Mahir To Borat, I Sue You!

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Posted by ryuzaki0 on Sunday November 5, 2006 @04:26AM from the my-wife-she-is-dead-now-is-ok-i-have-new-wife dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The mockumentary Borat bears more than a passing resemblance to late '90s net celeb Mahir Cagri of ikissyou.org, and he's not amused. Steven Leckart of Wired magazine gives him the third degree."

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Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 04:27 · Score: 5, Informative

This Wired article has already been debunked, with more sources then you can shake a stick at. The bottom line is that The earliest date we can determine for Mahir Cagri's website is 1998 and the earliest known mention of Sacha Cohen's Borat character is 1994.

So. Thanks Wired for reminding us of Mahir, gotta love him, and for stirring up more press about Borat. But please don't blemish Sacha Baron Cohen like this. On the DVD commentary for the first season Sacha Baron Cohen said his character was based off of a doctor he met in Russia- it's based on someone else, not Mahir. If anything that Russian has a chance to sue Cohen I suppose :P

In any case, any publicity is good publicity, rite?

Also, first post bitches!

--
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
1. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 04:43 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that Borat's character is dangerous and offensive humor, but if you can dig deeper you may find that Borat is actually a commentary on western culture, not middle eastern.
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
2. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Jeff+DeMaagd · 2006-11-05 04:49 · Score: 1
  
  ... Sacha Baron Cohen ... ... Sacha Baron Cohen ...
  
  Is it necessary to write out someone's full name twice in a post? It looks a bit too much like a kiss-up or having an air of pretentiousness.
3. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 04:50 · Score: 1
  
  thats cos I wrote the 2 paras separately, then combined them and didn't edit them completely. I agree that it looks pretty stupid that way. Oh well :(
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
4. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by j0hn33y · 2006-11-05 05:00 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  What about Yakov Smirnoff?
5. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Jeff+DeMaagd · 2006-11-05 05:04 · Score: 1
  
  I know what you mean, no biggie.
6. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by bhima · 2006-11-05 05:06 · Score: 1
  
  obviously he is, or will be, a serial killer
  
  --
  Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
7. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by icepick72 · 2006-11-05 05:06 · Score: 1
  
  When the guy's going for first post he doesn't have too much time to edit. Additionally he now stands at +5 which is respectable in itself. Both of those combined means a winning post.
  Your comment tears that down -- it looks a bit too much like envy or having an air of jealousy.
8. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 05:12 · Score: 1
  
  with regard to Smirnoff, here is a choice Metafilter comment:
  
  "So there I was sitting at the hotel bar. It was three o'clock in the afternoon on a Thursday is a big urban area. I was one of maybe a half dozen people skipping out on the conference's keynote speech to drown our sorrows in over-priced draft beer. We didn't talk, or even make eye contact, with each other and we'd spread out through the bar out of solemn respect for each other's alcoholism. The only noise was from the TV above the wall of liquor bottles.
  
  I was halfway through my third drink when the bartender started laughing and calling to someone entering the bat behind me. I looked up at the mirror behind the bar and saw it was a lone man, short, with curly dark hair and a well-trimmed beard. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place his mirror image at all.
  
  The guy sat down as close to me as the Guy Code would allow. Men drinking alone in bars is just as ritualized as men urinating in bar stalls. He and the bartender continued to talk and laugh, no doubt old friends forged by a big tip or two. I couldn't make out what he was saying, he had some sort of accent, but his voice was as naggingly familiar as his face.
  
  Then, as I watched the bartender mix his drink, a vodka martini of some sort, something just clicked his identity struck me: That's Yakov Smirnoff! I remember him from cola commercials and Night Court! I made sure to speak up and catch the bartender's eye when I ordered my fourth so as to be drawn into their conversation.
  
  It worked and let me tell you, Yakov Smirnoff is a hell of a guy. Funny, quick witted, and ready to talk with anybody. I'd never really "hung out" with a celeb before so it was all new to me. When it looked like he might leave, I bought Yakov another drink. He accepted with a broad smile and slid over to the chair next to me.
  
  We sat and bullshitted for the best part of an hour. I was having a great time. So was he. I guess being famous, he doesn't get much of a chance to just sit and talk with regular folk like me. He'd even dressed for the occasion, his clothes were as wrinkled as mine, probably for being packed in a suitcase for so long. He was on a tour, he said, doing motivational speeches and the like for some consulting firm. He had a gig at that very hotel, the convention following mine.
  
  Soon, we were best buds. I had just tossed down my corporate Visa to pay for our next round when I saw Yakov's head jerk up to face the bar TV. There was a commercial for that new movie with that Ali G guy, Sasha Cohen, playing his Borat-the-reporter character.
  
  Suddenly, Yakov's smile became a little forced, a little strained. Our old bartender had long since gone off shift and his replacement, a bubbly blonde in her early 20s, looked up at the TV too and laughed. "I love that guy!" she cooed, "He's sssoooo funny! And sssoooo smart to come up with that Borat!"
  
  I don't know if you know this, but Yakov Smirnoff has blue eyes. Cold, blue eyes. They locked on the girl, his face frozen and tense. His cheek twitched a bit, but the new bartender continued on, mistaking his attention for encouragement.
  
  "Don't you think so? He's so original!"
  
  I didn't even see him throw his glass, I just heard it crash. People were yelling and shouting. I got knocked off my stool as one of the hotel security guys ran in to pull Yakov off the vodka-soaked bar by the scruff of his suit. It ripped. He was flailing about, shouting something I couldn't understand.
  
  I thought I saw blood on his hands as they dragged him out. He had ceased struggling by then, his body limp. He didn't even have enough energy left in him to cry." :(
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
9. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 05:20 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I kiss you! :)
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
10. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Andrew+Aguecheek · 2006-11-05 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  It always amazes me that anyone can see Borat as anything other than a commentary on western culture. That is all it was ever intended to be. The joke in Borat is that people in the west are so ignorant of eastern cultures that they actually believe he is genuine!
  
  --
  Tomorrow, I may eat another house plant
11. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by drsquare · 2006-11-05 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  He didn't emphasise anything, the rednecks did it to themselves.
12. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 05:28 · Score: 1
  
  I've always felt that Mahir was a somehow a source for Borat, but I was amazed to find out that Cohen's character pre-dated Mahir by so long... check out this YouTube clip of Cohen playing an early version of Borat, before Mahir was famous (warning, NWS): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG5FQP1OmOk&eurl=
  
  I agree that he may have lifted some of Mahir's quotes/concepts though, but inviting him to the party would have ruined the Borat character - Cohen takes great pains to never break character and that's part of Borat's shtick I think.
  
  Now, what would be maximum awesome would be to ambush Borat with Mahir and see what happens :P
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
13. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by ravenshrike · 2006-11-05 05:36 · Score: 1
  
  Which, given the amount of complete idiots in the world who do act like Borat in their own little ways, really isn't surprising.
14. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by naasking · 2006-11-05 05:57 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that Borat's character is dangerous and offensive humor [...]
  
  I didn't realize there was such a thing as "dangerous humour". Offensive sure, as that's a subjective judgment. Labeling something "dangerous" is an objective judgment though, so I'm curious for an example of such dangerous humour.
  
  --
  Higher Logics: where programming meets science.
15. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Wicko · 2006-11-05 06:00 · Score: 1
  
  Where are all the "first post bitches"?
16. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by andphi · 2006-11-05 06:06 · Score: 1
  
  I thought the joke with Borat was that the British believe all Americans to be ignorant rednecks. When the British make fun of themselves, they're funny. When they make fun of us, they quickly become annoying. Same thing with John Leguizamo, David Chappell, or Jeff Foxworthy. They're funny because they're making fun of what they know. Not so with Sacha Baron Cohen. He's a British peer who's made a movie about the stupid Colonials. I'll pass.
17. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 06:14 · Score: 1
  
  i kno rite? I think I found em actually: First Post Bitches!
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
18. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by DrSkwid · 2006-11-05 06:15 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  But Cohen's displaced Jewishness fuels the comedy.
  
  A Jewish guy getting a room full of people to sing "Throw the Jew down the well" along with him. Surely that is the most telling?
  
  I think that bravery alone gives him carte blanche to provoke in any way possible.
  
  Ali-G and early Borat pricked British pomposity, now it's the Yanks' turn. He tried Ali-G in the U.S.A. but Ali's very Britishness worked against him. Borat is a fine vehicle, and Bruno too.
  
  Perhaps he'll do an American character now he's met more than a few over there!
  
  --
  There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
19. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Wicko · 2006-11-05 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  LMFAO! that was awesome
20. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by vidarh · 2006-11-05 06:23 · Score: 1
  
  The point with the Borat and Ali G characters is that they are vehicles to make others provide the comedy, often in way that makes them reveal their bigotry. I've never found Sasha Baron Cohen particularly funny, but I must respect a man that as a jew dares to walk into a bar and get everyone to sing along to a blatantly racist song about jews for the sake of comedy. He's not making fun of "stupid colonials" - he's making fun of stupid racists and bigots, whether in the US or here in the UK.
  He can be funny when he talks to people who agree with the ridiculous claims he makes, but he's also quite chilling.
21. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by vidarh · 2006-11-05 06:25 · Score: 1
  
  Get your facts straight. The Wired article hasn't been "debunked", because it didn't claim anything other than that there are similarities and that they'd let Mahir speak for himself in an interview.
22. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by falcon5768 · 2006-11-05 06:34 · Score: 1
  
  But its Wired's duty to at least TRY to get the other side as well, which Wired these days routinely fails to do because of a extremely inept writing and editing staff, or worse personal politics of said staff to manipulate it's readership which their past EiCs have admitted is going on there now.
  They went from a great tech counterculture magazine of the 90's to complete and utter joke. Its no wonder after 6 years I let my subscription laps.
  
