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The True Kazakhstan (Despite what Borat Says)
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With all the press that Borat has been receiving about his new movie, not a single article I've come across has spent the time to accurately counter the misconceptions that Borat conveys about his "home" country of Kazakhstan.
My guess is that few film critics have ever visited this Central Asian country and can only talk about the movie from their limited Hollywood perspective.
Thankfully, Lucy Kelaart is not one of them. Kelaart is a co-editor of Steppe Magazine and truly knows what the real Kazakhstan is all about.
Steppe Magazine celebrates "the arts, culture, history, landscape and people" of the steppe region--defined by the editors as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Xinjiang. The magazine's photography and articles seem very impressive, although there unfortunately isn't any content online.
Kelaart relies on her expertise in the area to dispel some of the stereotyping and outright exaggerations Borat relies on for his humor and to paint a more accurate depiction of the world's ninth largest country. She writes of "Stylish cities... glorious landscapes," sushi, wi-fi, skiing, skating, eagle hunting, banyas, the Altay Mountains, and the former capital of Almaty.
I've visited Kazakhstan myself and have to agree that the country does have lots to offer, but it is still a very backwards and challenging place, especially for tourists. Borat, like all good comedians, simply exaggerates the very worst and makes up the rest.
Filed under: Kazakhstan
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
carpetblogger Oct 30th 2006 12:17PM
And people who watch the movie will learn nothing about what Kazakhstan looks like, because it was filmed in Romania. It looks very much like Romania, though. Dacias rather than Ladas.
Zack Oct 30th 2006 3:36PM
As much as people may get the wrong idea of Kazakhstan because of the movie, I seriously doubt that Sasha Cohen really meant for that to be the outcome. He probably picked a country out of a hat and went with it.
Robert Fleshman Nov 1st 2006 1:43PM
check npr.org, stop getting your news from fox where all they do is lie anyway.
escoversio Nov 3rd 2006 8:09AM
Does this really warrant any attention? Who honestly cares about the stereotypes in this film, it's a comedy and only one at that. As dumb as people are, most will not believe this to be an accurate portrayal of Kazakhstan and will take it for what it is intended to be - a mockumentary based on bleedingly obvious false stereotypes.
Of course not a single article's going to criticise the inaccuracy; it's the whole basis of the movie.
Stella Bland Nov 16th 2006 1:37PM
Why would they film it in Romania? I hate it when they make films full of inaccuracies. It breeds ignorance. A lot of people will see these films and think they know facts. And then they go around spreading false information. At least we have people who are more than willing to provide us with real information.