyramid stands 62 meters tall and includes a 1,500 seat opera house, and plenty of glass walls, steep angles and sheer drops.

Critics have been slow to respond. Perhaps they are hesitant to fly all the way to Kazakhstan to dissect a strange building ordered by a bizarre dictator, and yet built by a world-renowned architect.

In the meantime, stay tuned. Astana has a lot more architectural oddities on their way.