  --
  "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
23. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 06:37 · Score: 1
  
  hehe, I'm glad I went with that one- this was my other choice!
  
  A WTF image for sure.
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
24. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 06:42 · Score: 1
  
  It was a combination of my reaction to the AC's description of the article, my not understanding what "the third degree" was referring to and my rush to get first post. I guess it's more accurate to say that the link I supplied debunks the idea implied by the AC and the article- that Borat is a ripoff of Mahir.
  
  The first post thing was both my attempt to tell the rest of the story at the "top of the fold" AND also... well.. to get first post. I admit it, I am an FP whore :(
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
25. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Wicko · 2006-11-05 06:44 · Score: 1
  
  lol WTF indeed. Good choice!
26. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by 0xdeadbeef · 2006-11-05 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  Portions of it border on racism, emphasizing stereotypes of a "backwater" region that might need help rather than denigration.
  
  Indeed, that southern plantation dinner party was rather pitiful. They're so poor, they don't even have servants for ass-wiping.
27. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Matthias+Lange · 2006-11-05 07:05 · Score: 1
  
  Muhammad cartoons?
28. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by 8ball629 · 2006-11-05 07:10 · Score: 1
  
  I saw the movie last night, it's hysterical and people like you who say shame on comedy, I say shame on you. Why don't you try having fun for once instead of critically ANALyzing everything that isn't politically correct in the world. Just because I laugh at a skit about middle eastern people doesn't mean I'm racist, perhaps it's the person that doesn't laugh who is racist.
  
  Everything that Borat does is more OBVIOUSLY a joke on western society than eastern.
29. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by DJCacophony · 2006-11-05 07:12 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Muhammed cartoons don't kill people. Bored, violent, religious extremist zealots kill people.
  
  --
  Slow Down, Cowboy! It's been 60 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment.
30. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by eneville · 2006-11-05 07:20 · Score: 1
  
  A Jewish guy getting a room full of people to sing "Throw the Jew down the well" along with him. Surely that is the most telling?
  to some extent i think cohern uses his own jew heritage as a cover to make cracks at jews as a population "evil jewish claw" to quote a phrase he uses?
  
  --
  Why UNIX?
31. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by meringuoid · 2006-11-05 07:21 · Score: 1
  
  I thought the joke with Borat was that the British believe all Americans to be ignorant rednecks. When the British make fun of themselves, they're funny. When they make fun of us, they quickly become annoying.
  He's been doing Borat in the UK for years now. But the movie has to be in America. It's where the money is to get movies made, and it's where there are still people who won't take one look at him, say 'Hang on, aren't you the guy who did Ali G?' and tell him to piss off. Cohen's too famous here now.
  
  --
  Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
32. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by eldepeche · 2006-11-05 07:24 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Kazakhstan is not a middle eastern country.
33. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by meringuoid · 2006-11-05 07:28 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that Borat's character is dangerous and offensive humor
  Usually the best kind.
  
  --
  Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
34. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Kagenin · 2006-11-05 07:38 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  What about a joke so funny... that you DIE LAUGHING.
  
  --
  "All warfare is based on deception."
  Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"
35. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Breakfast+Pants · 2006-11-05 07:45 · Score: 1
  
  I'm fairly certain he was talking about Kazakhstan.
  
  --
  
  --
  
  WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
36. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by say · 2006-11-05 08:18 · Score: 1
  
  Middle eastern? You have to check your map, dude. It's a "funny" mistake to do when you're trying to point out how ignorant westerners are.
  
  --
  Roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF, all my base are belong to you
37. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by flosofl · 2006-11-05 09:08 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't realize there was such a thing as "dangerous humour".
  Tell that to Monty Python. The Killing Joke, anyone?
  
  --
  "This calls for a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence" - Vyvyan "The Young Ones"
38. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by zurtle · 2006-11-05 09:17 · Score: 1
  
  Stevie Ray Vaughan ---> SRV
  Sacha Baron Cohen ---> SBC?
  Nice.
  
  --
  Couldn't stand the weather
39. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by MoeDrippins · 2006-11-05 10:20 · Score: 1
  
  And why exactly is it a media's duty to get "the other side"?
  
  --
  Before you design for reuse, make sure to design it for use.
40. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by 0m3gaMan · 2006-11-05 10:48 · Score: 1
  
  DIAF, Cagri. Is his entire 'career' based on that stupid lemonade stand of a website?
  
  Stop wasting trees with ineptitude like this, Wired.
41. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by zuludancer · 2006-11-05 12:22 · Score: 1
  
  all I am going to say is that the Borat van that was in the New York City West Village Halloween Parade had a lot of funny quotes written on it that were straight out of those wonderful Mahir days.... enough Mahir quotes, that it could not have been a coincidence. so, one of those guys ripped off the other one at some point.
42. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Schraegstrichpunkt · 2006-11-05 12:43 · Score: 1
  
  > Portions of it border on racism No shit. Joke------> You--> O --+-- | / \
  
  --
  http://outcampaign.org/
43. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Schraegstrichpunkt · 2006-11-05 12:49 · Score: 1
  
  Give me a fucking break. The only people who are responsible for the rioting are those who rioted, those who encouraged it, and those who said it was somehow justified.
  
  --
  http://outcampaign.org/
44. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by tverbeek · 2006-11-05 13:03 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that Borat's character is dangerous and offensive humor, but if you can dig deeper you may find that Borat is actually a commentary on western culture, not middle eastern.
  Deep down, maybe. But if you visited the cineplexes of America this weekend, you would find theaters full of people laughing... not at the subtle commentary about American society, but at Cohen's ugly ethnic stereotype of the stupid, unsophisticated, English-mangling foreigner. Maybe that's a legitimate artistic "statement", and I'll defend to the death his right to present it, but I sure hope Cohen doesn't imagine that he's opening many eyes with his 21st-century remake of the minstrel show. At some point it would help if he'd drop the damn schtick (i.e. do interviews out of character) and actually state his point.
  
  --
  http://alternatives.rzero.com/
45. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by six11 · 2006-11-05 13:23 · Score: 1
  
  Never in all my years of slashdotting have I seen a first post so coherently written. Well done.
46. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Peter+Cooper · 2006-11-05 15:35 · Score: 1
  
  Portions of it border on racism, emphasizing stereotypes of a "backwater" region that might need help rather than denigration.
  
  I'd agree, particularly when he talks to people from rural America. It makes his fictional Kazakhstan look enlightened sometimes.
47. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Traxton1 · 2006-11-05 16:29 · Score: 1
  
  See, if you saw the movie, you would know the humor doesn't come from insulting ethnic stereotypes. The real humor comes when people tell him how racist they are. Well, and making fun of Jews. Did you know they can shift their shape and lay eggs?
  
  --
  Twitter.com/TrentonHyatt
48. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by billsoxs · 2006-11-05 16:38 · Score: 1
  
  Are you saying that western culture can't have backwater regions? And commentary against those regions can't be racist?
  
  Are you talking about Texas or West Virginia?
  
  --
  This message was brought to you by "Lack of Sleep."
49. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by falcon5768 · 2006-11-05 17:00 · Score: 1
  
  because your supposed to REPORT the news, not chose a side to report on. Otherwise your just a mouthpiece for one side, and not giving the full story.
  True reporters are schooled to get the entire story from all angles and all sides. Its practically beaten into your head in school. Sadly many forget this fact when they go out there.
  
  --
  "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
50. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by ultranova · 2006-11-05 19:32 · Score: 1
  
  When they make fun of us, they quickly become annoying.
  
  Few people like being made fun of.
  
  --
  Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
51. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Progoth · 2006-11-05 19:33 · Score: 1
  
  In our society "I'm not racist" is true about as often as "I don't have a drinking problem" is true in a bar.
  
  Yes, because EVERYBODY in a bar has a drinking problem! There's no stereotypes at all in your statement, really.
  
  I've certainly been to plenty of bars plenty of times with plenty of different friends who don't have drinking problems...I'm also pretty sure I don't have a problem, because sheer laziness has kept me from restocking my fridge with beer since my case ran out 3 weeks ago. Perhaps I'm just hiding it from myself, though...you said it, so it has to be true. /cry
  
  11 more steps to go for me! Or is that 10 more? I will learn when I start attending AA, I suppose.
52. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by SkunkPussy · 2006-11-06 00:50 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Maybe the exact reason he's so successful is that those who understand what he's getting at laugh at his mockery of western culture, and those who don't understand laugh at his crude eastern stereotype.
  
  Personally I don't think he could make his point (if he has one) any clearer.
  
  --
  SURELY NOT!!!!!
53. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by macdaddy357 · 2006-11-06 02:06 · Score: 1
  
  Also, the "foreign man" character is a cliche as old as comedy itself.
  
