You've probably seen Borat, and if so you've probably seen Borat drunk, and you may actually be drunk now, and that puts you in a good state of mind to process this scene-by-scene dissection from Salon. Philosophical guy, the Borat: not many other movies this year have everybody asking questions like, “What is real?” Says Salon:
With few exceptions, the real folks featured in “Borat,” the movie, have been happy to talk about their experience, and outing them has turned into a mini-media craze, with tons of news outlets trying to sniff out the stories behind the making of the film. To save you time and satisfy your curiosity, we tracked down some of Borat's victims on our own and also compiled a guide revealing which figures were in on the joke (Pamela — say it ain't so!) and which weren't.
Pamela exposed in greater detail here by staff Pamela correspondent Steve Lowery. And interviews with a veteran New York feminist here and a producer at that TV station here with this sad story:
“Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did thereafter,” she writes in Newsweek's most recent issue. “I spiraled into depression, and before I could recover, I was released from my contract early. It took me three months to find another job, and now I'm thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure.”
Great success! And plus those frat boys have also filed suit and South Carolina doctor says he's lucky he didn't make the cut, though he'll probably start calling lawyers when the DVD comes out. And Detroit Free Press diligently reports that “the other day” a “Turkish journalist” “claimed” Borat was stolen from him–and yes, as detailed here, it IS Mahir “I Kiss You!” Cagri, fighting the good fight from the fringe of the Internet. Mahir tells AP:
The world knows he is copying Mahir. I am not saying this – the world is. I have received so many e-mails from people in the United States who tell me he is imitating me.
And from Mahir's home page, possibly the first of the great Internet haw-haw sites:
I like music , I have many many music enstrumans my home I can play I like sport , swiming , basketball , tenis , volayball , walk ……… I like sex I like travel I go 3-4 country every year I went , Germany , Nederland , Belgium , Austria , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary, Moldovia , Ukraina , Bulgaria , Romania , Macedonia , Azerbaijan , Georrgia , Iran ….. My profession jurnalist , music and sport teacher , I make psycolojy doctora I like to take foto-camera (amimals , towns , nice nude models and peoples)….. My tall 1.84 cm (6.2 feet) My weight 78 kg. My eyes green .. I live alone !!!!!!!!! I have home – car ……… I like to be friendship from different country .. I live in TURKEY -town IZMIR …( 4 million peoples – near the sea – old history)… Who is want to come TURKEY I can invitate ….. She can stay my home ……..
Damning evidence, to be sure. But not everyone is mad at little Borat. Jewish (“WHAAAAT?”) bed-and-breakfast operators Joseph and Mariam Behar tell Salon:
Speaking on the telephone, Joseph, with Mariam chatting in the background, says they saw the film and thought it “was not anti-Semitic at all. It was outstanding. I think [Sacha Baron Cohen] is a genius.” Though Borat never broke character, and no one in the production let the Behars in on the joke, Joseph found Borat to be “very lovely and very polite, very attractive.”
Also isn't this a music blog? Sure it is! Cold War Kids make music and they're labelmates with Borat. Downtown Records is putting out their this and Borat's… this:
