The joke is on the racists, says relaxed Borat
By Catherine Elsworth in New York
Last Updated: 2:22am GMT 17/11/2006
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. The Cambridge-educated actor is his normal self, and not his alter-ego Borat, as he explains that Borat should not be taken seriously
Sacha Baron Cohen has stepped out of character to answer critics of his alter ego, Borat, explaining that the comic creation should not be taken literally but that it "works as a tool" for exposing prejudice and racism.
The 35-year-old British actor, who has played the lewd and dim-witted Kazakh journalist throughout all the publicity for the hit film, defended his comedy against the complaints and lawsuits it has generated.
Sacha Baron Cohen as Kazakhstani TV journalist Borat: Kazakhs’ bete noire
The comedian said the target of the film was not Kazakhstan, which has talked of suing him over his portrayal of the country, but those who believed such a place could exist.
In the spoof documentary, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the fake reporter utters sexist, racist and anti-Semitic comments as he crosses the States, encouraging those he encounters to be similarly politically incorrect.
The film has become an unexpected hit, topping the box office on both sides of the Atlantic while attracting both complaints and lawsuits from Borat's unwitting subjects, who say they were duped into making the gaffes.
Cohen, a Cambridge graduate and devout Jew, told Rolling Stone magazine: "Borat essentially works as a tool. By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice, whether it's anti-Semitism or an acceptance of anti-Semitism."
He added: "The joke is not on Kazakhstan. I think the joke is on people who can believe that the Kazakhstan that I describe can exist – who believe that there's a country where homosexuals wear blue hats and the women live in cages and they drink fermented horse urine and the age of consent has been raised to nine years old."
Cohen said he was shocked when he learned the Kazakh government was considering suing him and was taking out a full-page advert promoting the country in the New York Times.
"I've been in a bizarre situation, where a country has declared me as its number one enemy," he said. "It's inherently a comic situation."
He also said he would find it hard to put himself and others in such embarrassing situations if he were not in character.
But he refused to discuss how he got people to appear on camera or take Borat's preposterous questions seriously.
Revealing his tactics, he said, would be "a disaster, terrible for me".
telegraph.co.uk
By Catherine Elsworth in New York
Last Updated: 2:22am GMT 17/11/2006
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. The Cambridge-educated actor is his normal self, and not his alter-ego Borat, as he explains that Borat should not be taken seriously
Sacha Baron Cohen has stepped out of character to answer critics of his alter ego, Borat, explaining that the comic creation should not be taken literally but that it "works as a tool" for exposing prejudice and racism.
The 35-year-old British actor, who has played the lewd and dim-witted Kazakh journalist throughout all the publicity for the hit film, defended his comedy against the complaints and lawsuits it has generated.
Sacha Baron Cohen as Kazakhstani TV journalist Borat: Kazakhs’ bete noire
The comedian said the target of the film was not Kazakhstan, which has talked of suing him over his portrayal of the country, but those who believed such a place could exist.
In the spoof documentary, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the fake reporter utters sexist, racist and anti-Semitic comments as he crosses the States, encouraging those he encounters to be similarly politically incorrect.
The film has become an unexpected hit, topping the box office on both sides of the Atlantic while attracting both complaints and lawsuits from Borat's unwitting subjects, who say they were duped into making the gaffes.
Cohen, a Cambridge graduate and devout Jew, told Rolling Stone magazine: "Borat essentially works as a tool. By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice, whether it's anti-Semitism or an acceptance of anti-Semitism."
He added: "The joke is not on Kazakhstan. I think the joke is on people who can believe that the Kazakhstan that I describe can exist – who believe that there's a country where homosexuals wear blue hats and the women live in cages and they drink fermented horse urine and the age of consent has been raised to nine years old."
Cohen said he was shocked when he learned the Kazakh government was considering suing him and was taking out a full-page advert promoting the country in the New York Times.
"I've been in a bizarre situation, where a country has declared me as its number one enemy," he said. "It's inherently a comic situation."
He also said he would find it hard to put himself and others in such embarrassing situations if he were not in character.
But he refused to discuss how he got people to appear on camera or take Borat's preposterous questions seriously.
Revealing his tactics, he said, would be "a disaster, terrible for me".
telegraph.co.uk
ukeright:Speaking of a one trick pony, he's one for sure.