  --
  How ya like dat?
54. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by MoeDrippins · 2006-11-06 02:12 · Score: 1
  
  News can BE one-sided. There are many occasions around where I live in which the media simply chooses not to report on an issue at all because of this PC, relativistic ruling they're required to get the "other side".
  
  I agree that they shouldn't be taking an obvious bias, but we've taken that too far - now news outlets can't have any "expert" on w/o having an "expert" for whatever other (usually ridiculous) side. I've seen this happen with the creationism crap - can't do a report on evolution w/o having a creationist rebuttal. Horsecrap.
  
  --
  Before you design for reuse, make sure to design it for use.
55. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by tverbeek · 2006-11-06 02:21 · Score: 1
  
  Personally I don't think he could make his point (if he has one) any clearer.
  Of course he could. That's Satire 101. I've written a few parodies that few people "got", and looking back at them, it was pretty clear what my mistakes were. I incorrectly assumed that my audience was familiar with certain information or understood things that I figured were common sense. I surrounded my commentary with a bunch of unrelated material that didn't add to it, and distracted people from my real point.
  
  That last one is Cohen's biggest mistake with this movie: obscuring his satire of western society by wrapping it in the equivalent of an SNL skit ridiculing Kazakhs. Unless he really is trying to slander them - a possibility I'm not ready to dismiss out of hand, since A) as a Jew he has an obvious motive to ridicule Muslims, and B) he seems content to let that accusation stand - that's off-topic, and distracts the people who don't know better into thinking that's the point of the movie. Even the material that focuses on the Americans who fall for his schtick is too easily viewed as just a bunch of stoopid pranking, appealing to the same low-brow mentality that gets off on Punk'd. If people are busy laughing at the dupes on the screen, they aren't thinking about what it says about our society in general (and themselves).
  
  If Cohen doesn't understand how these things undercut this supposed satire of western society, then he's obviously not the brilliant satirist people are calling him.
  
  --
  http://alternatives.rzero.com/
56. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by szembek · 2006-11-06 03:30 · Score: 1
  
  I thought they were funny.
  
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  nothing
57. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Tekzel · 2006-11-06 04:55 · Score: 1
  
  You say that like America has a monopoly on stupid, ignorant, racists. Please, there are plenty of that to go around in every country.
58. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Monkey · 2006-11-06 06:59 · Score: 1
  
  "I'm not an alcoholic; alcoholics go to meetings."
59. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by SkunkPussy · 2006-11-06 08:21 · Score: 1
  
  With respect to A) the population is considered to be (based on the Kazakh government census from 1999) 47% Muslim and 44% (Russian Orthodox) Christian, so I don't think "ridiculing Muslims" is necessarily a strong motivation for him as a Jew. There are much more Islamic countries nearby that he could have picked on, for example Turkmenistan is 89% Muslim.
  
  Making an assumption that Kazakhstan is full of Muslims seems to be typical of the attitudes Cohen delights in highlighting. ;)
  
  --
  SURELY NOT!!!!!
60. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by tverbeek · 2006-11-06 12:28 · Score: 1
  
  Most ethnic Kazakhs (the culture Cohen is (mis)representing) are Muslims. That Russian Orthodox population consists largely of Russian immigrants. Making the assumption that the people in Kazakhstan are all Kazakhs seems to be typical of western myopia as well. :p
  
  --
  http://alternatives.rzero.com/
61. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by celerityfm · 2006-11-06 23:42 · Score: 1
  
  *bows*
  
  Though, I have to admit, I did prepare the post in advance thanks to my subscription... though it wasn't until I was actually copying/pasting into the post box (once it was available) that I realized I might have a shot at first post.
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
62. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by 8ball629 · 2006-11-07 14:18 · Score: 1
  
  I know, it's amazing those Jews are incredibly scary!!! You won't catch me eating kosher food at a bed and breakfast anytime soon. YIPES!
Frivolous by packetmon · 2006-11-05 04:28 · Score: 2, Insightful

You know... I think I'll sue someone for something when I'm washed up and can't find an avenue to make money off of. When my 15 minutes of fame is up someone is getting subpoenaed I can tell you that much

--
Infiltrated dot Net
1. Re:Frivolous by Kagura · 2006-11-05 04:46 · Score: 1
  
  Insightful.
2. Re:Frivolous by Presence2 · 2006-11-05 12:30 · Score: 1
  
  Borat.. Mahir.. It's all the same AND frivolous :P Yakov Smirnoff did it first, best, and thankfully moved on.
Borat is just another person like you or me by hxnwix · 2006-11-05 04:29 · Score: 1

And when you do something that someone somewhere has done sometime before, it should come as no surprise. There are billions of people in this world and everything has been done before. Including suing Borat.
1. Re:Borat is just another person like you or me by stunt_penguin · 2006-11-05 04:45 · Score: 1
  
  There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.
  Audre Lorde ("Poetry Is Not a Luxury" Chrysalis)
  
  --
  When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
2. Re:Borat is just another person like you or me by Harmonious+Botch · 2006-11-05 08:42 · Score: 1
  
  And when you do something that someone somewhere has done sometime before, it should come as no surprise. There are billions of people in this world and everything has been done before. Including suing Borat.
SUPER GREG by BRUTICUS · 2006-11-05 04:33 · Score: 1

I noticed the resemblance to Mahir also...but let's not forget Ali-G and his resemblance to Super Greg: http://www.geocities.com/goodgawd2001/
1. Re:SUPER GREG by fohat · 2006-11-05 04:42 · Score: 1
  
  Wow, doesn't take much to slashdot a geocities page heh. Here's a google search with some mirrors http://www.google.com/search?q=super+greg&ie=utf-8 &oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=fi refox-a
  
  --
  Is there heaven? Is there Hell? Is that a Tuna Melt I smell?-Primus
2. Re:SUPER GREG by loconet · 2006-11-05 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  No kidding. I don't remember the last time I successfully saw a page on geocities. Everytime I try to look at a link there, it shows me the bandwidth error. Is the limit 2 hits per year or something?
  
  --
  [alk]
wtf? by Turn-X+Alphonse · 2006-11-05 04:34 · Score: 1

Borat has been on the Ali G show since the 90s and while he was not super popular he was clearly there. Sounds like this guy is just looking at getting some free money from a guy with a similar act.

--
I like muppets.
I do not understand Americans by Delifisek · 2006-11-05 04:46 · Score: 5, Interesting

In Turkey,

We got tons of Mahir and Borat.

Does any one say What is so interesting about these guys ? Those guys are Turkish equvalent of American redneck.

--
[My english is better than most other people's Turkish, so please point out mistakes politely. Thank you.]
1. Re:I do not understand Americans by Anonymous Coward · 2006-11-05 05:05 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  In case yoyu haven't noticed, rednecks are so popular in the USA that one even managed to get elected president.
2. Re:I do not understand Americans by mdarksbane · 2006-11-05 05:08 · Score: 1
  
  In Japan there are (or were a few years ago) "celebrities" who make their living doing nothing but being americans. They appear on talk shows, game shows, commercials, you name it. They tend to have overly stylized american features, dress, and haircuts that they have admitted are there simply for the act, and that they would be a nobody in show business here. It's really kind of amusing.
  
  I guess every country likes to laugh at parodies of foreigners.
3. Re:I do not understand Americans by demeteloaf · 2006-11-05 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  For Borat, at least, I don't really find him acting stupid to be the funny part, what's funny is the interactions he has with americans. The fact that he can get James Broadwater to admit on air that he believes all jews are going to hell is hilarious. The fact that some people can actually believe that a guy from Kazakhstan would try to sell his pubic hair after he ran out of money is also hilarious.
  
  To me at least, the talking about backwater Kazakhstan, it's amusing... but the real gold is when he talks about it to other people and they show their ignorance
  
  --
  If there's anything more important than my ego around, i want it caught and shot now.
4. Re:I do not understand Americans by ptbarnett · 2006-11-05 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  rednecks are so popular in the USA that one even managed to get elected president.
  Having grown up around many true rednecks, I can tell you with absolute certainty that Bush isn't one.
  The term refers to the burn on the back of one's neck after a day of work in the sun. And after enough sunburns, the skin starts to take on the appearance of rippled leather. It makes it easy to spot the older guys that have spent their working lives outdoors.
  Bush 43 would be a nobody, if he hadn't been the fortunate son of Bush 41.
5. Re:I do not understand Americans by tygerstripes · 2006-11-05 05:59 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I think you may have missed the point of Borat, and the real source of the guy's humour.
  He isn't making fun of Turkey, Kazakhstan or anywhere else. He's using this stereotype - which many westerners are too self-centred to realise is a stylised stereotype - to highlight just how ridiculously self-centred and unaware we are. Although the film is set in the US, Borat originally gave this treatment to the UK in the Ali G show. I clearly recall a scene he did interviewing english fox-hunters and protesters, in which he lambasted their opinions - and the hunters' total inability to admit why they were doing what they were doing - and it simply wouldn't have worked as a serious news piece. He mentioned to a protester that in his home-country, people hunted [some animal - bears, was it?] all the time. When she asked, slightly incredulously, why on Earth they committed such barbaric acts, he just looked slightly confused and replied: "Er, for fun. Yes."
  A stroke of genius. It was the first time I can recall anyone actually stating it so plainly, and it completely threw everyone! Nobody else could have held up such a stark mirror to the practice of fox-hunting and cut through all the bullshit posturing about country-ways, animal rights and so on. It wasn't funny because he was being backwards. It was funny because he was throwing a fresh, embarrassingly clear light on an issue that nobody from the UK had the balls to admit to.
  The fact that there are people shallow and dense enough out there to laugh at his zany throw-back pube-bartering ways instead of everyone's reactions to him tells you more about us than about Kazakhstan. Sadly.
  
