Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm” was slammed by the Kazakh American Association for what it says promotes “racism, cultural appropriation and xenophobia” and is a dangerous illustration of the nation of Kazakhstan as portrayed by a white actor.
In a letter despatched to Amazon’s Jay Carney, Drew Herdener and Sarah Gavin on October 20, the group criticized the unique “Borat” movie from 2006 and referred to as on Amazon to cancel the discharge of the sequel, which debuted to Prime Video subscribers on Oct. 23. The letter was signed by Gaukhar Noortas, founder and CEO of the Hollywood Film Academy, and Ayauly Akylkhan, chair of the board of the Kazakh American Association.
“Considering today’s socially aware political climate, why is a racist film which openly berates, bullies and traumatizes a nation comprised of people of color an acceptable form of entertainment that meets Amazon’s ethical values?” the letter reads. “Why is our small nation fair game for public ridicule?”
The letter says that though it acknowledges the movie is a satire, Baron Cohen selected the precise nation of Kazakhstan for his character moderately than decide a fictionalized nation as he did in his movie “The Dictator.” It goes on to say that following the discharge of the primary “Borat,” Kazakh youngsters skilled bullying as a result of many individuals who don’t acknowledge Baron Cohen’s work as satire and consider the movie is an genuine depiction of Kazakhstan and its tradition. As a end result, it says that the movies can “incite violence against a highly vulnerable and underrepresented minority ethnic group.”
“In this film, a white person adorns a Kazakh persona and then culturally appropriates and belittles everything we stand for. We, Kazakhs, are a small nation, but it does not mean that we are allowed to be targets for racism,” it continues. “Mr. Cohen [sic] chose to openly bully, humiliate and dehumanize an actual nation.”
“This is a comedy, and the Kazakhstan in the film has nothing to do with the real country,” Baron Cohen stated in an announcement. “I chose Kazakhstan because it was a place that almost nobody in the U.S. knew anything about, which allowed us to create a wild, comedic, fake world. The real Kazakhstan is a beautiful country with a modern, proud society — the opposite of Borat’s version.”
Amazon didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is about in Kazakhstan however was filmed in Romania, and the language spoken by the principle characters, together with Borat and his daughter Tutar (Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova), is a mixture of Hebrew, Polish and Bulgarian.
The first movie was banned in Kazakhstan upon its launch, however the Kazakh authorities has not issued any particular assertion about “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” and a current tourism advert for the nation incorporates one in every of Borat’s catch phrases, “Very nice!”
And but over 110,000 people have signed a petition calling for the movie to be canceled, accusing it of “racism and xenophobia,” all as people on social media have used the hashtag #CancelBorat.
Read the total letter from the Kazakh American Association right here.