  --
  Meta will eat itself
6. Re:I do not understand Americans by larry+bagina · 2006-11-05 07:13 · Score: 1
  
  I think he was referring to Bill "I had astroturf in the back of my pickup truck" Clinton. He's more trailer trash than redneck, though.
  
  --
  Do you even lift?
  These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
7. Re:I do not understand Americans by bahwi · 2006-11-05 07:19 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, we enjoy non-politically-correct jokes. We've already done the American Redneck jokes to death(see: Jeff Foxworthy) as well as doing the redneck suburbanites(see: Blue Collar Comedy).
8. Re:I do not understand Americans by qmaqdk · 2006-11-05 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  Replace Turkey with "Soviet Russia"... :)
  
  --
  My UID is prime. Hah!
9. Re:I do not understand Americans by smcn · 2006-11-05 08:10 · Score: 1
  
  Many Americans find our own domestic rednecks funny as well.
10. Re:I do not understand Americans by Progman3K · 2006-11-05 09:57 · Score: 1
  
  I agree with you; each place has its rednecks or variant thereof.
  It's a sort of local commentary on kitsch or ignorance...
  
  --
  I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
11. Re:I do not understand Americans by Somnus · 2006-11-05 11:35 · Score: 1
  
  When other countries' rednecks humiliate our rednecks, it's funny.
12. Re:I do not understand Americans by nEoN+nOoDlE · 2006-11-05 11:44 · Score: 1
  
  Borat isn't funny because he's making fun of Turkish/Kazakhstan "rednecks." He's funny because he uses the character to expose ignorant viewpoints in American rednecks.
  
  --
  Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
13. Re:I do not understand Americans by aXis100 · 2006-11-05 13:17 · Score: 1
  
  I agree. Best post so far.
  
  Alot of the criticism seems to be coming from audiences who've never seen the background story to Borat's antics. Sasha really is a brilliant satirist.
14. Re:I do not understand Americans by zippthorne · 2006-11-05 14:07 · Score: 1
  
  sounds like these UKians (what's the real word for this?) smelled a trap and didn't really know the proper way to turn it around. Which kinda goes against your "didn't realize it was an exaggerated stereotype" hypothesis.
  
  It's like the whole "hypnotist show" effect. Everyone knows that none of the people up there are actually hypnotized, hypnosis just doesn't work the way the showmen would have you believe. But people act pretty crazy up there because the "oh I was hypnotized" excuse gives them some kind of license to act crazy. It's really just a traveling improv troupe with lots of inexperienced actors.
  
  --
  Can you be Even More Awesome?!
15. Re:I do not understand Americans by uradu · 2006-11-05 18:08 · Score: 1
  
  You obviously haven't seen any of his material then. Claiming that all these people were either in on the joke or were leading Cohen on is just lame. Andy Rooney really did make an ass of himself with Ali G, and so did many of the other more or less famous people he interviewed. The real genius is that he can completely stay in character through some of the most incredible situations, while at the same time finding new material to goad his subjects with.
16. Re:I do not understand Americans by davidmacq · 2006-11-05 20:56 · Score: 1
  
  They test and make fun of just how stupid Americans, in person, can believe a Eastern European is.
17. Re:I do not understand Americans by randomalias · 2006-11-05 21:07 · Score: 1
  
  sounds like these UKians (what's the real word for this?)
  I prefer "British". Call me radical....
18. Re:I do not understand Americans by D-Cypell · 2006-11-05 21:40 · Score: 1
  
  He mentioned to a protester that in his home-country, people hunted [some animal - bears, was it?] all the time.
  
  It was dogs actually, which made the piece particually funny as us English folk are known for our fondness of dogs (no jokes please!) and none more-so than huntsmen.
19. Re:I do not understand Americans by simonwalton · 2006-11-05 22:07 · Score: 1
  
  FYI, UK != Britain. So... wrong.
20. Re:I do not understand Americans by randomalias · 2006-11-06 01:35 · Score: 1
  
  and FYI I'm British (and Welsh), and in the only bit of the UK that isn't in Britain, the locals would either call themselves "British" or "Irish".
  As as we're talking about Sasha Baron Cohen, I hardn't think he spends a lot of time on the Falls Road.
21. Re:I do not understand Americans by sprintstar · 2006-11-06 03:43 · Score: 1
  
  No, it was bears..
Foreign stupid guy... by spiritraveller · 2006-11-05 04:53 · Score: 1

Has been a comic staple for a long time.

You've got Bronson Pinchot's character Valky.

Even earlier, you've got Andy Kaufmann's character from Taxi.

I'm sure if you look you can find countless other examples.

So both these guys have moustaches. Big deal.
1. Re:Foreign stupid guy... by KokorHekkus · 2006-11-05 05:09 · Score: 1
  
  Add to that Alexei Sayles "Jerzei Balowski" in The Young Ones. Any more?
2. Re:Foreign stupid guy... by zmollusc · 2006-11-05 07:32 · Score: 1
  
  Billy Balowski?
  
  --
  They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
3. Re:Foreign stupid guy... by zurtle · 2006-11-05 11:54 · Score: 1
  
  Couple more examples...
  Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau
  John Cleese's Hungarian from the Hungarian Phrasebook Sketch.
  MOUSTACHES ARE FUNNY... OK?!
  
  --
  Couldn't stand the weather
4. Re:Foreign stupid guy... by Q-Branch · 2006-11-06 06:57 · Score: 1
  
  Zeppo Marx (one of my favorites)
In Soviet Russia, comedian sue you! by krell · 2006-11-05 04:53 · Score: 1

No, the title is NOT off topic. I'm referring to Yakov Smirnoff. If anyone should sue "Borat", it might be Yakov. Sasha Cohen stole the basic Soviet-area fish-out-of-water-in-the-US idea from Smirnoff. However, it must be pointed out, that Cohen did not steal from Yakov the idea that it should be funny.

--
Where were you when the voynix came?
1. Re:In Soviet Russia, comedian sue you! by espressojim · 2006-11-05 04:59 · Score: 1
  
  I always loved the classic Yakov Smirnoff sketch called "Shoot the Jew" that YS used to do. I wonder why he stopped? Also, I find his sketch "My sister is #4 prostitute in all of Soviet Russia" sketch to be hilarious. I don't know why Sasha ripped him off.
  
  They are EXACTLY the same.
2. Re:In Soviet Russia, comedian sue you! by ArikTheRed · 2006-11-05 05:04 · Score: 1
  
  Sasha Cohen stole the basic Soviet-area fish-out-of-water-in-the-US idea from Smirnoff.
  Do you have any actual proof that he stole it from Yokav? Of course not, so don't say it with such certainty.
  
  However, it must be pointed out, that Cohen did not steal from Yakov the idea that it should be funny.
  You found Yavok funny? And funnier than Borat? I mean, wow. Just... wow.
  
  --
  http://www.coderoshi.com/
3. Re:In Soviet Russia, comedian sue you! by krell · 2006-11-05 05:11 · Score: 1
  
  "Do you have any actual proof that he stole it [Soviet-area fish-out-of-water-in-the-US idea] from Yokav? Of course not, so don't say it with such certainty."
  
  One would have to assume that Cohen knew of Smiroff's act.
  
  "You found Yavok funny? And funnier than Borat? I mean, wow. Just... wow."
  
  Absolutely, and I find nothing funny about Borat at all.
  
  --
  Where were you when the voynix came?
4. Re:In Soviet Russia, comedian sue you! by krell · 2006-11-05 07:02 · Score: 1
  
  "while Yakov's purpose is to ridicule Eastern Europe, Borat's is to ridicule the West."
  
  Smirnoff did plenty of ridicule of the West. That is what made him so funny. If his line was nothing but "Life in USSR sucks and is nothing but a pathetic joke", he'd have gone no-where.
  
  --
  Where were you when the voynix came?
5. Re:In Soviet Russia, comedian sue you! by oogoliegoogolie · 2006-11-05 10:29 · Score: 1
  
  No, Bore-at is not funny one bit, and in fact I cringe when I watch him. I've watched his videos in an attempt to get it but I just dont.
  
  Borat is simply this decade's version of the comedic foreigner who speaks well enough English to be understood, but bad enough so he misuses words and mixes up phrases. History repeats itself. It's been done to death before-Yakov, Charlie Farqueson (any canadians out there), Schmenge Brothers (Happy Wanderers-SCTV), ad infinitum.
  
  I'm not saying he's racist, or offensive, as I've seen others post here and there, but instead just not funny. If you enjoy his work great, enjoy it, but it boggles my mind why so many fans give him credit for being such a genius and so original when he is not. He's standing on the shoulders of giants folks.
Mahir vs Borat by maxrate · 2006-11-05 04:53 · Score: 1

It's very simple:

Borat = funny
Mahir, not so much.

I remeber seeing this Mahir guy - never thought he was funny - just a moron.

Borat is hilarious totally americanized but he pulls off the foreign characters with such brilliance. A lot of material that Mahir guy never had, and way more exposure. I do not think Borat/(the AliG guy) used this Mahir guy for a model at all.

Just my two bits. I don't watch a lot of TV anymore so I could be missing something. I guess it's safe to say stuff like this upsets me a little. People suing people with little to go on just to get a buck 'cause they couldn't make a few bucks on their own. I noticed ikissyou.org is unavailable - maybe I should check out archive.org - From what I recall ikissyou.org sucks.
1. Re:Mahir vs Borat by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 04:56 · Score: 1
  
  Well, say what you will, but Mahir is an internet legend and a seemingly nice guy who's just being himself. His website does "suck" - that's whats funny about it- Mahir is basically a foreign AOL user!
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
2. Re:Mahir vs Borat by TheShadowzero · 2006-11-05 05:42 · Score: 1
  
  Well, say what you will, but Mahir is an internet legend and a seemingly nice guy who's just being himself. His website does "suck" - that's whats funny about it- Mahir is basically an AOL user!
  Typos fixed.
  
  --
  If history repeats itself, why can't we study the future?
3. Re:Mahir vs Borat by BinaryCodedDecimal · 2006-11-05 08:59 · Score: 1
  
  Borat is hilarious totally americanized but he pulls off the foreign characters with such brilliance.
  
  And also British, not American.
Those wacky Turks by gEvil+(beta) · 2006-11-05 04:59 · Score: 1

I can play many instruments, but best I play accordion-flute-mandolin-violin-drum-and-saz (Turkish instrument).

Where can I get one of these Turkish accordian-flute-mandolin-violin-drum-and-saz things? And how the hell are you supposed to play it?

--
This guy's the limit!
1. Re:Those wacky Turks by Rui+del-Negro · 2006-11-05 05:07 · Score: 1
  
  In English it's called a "CD player".
  
  RMN
  ~~~
2. Re:Those wacky Turks by ColaMan · 2006-11-05 07:15 · Score: 1
  
  I was going to get one of those for my retirement and learn to play it. Yes, I know it's a pleasantly futile task - I've the wrong number of mouths. But it'll pass the time nicely.
  
  --
  
  You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
  There is a lot of hype here.
3. Re:Those wacky Turks by ColaMan · 2006-11-05 19:05 · Score: 1
  
  I'm going sing along, of course. Or maybe I'll just do an extended monologue on man's inhumanity to man. I haven't decided yet.
  
  --
  
  You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
  There is a lot of hype here.
4. Re:Those wacky Turks by fbonnet · 2006-11-06 01:36 · Score: 1
  
  You mispel enstrumans.
If there is anything that I could care less about by wwphx · 2006-11-05 05:05 · Score: 1

it's Mahir vs Borat. I will not see the movie, not that it's likely to come to my area (we have only five screens, we miss LOTS of films). There are limits to how much stupid humor that I can handle, and that's saying a lot from someone who amongst his favorite films counts Wayne's World I & II and Robin Hood: Men In Tights.

--
When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.
News for Nerds? by Colin+Smith · 2006-11-05 05:06 · Score: 1

Anything to do with a web site is news for nerds now?

--
Deleted
1. Re:News for Nerds? by Durrok · 2006-11-05 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  If you don't understand the internet legend portion of this story doing some searching on wikipedia for ikissyou. Also remember the whole "Better to be thought an idiot then open your mouth and remove all doubt" saying.
  
  --
  I keep telling myself I'm not the desperate type.
2. Re:News for Nerds? by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 05:18 · Score: 1
  
  I agree it's borderline- but, there are a few subtle factors at play here:
  
  Web 2.0 vs .. uhh.. old school :P (Dot Bomb?)
  
  #1 - Borat's success due to Web 2.0/YouTube culture buzz
  
  #2 - Mahir's old-school website of internet lore and fame
  
  To study how the two became "famous" is a study in the way the web has changed in 10 years.. fair enough that Borat had traditional media on his side, but he stood on the shoulders of the new web to become the phenom he is now. Much in the same way that Mahir became famous, except through the pre-Web 2.0 system...they seem so arcane now.
  
  NO CARRIER
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
3. Re:News for Nerds? by SydShamino · 2006-11-05 08:25 · Score: 1
  
  This is CmdrTaco's blog*. Anything that interests him is ok to post here. Check the editor before you complain about story relevance.
  
  * Yes, I know this is a retroactive definition. But it's the most apt definition.
  
  --
  It doesn't hurt to be nice.
4. Re:News for Nerds? by Zero__Kelvin · 2006-11-06 03:07 · Score: 1
  
  This is CmdrTaco's blog*. Anything that interests him is ok to post here. Check the editor before you complain about story relevance.
  Where the hell did you get the idea that Slashdot is Rob Malda's blog? Believe me; it isn't. In fact, it isn't even a blog. I have personally exchanged some E-Mails with Malda (aka cmdrtaco), and if Slashdot was his blog I would not bother reading it, I assure you.
  
  --
  Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
5. Re:News for Nerds? by SydShamino · 2006-11-06 04:47 · Score: 1
  
  Where the hell did you get the idea that Slashdot is Rob Malda's blog?
  
  Posts like this one:
  http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/26/ 142243
  
  Which garnered the exact same response (i.e. why is this on Slashdot?) which was answered with the exact same reply (Slashdot is Rob Malda's site; if it interests him then its relevant).
  
  --
  It doesn't hurt to be nice.
Looks like he might not be the only one by AlzaF · 2006-11-05 05:07 · Score: 1

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15175836/site/newsweek / BTW, hilarious film, never laughed so much in my whole life!!!
1. Re:Looks like he might not be the only one by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  Cool article :) - THIS is what I was expecting from the Wired one- it's a shame it didn't have more substance.
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
2. Re:Looks like he might not be the only one by heptapod · 2006-11-05 05:32 · Score: 1
  
  It is Wired Magazine that we're talking about, right?
Way overrated by teslatug · 2006-11-05 05:12 · Score: 1

Cohen is way overrated as a comic, if you could even call him that. I feel bad for the Kazakhs who now have to deal with this crap from Westerners who know nothing about them.
1. Re:Way overrated by Anonymous Coward · 2006-11-05 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, because when Westerners look at a comedy show and think it's representative of real life, that's the comic's fault.
2. Re:Way overrated by heptapod · 2006-11-05 05:29 · Score: 1
  
  Haven't you heard of The Daily Show?
3. Re:Way overrated by slashmojo · 2006-11-05 05:32 · Score: 1
  
  Any westerners who actually think Kazakhs are like that really need to broaden their horizons a little.. but of course Borat plays on the worst attributes of certain westerners which is part of what makes it funny and from the clips I have seen so far I would have to say it is very funny.
4. Re:Way overrated by Froomb · 2006-11-05 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  I feel bad for the Kazakhs who now have to deal with this crap from Westerners who know nothing about them.
  
  The trouble with such fake ethnic humor is that it relies on ignorance and condescension. Good 'ol Charlie Chan and Jim Crow, used to really delight audiences.
  
  "First on de heel tap,
  Den on the toe
  Every time I wheel about
  I jump Jim Crow.
  Wheel about and turn about
  An' do j's so.
  And every time I wheel about,
  I jump Jim Crow."
5. Re:Way overrated by Mark+Maughan · 2006-11-05 05:49 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  The News program?
  
  Stay on topic please, we are talking about comedy.
6. Re:Way overrated by NoData · 2006-11-05 08:20 · Score: 1
  
  In my country they say, ehh, man who have no senses of humors must have very small...ehh, how you say, chram.
7. Re:Way overrated by ad0gg · 2006-11-05 19:35 · Score: 1
  
  You really aren't grasphing who the joke is on. Its not on Kazakhstan, the jokes on americans homophobia, views of jews, the american dream(if you watch the movie). Its similiar to how beavis and butthead was a comedy about the stupidy of american youth of the 90s, ironically they were the ones who watched it, I really wonder how many of them caught on to that fact.
  
  --
  Have you ever been to a turkish prison?
will this help you understand? by krell · 2006-11-05 05:14 · Score: 1

"Does any one say What is so interesting about these guys ? Those guys are Turkish equvalent of American redneck"

Does it help explain it that American rednecks themselves are also giants of American comedy?

--
Where were you when the voynix came?
Beebeard v. Packetmon by BeeBeard · 2006-11-05 05:20 · Score: 2, Funny

You stole my insightful comment. Please expect to hear from my lawyer.
My internet there is a problem by heptapod · 2006-11-05 05:26 · Score: 2, Funny

On my internet there is problem,
And that problem is Borat.
He take Mahir's jokes,
He never give it back.

Throw Borat down the well,
So Mahir can be free.
You must grab him by his mustache,
Then we have big party.

If you see Borat coming,
You must be careful of his teeth.
You must grab him where it is funny,
And I tell you what to do...

Throw Borat down the well
So Mahir can be free
You must grab him by his mustache
Then we have big party
1. Re:My internet there is a problem by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 06:06 · Score: 1
  
  +1 funny!
  
  --
  ...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
2. Re:My internet there is a problem by NoData · 2006-11-05 08:18 · Score: 1
  
  Nice! I very much like!
  
  High Five!
Re:If there is anything that I could care less abo by Andrew+Aguecheek · 2006-11-05 05:28 · Score: 1

We have one screen and it came to us...

--
Tomorrow, I may eat another house plant
What about poor Arnold? by AlbionTourgee · 2006-11-05 05:31 · Score: 1

Cagri? Never heard of him. It's Arnold Schwarzenegger who has the beef against Borat for my two cents.
21st Century blackface by Damek · 2006-11-05 05:36 · Score: 1

Seriously, does any of this matter? Borat is somewhat redeemed by shining a harsh light on American culture rather than simply making fun of mideast/asian stereotypes - but at essence it is basically 21st century blackface minstrel stuff.
1. Re:21st Century blackface by ScrewMaster · 2006-11-05 07:19 · Score: 1
  
  but at essence it is basically 21st century blackface minstrel stuff.
  
  Yes, and people laughed at that too.
  
  --
  The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
2. Re:21st Century blackface by pboulang · 2006-11-05 07:33 · Score: 1
  
  Satire, in its direct confrontation with everything from ignorance to stupidity is extremely important.
  If someone or something is hit with satire, it either is strengthened with its ability to handle it, or forced to reconsider its position/view/attitude/etc. Either way, it is good to shake the etch-o-sketch of life. (of the audience... rarely will the target of satire be affected.. just offended)
  
  --
  This comment is guaranteed*
  *not guaranteed
3. Re:21st Century blackface by bcmm · 2006-11-05 23:12 · Score: 1
  
  I don't agree. The only reason he claims to be a Kazakh is that few people know much about Kazakhstan, so he can get away with pretty much anything.
  
  I haven't seen the film, but in the TV series, the humour was mostly not derived from his stereotypical behaviour. The real point is that by pretending to be completely naive about western culture, he gets people to say or agree to incredible things. The various people who he has persuaded to say terribly anti-semetic things probably wouldn't have said such things to a western reporter. I would argue that there is a serious purpose in showing how quietly rascist many people in the south of the US still are.
  
  --
  # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
  Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
What Would He Sue Under? by nick_davison · 2006-11-05 05:37 · Score: 1

At least in the U.S...

Copying substantive plot elements? Someone's life isn't a series of plot elements they had to think up. There's no notion of carefully structuring it to have maximum value as entertainment. Whilst, "Guy with an ego is in the TopGun problem, guy's buddy dies, guy questions ego, guy comes out stronger." is a plot someone went to trouble to think up and is protected, simply having lived a certain way, even if you're a media whore and many actions were deliberate, isn't protected in the same way.

Defamation? Parody is protected speach. Plus, once you've received free trips and made money off the fact everyone regards you as a joke, you can hardly claim damages for subsequently being made to look like a joke.

Bush can't sue the makers of Wag The Dog 2: Iraqi Bugaloo, Nixon can't sue the makers of Dick, Clinton can't sue over Primary Colors. If none of those people can sue over direct satirization - and they have a hell of a lot more money to hire lawyers to do so - then a failing wannabe celebutard is unlikely to get a competent lawyer to take the case simply for a percentage of what might be won.
1. Re:What Would He Sue Under? by Staale+Nordlie · 2006-11-05 09:19 · Score: 1
  
  ..."Guy with an ego is in the TopGun problem, guy's buddy dies, guy questions ego, guy comes out stronger." is a plot someone went to trouble to think up and is protected,...
  No it's not. You can't copyright a plot.
  
  (Or did you mean "protected" under some other law?)
Bigot by katorga · 2006-11-05 05:57 · Score: 1

I've seen quite a few Ali G episodes and most of the pre-release hype for Borat, and it sort of strikes me that Cohen's comedy is pure anti-muslim bigotry. He seems to go out of his to consistently portray muslims in the worst possible light.
1. Re:Bigot by faraway · 2006-11-05 06:12 · Score: 1
  
  Get a clue. Cohen's comedy is pure anti-anything bigotry. You obviously missed the point.
2. Re:Bigot by Atriqus · 2006-11-05 06:35 · Score: 1
  
  OH NOES, he made a few muslim jokes! /sarcasm>
  
  People who can't handle jokes at their expense are the shining example of everything wrong with the world... that and Canadians.
  
  (Quick thanks to all fellow Canadians who laughed at that and proved my point :) )
  
  --
  Hey, look! It's Bono's brother.
3. Re:Bigot by meringuoid · 2006-11-05 07:14 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I've seen quite a few Ali G episodes and most of the pre-release hype for Borat, and it sort of strikes me that Cohen's comedy is pure anti-muslim bigotry.
  In other news today, Swift advocated cannibalism as a solution to poverty in Ireland. What a monster.
  Seriously, you're missing the point here entirely. The way Ali G and Borat work is by simultaneously making fun of the ignorant bigotry of the characters themselves, and also taking advantage of liberal tolerance of them. Thus Ali G is in the first place a straightforward parody of middle-class white English kids who ape American gangsta culture, but is also a vehicle by which Cohen can entrap public figures into making fools of themselves: they try to seem tolerant and accepting of what they take for a representative of Contemporary Youth Culture, and end up walking straight into it.
  Unfortunately, Ali G ended up being adopted as an icon by middle-class white English kids who ape American gangsta culture and who didn't quite realise that half the joke was on them. Thus, after selling out spectacularly and milking the character for all he was worth, it was time to bring Borat to the fore.
  Borat is a more sophisticated caricature than Ali G. He's a mish-mash of Slavic and Eastern European stereotypes, and bear in mind that what with the Iron Curtain and all, stereotypes about Eastern Europe are decades out of date, going back to before the Holocaust made anti-Semitism unspeakable. Stereotypes rooted in a nasty past of peasants and pogroms. Borat is a fossil out of this past. In the name of tolerance to a different culture, the people Borat meets will bend over backwards not to give offence, and then the fun lies in finding out just how far the faux-Kazakh guy can go and get away with it, and how hypocritical we're prepared to be in tolerating Borat's intolerance. And, for that matter, in finding out just how different to our ignorant peasant forebears we Western urban sophisticates really are, beneath the surface.
  The only concern I really have is about how it all reflects on Kazakhstan itself. From what I've heard, though, they've caught on that the joke's not on them at all, that it's rather a good joke, and that there's no such thing as bad publicity. At least now we've heard of Kazakhstan...
  I haven't seen Borat's film - I'll be seeing it on Friday, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I was never inclined to see the Ali G film, but Borat I think has a lot more potential.
  
  --
  Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
4. Re:Bigot by DNS-and-BIND · 2006-11-05 11:01 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Swift advocated cannibalism as a solution to poverty in Ireland. What a monster.
  
  Actually, that was pretty monstrous. Swift wasn't bound by modern political correctness, and thus his bigotry is all the more heinous. Racism against the Irish was widespread in his day. What would you say to someone today who advocated cannibalism as a solution to poverty in Bangladesh? No matter how good his writing, he'd be pilloried as a racist (Orson Scott Card comes to mind).
  
  --
  Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
5. Re:Bigot by Eli+Gottlieb · 2006-11-05 11:02 · Score: 1
  
  It is also offensive because, as a practicing Jew, he uses Hebrew when he pretends to be talking Kazakh - which is pretty offensive itself.
  First of all, I don't see what's offensive about using Hebrew instead of a language of which he doesn't know one word.
  
  Second of all, it adds another layer of humor. Did you know that, outside of the State of Israel, most Jews can't recognize spoken Hebrew? By using it, Cohen makes fun of his own people's ignorance of their own language and culture.
6. Re:Bigot by Nimey · 2006-11-05 12:02 · Score: 1
  
  Have you read "A Modest Proposal"? His essay looked to be a satirical way of drawing attention to the plight of the Irish.
  
  --
  Hail Eris, full of mischief...
  
  E pluribus sanguinem
7. Re:Bigot by ultracool · 2006-11-05 12:19 · Score: 1
  
  Also, remember that Sacha Baron-Cohen is actually Jewish himself.
8. Re:Bigot by Fulcrum+of+Evil · 2006-11-05 12:42 · Score: 1
  
  I'm trying to figure out if you're being serious or just having some fun. Sarcasm is so hard to see on the internets. All those tubes skew perspective.
  
  --
  "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
9. Re:Bigot by Fulcrum+of+Evil · 2006-11-05 12:45 · Score: 1
  
  Hail Eris, full of me :P. Gotta love oversexed goddesses.
  
  --
  "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
10. Re:Bigot by loraksus · 2006-11-05 14:58 · Score: 1
  
  It is also offensive because, as a practicing Jew, he uses Hebrew when he pretends to be talking Kazakh - which is pretty offensive itself.
  
  Uhh, no. In fact 3 of his most popular catch phrases are clearly Polish (they may also be from some other slavic languages, perhaps even yiddish, but I'm almost certain that it isn't Hebrew)
  
  "Jak sie masz?" is "how are you?"
  "gen ku-ye" is "thank you"
  "Dzien dobry (gein doh-brie)" is "good morning" etc.
  
  He usually uses them in the improper context, but it's pretty clear what he's saying.
  
  --
  1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcfv gbhnjmk,l.;/
11. Re:Bigot by replicant108 · 2006-11-05 23:41 · Score: 1
  
  In other news today, Swift advocated cannibalism as a solution to poverty in Ireland. What a monster.
  
  Swift posed as an ignorant Englishman to satirise English culture.
  
  Cohen poses as an ignorant Muslim to satirise Muslim culture.
  
  If Swift had pretended to be an ignorant Irish peasant to entertain bigoted Englishmen, then your analogy would have been appropriate.
  
  Unfortunately you have it completely bass-ackwards.
12. Re:Bigot by leathered · 2006-11-05 23:48 · Score: 1
  
  "Cohen poses as an ignorant Muslim to satirise Muslim culture"
  
  That's one of the most clueless comments I've seen on here in a long time. There is nothing in the film or anyone of his shows to suggest that he is a Muslim, and the satire is entirely on middle America, not Kazakhstan.
  
  --
  For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers
13. Re:Bigot by replicant108 · 2006-11-06 01:07 · Score: 1
  
  The fact that he comes from a majority Muslim country, his anti-jewishness, his misogyny and his un-western, 'peasant' attitudes are all clearly designed to present a Muslim stereotype.
  
  Of course, Cohen has been careful to provide himself with 'plausible deniability'.
  
  If the satire was entirely on middle America, then why is the main character an East European Muslim?
14. Re:Bigot by CvD · 2006-11-06 01:47 · Score: 1
  
  Insightful reply. Wish I had mod points, I'd mod you up. :-)
  
  --
  The Official Steve Ballmer Webpage
The trick by QQ2 · 2006-11-05 05:58 · Score: 1

The trick is not Borat himself,
He's simply an easteuropian redneck personfied
The fun is in the people he inteviews
The questions themselves are not funny, but it exposes how people really think and in that there is true comedy

An armsdealer shamelessly claiming a .45 is the best weapon to hunt jews for instance

Regards QQ2
ive been looking for that for ages by eneville · 2006-11-05 06:09 · Score: 1

i've been reminiscing about this quite a bit. that was one of the first memes that i remember from the net way back. it's great to see some of this old stuff again.

--
Why UNIX?
Yakov's last stand by British · 2006-11-05 06:19 · Score: 1

I thought Ben Stiller's spoof of Yakof Smirnoff to be hilarious and sums up his act nicely.
What if it were reversed? by bigtrike · 2006-11-05 06:51 · Score: 1

A movie with an American redneck stereotype in Europe would probably be hilarious too.
1. Re:What if it were reversed? by Tablizer · 2006-11-05 07:28 · Score: 1
  
  A movie with an American redneck stereotype in Europe would probably be hilarious too.
  
  Amen to that, Vern
  
  --
  Table-ized A.I.
2. Re:What if it were reversed? by Reaperducer · 2006-11-05 10:29 · Score: 1
  
  National Lampoon's European Vacation. And then there was another one in the 90's, too, I think.
  
  --
  -- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
neither is new by NNland · 2006-11-05 06:54 · Score: 2, Informative

I would also mention that playing a character from a foreign country to mock the US was done in the 70's by Andy Kaufman, which makes both of these guys (no matter how funny or relevant) "style biters".
1. Re:neither is new by feepness · 2006-11-05 08:51 · Score: 1
  
  I would also mention that playing a character from a foreign country to mock the US
  
  Interesting that you consider Borat mocking the US. When I first saw him I couldn't figure out if he was trying to mock the US or not. After awhile I decided the humor was targetted pretty generally.
2. Re:neither is new by NNland · 2006-11-05 09:53 · Score: 1
  
  He has stated on various occasions that he is mocking the United States.
3. Re:neither is new by bobcote · 2006-11-05 15:14 · Score: 1
  
  Many Slashdotters may not remember Bill Dana's character Jose Jiminez. From the 1960's. Determined to be politically incorrect by those that judge these things http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0199049/
4. Re:neither is new by NNland · 2006-11-05 18:07 · Score: 1
  
  And even Andy Kaufman wasn't original! Awesome. Now, can we just get past this whole lawsuit thing?
MIRROR- by celerityfm · 2006-11-05 06:55 · Score: 1

Looks like our friends at ENN are trying to setup a coral cache for incoming /. clickthroughs.. its broken right now, but here is a working one.

I fail for not using that in my post :(

--
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
Crying "Wolf" by camperdave · 2006-11-05 07:42 · Score: 1

Crying "wolf" might be considered dangerous humour. Sure, it's fun to watch the townsfolk come a-running, but when the wolf does come and the townsfolk don't... well that's just a world of hurt.

--
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Not a peer! by Flying+pig · 2006-11-05 08:38 · Score: 1

Oh, disinformation does get started on the Internet!
Baron is a family name not a title (there are plenty of people called Earl or surnamed King in the US, this should hardly be surprising.) AFAIK he is the son of rather distinguished psychologists. Which may be where he gets some of his ideas from, if you think about it. I'd take his heredity over the descendant of some successful thief who was able to buy a minor peerage, any day.

--
Pining for the fjords
1. Re:Not a peer! by Zonnald · 2006-11-05 10:07 · Score: 1
  
  Even if it was a title, it's German, not British.
2. Re:Not a peer! by Tsuzuki · 2006-11-05 12:23 · Score: 1
  
  What the hell, how can people think it's a title when it's part of his last name?! It saddens me that you've had to comment to explain that. And since we're clearing things up, his cousin is Dr Simon Baron Cohen, a distinguished psychology professor.
3. Re:Not a peer! by Zonnald · 2006-11-05 16:16 · Score: 1
  
  My bad. Being an American living in Australia for 31 years, I am not up on British Peerage!
4. Re:Not a peer! by FacePlant · 2006-11-06 02:17 · Score: 1
  
  Do better next time.
  
  --
  My Heart Is A Flower
Indeed "Wrong!" -- It is not the Kazakhs... by drgonzo59 · 2006-11-05 08:42 · Score: 3, Insightful

Let's be clear here -- portions of Sacha's interviews don't just border on racism, they are very racist. What those scenes reveal is not stereotypes of a "backwater" region such as Kazakhstan but rather the stereotypes of the Americans. It was not the "backwaters" of an ex-Soviet republic that are funny it is the "backwaters" of US that are funny.
All the Kazakh customs and Borat's behaviors are made up, people in Kazakhstan do know how to use toilets and they do not act like Borat. Heck, Borat doesn't even look Kazakh, he doesn't really speak the Kazakh language, and the village was actually Romanian. But the fact that most Americans Borat met didn't realize that (including you) is the ironic part, that is what Borat character was meant to show. There are plenty of scenes where "civilized" Americans go along and tacitly or explicitly agree with some very racist and anti-semitic remarks. For example when Borat goes into the gun dealer's shop and asks for a good gun to kill Jews with, the owner proudly gives him a nice handgun that looked like its bullets could pierce thick armor!
I was glad I payed for Borat. I would even go and say it is a masterpiece. It has something for everyone: the bleeding heart liberals like me can go and see in it how racists the Americans are, the conservative xenophobes can look at it and laugh at the "stupid" foreigner thus only reinforcing their own position of "we are the best country and everyone else is backwards" -- which I have to say on a certain level is funny in an of itself, and of course, there is plenty of slapstick and "Mr. Bean" type humor for everyone else. The interesting part, as I read in another review, is that Sacha Cohen had only one take for his scenes and most of them were not rehearsed (that's why the "masterpiece" label).
Google trends by onco_p53 · 2006-11-05 09:10 · Score: 1

http://www.google.com/trends?q=Mahir%2C+Borat

We have a winner!
1. Re:Google trends by ChiPHeaD23 · 2006-11-05 13:36 · Score: 1
  
  Mahirmania was rampant in 1999, which predates Google Trends's scope by about 4 years. Nice try, though.
Mahir? Who the... by slidersv · 2006-11-05 09:49 · Score: 1

This is the first time I heard about the guy. I don't get it. He is like Tarzan on the Internet.

From Picture4:"I never sex anygirl. Woman I must like first and she must be trust clean too..."
What the...

--
there is no issue with my network
A bit precious aren't we? by Chuck+Chunder · 2006-11-05 09:53 · Score: 1

I thought the joke with Borat was that the British believe all Americans to be ignorant rednecks.
Man, there's plenty of Borat material with British people in it (one I remember is at Cambridge University where Sacha Baron Cohen happens to have gone). That a movie with Americans in it was made for the American market should hardly be surprising especially as he is too well known in Britain to do anything there.
He's a British peer
No he isn't.

--
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
Monty Python have alreay done that one. by BeerCat · 2006-11-05 10:02 · Score: 2, Informative

http://www.pion.ch/Fun/funniest.html

--
"She's furniture with a pulse"
Re:Indeed "Wrong!" -- It is not the Kazakhs... by drgonzo59 · 2006-11-05 10:07 · Score: 1

"Troll" moderation -- not surprising Slashdot's finest at their "best".
Pee Wee? by BlahSnarto · 2006-11-05 10:14 · Score: 1

Not to stir the pot more, but he (borat) reminds me more of
a retarded pee wee herman if nothing else..
1. Re:Pee Wee? by DarkProphet · 2006-11-05 17:26 · Score: 1
  
  ... or perhaps a slightly more clever Forrest Gump?
  
  --
  What could possibly hurt the security of the American people more than giving our own government the ability to hide its
Middle east by posix4 · 2006-11-05 10:23 · Score: 1

Middle east? God we americans can be so stupid sometimes
Re:borat by dloose · 2006-11-05 11:14 · Score: 1

The parent post reads like something a chat-bot might say. Does it make any sense to anyone?
It's got the minds of the kids... by fostware · 2006-11-05 11:21 · Score: 1

Kazakhstan is the most popular country of the first GIS project at the secondary college I work at. It's not even released in Australia yet :P

--
"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over." - Aneurin Bevan
Re:Indeed "Wrong!" -- It is not the Kazakhs... by Planesdragon · 2006-11-05 11:30 · Score: 1

There are plenty of scenes where "civilized" Americans go along and tacitly or explicitly agree with some very racist and anti-semitic remarks.

So? A significant portion of that is "hospitality." Let Cohen go about dressed as an American and try the same stuff, and you'll get a better measure of the level of American racism.

For example when Borat goes into the gun dealer's shop and asks for a good gun to kill Jews with, the owner proudly gives him a nice handgun that looked like its bullets could pierce thick armor!

I suspect that scene was either staged or edited; you still need at least a cursory background check to buy a handgun, especially if you're not an American citizen. The gun dealer can be as good-salesman-happy as he wants; he's not a bartender, and it's the customer who's liabile for the use of that gun.
Re:Mahir's Home Page by moro_666 · 2006-11-05 11:31 · Score: 1

but does he also shoot dof from horse ?

--

I'd tell you the chances of this story being a dupe, but you wouldn't like it.
dzien dobry by johnpaul191 · 2006-11-05 12:15 · Score: 1

you obviously have not seen the movie, unless something about Jewish heritage gives people the power to shape-shift? i don't think there is much truth to that nonsense.

it's all so over the top that, to me, it comes across more as commentary. i realize that some of the movie is staged, but some of the most amazing thing that Ali G/Borat/Bruno pulls off is the reaction people have to him. Borat is interesting because a lot of people gloss over things he says and write it off as poor English, or some cultural gap..... but the things people say to him are shocking at times. you can see how it plays out in the trailer.

Borat's country of origin is almost unimportant because nobody seems to know where it is or anything about it. his 'language' is a mix of random eastern european vocab (from what i can tell). i know some of it is Polish, and i am pretty sure it's not words that are the same inn other languages. i suppose if somebody caught him on it, that would not make it to air.... unless it got really funny.

all that being said.... the movie was funny as hell.
1. Re:dzien dobry by ezberry · 2006-11-05 12:50 · Score: 1
  
  He actually uses Hebrew from time to time. When he was singing the Kazakh national anthem at the minor league baseball game, a lot of the words were from a Hebrew song.
Re:Indeed "Wrong!" -- It is not the Kazakhs... by Fulcrum+of+Evil · 2006-11-05 12:35 · Score: 1

For example when Borat goes into the gun dealer's shop and asks for a good gun to kill Jews with, the owner proudly gives him a nice handgun that looked like its bullets could pierce thick armor!

You referring to that gaudy .45? It's not all that good at piercing armor; it's good for knocking people down. Besides, you never really saw the bullets :)

--
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
Right of publicity by Infonaut · 2006-11-05 12:51 · Score: 1

At least in the U.S...

To see just how far the court will extend the right of publicity, check out White v. Samsung. Be sure to read Judge Kozinski's dissent.

--
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Evolution of Borat by SoyChemist · 2006-11-05 13:21 · Score: 1

The Borat of 1994 may not be the same one that we know and love today. Cohen may have pulled a few tricks from Mahir over the years. At the very beginning of the new movie, which is available on YouTube, Borat clearly says "I like sex." and plays pingpong. These are two distinctly Mahir activities. Just because a car company was around for years does not mean it did not rip off some design features from another company. Part of Borat, the new part, may have developed in response to the Mahir craze.
1. Re:Evolution of Borat by AAWood · 2006-11-05 20:43 · Score: 1
  
  Wait... Can I just clarify that you're saying "I like sex" is a unique statement by Mahir? You're seriously stating that he created using those 3 words in that order, and that anyone saying they like sex is just ripping him off?
  
  I mean, the ping-pong... well, I guess it's not that popular anymore, it's not like any games on the sport have been released recently by Rockstar Games for the X-Box 360, so I can kinda see your point... but liking sex? I mean, I know this is Slashdot, the stereotypical image of this site's readership is a bunch of people who may not know what sex is, but come on.
Silly question by Guppy06 · 2006-11-05 13:40 · Score: 1

Did he ever get a girl?
I am looking forward to it by l0cust · 2006-11-05 15:35 · Score: 1

I remember the trailer of the first Ali G movie (never watched the movie itself though). There is a scene where he is arguing with some pimp and there are these three ladies standing near them. So the pimp says something like

{pimp}: " ..these hoes belong to me"
{Ali G}: "Belong?! That's a very sexist way to talk about these bitches!"

Cracked me up :)

--
Politicians and Pedophiles: Two groups of exploitive bastards who are most dangerous when they're thinking of children.
Table Tennis by emjoi_gently · 2006-11-05 16:29 · Score: 1

The table tennis at the start of Borat is a big giveaway.
An obvious sign of a copied idea.

If SCO had evidence like that, Linux would be in big trouble.
Not quite sure I get your conclusion by sheldon · 2006-11-05 16:34 · Score: 1

I went to a sold out showing of Borat on tuesday, here in my nice safe midwestern flyover city. Now maybe we all found it funny because most of the reactions were from southerners. But I can assure you, that the laughs were not from what Borat said but from what the people he's talking to said and did.

But I do think you raise an interesting point, and this is even applicable to The Daily Show. People are so afraid to really talk about what they mean, that the only way we see an honest glimpse into what's going on is via comedy. But then, maybe this is the way it has always been? Even William the Conqueror spun why he invaded England in 1066.
Re:and once again... by sheldon · 2006-11-05 16:48 · Score: 1

My Russian friends tell me they're descended from Mongol blood, not Turk.

Turks conquered them in the 14th century and as such their language and religion and such changed, but not their blood.
Re:Indeed "Wrong!" -- It is not the Kazakhs... by jdcope · 2006-11-05 18:34 · Score: 1

the owner proudly gives him a nice handgun that looked like its bullets could pierce thick armor!
WTF??
FWIW...I saw Borat today, and lets not forget that the gun dealer wouldnt sell to him... I thought it was damn funny...I took my 15 year old son and his friend too.
Re:Indeed "Wrong!" -- It is not the Kazakhs... by Progoth · 2006-11-05 19:42 · Score: 1

Yes, we conservatives are way too stupid to know who Sacha Baron Cohen is, we just laugh at the stupid foreigner while singing the U.S. national anthem.

I believe in reducing government, cutting taxes, and cracking down on illegal immigration. I also got the "subtleties" in Borat, and picked up on the biting social commentary. I've loved Da Ali G show for a couple of years now, especially Borat. I realize there's plenty of racists in the U.S. and I laughed heartily at them yesterday while watching Borat. You, sir, are every bit as bigoted as them if you believe your "conservative xenophobes" statement.

Here's to hoping an extremely fat naked man lays his scrotum on your mustache.
Re:neither is new MONTESQUIEU by whereisaxlrose · 2006-11-05 21:41 · Score: 1

i would say that

Mr. Baron Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat of his real name , in his Persian Letters started it all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Letters

ps: funny how Montesqieu is a Baron ... baron .... sacha baron cohen .... anywhoo.

--
[chinese democracy starts now ... or later - http://www.gunsnroses.us]
Re:Borat vs. Yakov vs. Father Guido Sarducci by ekimminau · 2006-11-06 04:16 · Score: 1

Father Guido Sarducci http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Guido_Sarducci started this bit long before either of these guys, including the mustache. I have a very similar story about meeting Father Guido but it started during a video shoot for a TV station in Dallas with "Dancing in the streets". I ended up as a walk on standing next to Father Guido for about 2 hours of takes and then we hit the closest bar for a few drinks afterwards. He really is a hilarious guy and stayed in character (he was still in costume) then entire time we were in the bar. I had a blast.

--
Armaments, 2-9-21 And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade' N
Re:neither is new MONTESQUIEU by NNland · 2006-11-06 04:48 · Score: 1

Wow, eighteenth century. That may be the winner.
Re:Indeed "Wrong!" -- It is not the Kazakhs... by drgonzo59 · 2006-11-06 05:30 · Score: 1

Well, if you are a conservative good for you, as long as you are not a xenophobe. I was not talking about conservatives as somehow being "bad" or "good" I was talking about xenophobia. So what's the deal then with the personal insult:
Here's to hoping an extremely fat naked man lays his scrotum on your mustache.
-- It makes you (and by association all the conservatives) look rather bad.
Good day to ya'
Moderators intoxicated? by msobkow · 2006-11-06 18:18 · Score: 1

"Off topic"?
Dang, the mods may be volunteers, but some of them really haven't got a freakin' clue about what a mod is supposed to do. How in the world can a comment about a comedian's material in a thread about aforementioned comedian possibly be offtopic?
Flamebait if you're a Borat fan who is offended, but off topic?
Yeesh! :p

--
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Re:My Yakov story by celerityfm · 2006-11-06 23:38 · Score: 1

I wish I knew the origins of these stories... they are entertaining none the less :)

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...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
Re:Indeed "Wrong!" -- It is not the Kazakhs... by drgonzo59 · 2006-11-07 10:15 · Score: 1

You must be an anonymous coward, always afraid of taking responsibility for your words...