Sacha Baron Cohen Says Borat is dead - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 12-22-2007, 09:08 AM

NEW YORK (AP) - Borat is dead. Sacha Baron Cohen tells The Daily Telegraph that he's retiring the clueless Kazakh journalist, as well as his alter ego, aspiring rapper Ali G.

''When I was being Ali G and Borat I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them, so admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing,'' the 36-year-old actor-comedian says in the British newspaper's Friday edition.

''It is like saying goodbye to a loved one. It is hard, and the problem with success, although it's fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I 'get' with Borat again, so it's a kind of self-defeating form, really.''

Baron Cohen brought Borat Sagdiyev - an anti-Semitic buffoon in search of Pamela Anderson - to the masses last year with his smash comedy, ''Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.'' He first introduced the character on ''Da Ali G Show,'' which was carried in the U.S. on HBO.

''It's much easier for me to be in character and it's a lot more fun,'' he says. ''If I'd done the entire promotional campaign for (the 'Borat' movie) as myself it wouldn't have developed in the same way.''

Baron Cohen - not Borat - can be seen as a singing barber in Tim Burton's ''Sweeney Todd,'' co-starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

His spokesman, Matt Labov, did not immediately return phone and e-mail messages by The Associated Press seeking comment on the ''deaths'' of Borat and Ali G.

Dean Winchester · 12-22-2007, 09:37 PM

I loved Borat, but I think it was the right thing to do, Borat and Ali G are both way too familiar to audiences that people would be in on the joke now if he still walked down the street with the Freddy Mercury mustache and light blue suit in the Russian accent.

There's still going to be a Bruno movie, and I am sure Sacha will create new characters that will be just as funny.

Cactus Jack · 12-22-2007, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dean Winchester

I loved Borat, but I think it was the right thing to do, Borat and Ali G are both way too familiar to audiences that people would be in on the joke now if he still walked down the street with the Freddy Mercury mustache and light blue suit in the Russian accent.

There's still going to be a Bruno movie, and I am sure Sacha will create new characters that will be just as funny.

Ditto, he cant be those two for too long.

Mikado · 12-22-2007, 10:18 PM

Good riddance, I cant stand either of those unfunny, racist characters (Either one is just short of working in "black face", IMO)

Dean Winchester · 12-22-2007, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikado

Good riddance, I cant stand either of those unfunny, racist characters (Either one is just short of working in "black face", IMO)

actually, Borat is played by a Jew, so all of the anti-semetism (such as "Throw The Jew Down The Well") is in jest. I think when you realize what the act is about, it's much funnier than when you just see some random Russian guy who looks like Freddy Mercury coming up to you and saying bigoted and sexist remarks.

Mikado · 12-22-2007, 10:46 PM

I know hes Jewish, but the character is a racist portrayal of a muslim, and Ali G is just doing blackface (making fun of black culture) in whiteface.

Dean Winchester · 12-22-2007, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikado

I know hes Jewish, but the character is a racist portrayal of a muslim, and Ali G is just doing blackface (making fun of black culture) in whiteface.

Borat's meant to be Russian, not Muslim. Even tho he does look Arab with the mustache (much like the racist rodeo owner says "shave that damn mustache off so people won't think you're a terrorist"). The movie and series was both hilarious because I think he's done a great job exposing people's prejudices from those characters. It's like he has taken what Archie Bunker and South Park have done but have actually transferred it over to real life and making people show their true colors to what they think is some strange Russian guy.

Ali G was a parody of rich white teenagers who adopt hip hop culture as their own because it makes them look cool, when in actuality they wouldn't survive for two minutes in the hood. If you were in high school at all in the 90's or afterwards, you know these people. It was a great diss I thought.

Mikado · 12-22-2007, 11:15 PM

Well, i find this guy rascist and totally UNfunny...to each his own, i guess ^_^

Zebra 3 · 12-22-2007, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dean Winchester

actually, Borat is played by a Jew, so all of the anti-semetism (such as "Throw The Jew Down The Well") is in jest.

That's a real toe-tapper.

Dean Winchester · 12-23-2007, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zebra 3

That's a real toe-tapper.

"in my country there is problem
and that problem is the Jew"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb3IMTJjzfo

TripperFan · 12-23-2007, 11:42 AM

British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen says the time has come to shed forever his persona as Borat, the boorish, oversexed, TV journalist from Kazakhstan who became a surprise box office sensation last year.

In a rare interview as himself, Cohen told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper he found it painful to abandon his Borat character, and another of his oddball alter egos, Ali G, but felt both had become too familiar to the public.

Cohen created both personae as devices for improvised social satire, in which people he interacted with in interviews or casual encounters became his unsuspecting comic foils.

His act was most famously showcased in last year's movie phenomenon "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," a faux documentary of the Central Asian reporter on a cross-country U.S. road trip.

"When I was being Ali G and Borat, I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them. So admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing," he told the newspaper.

"It is like saying goodbye to a loved one. It is hard, and the problem with success, although it's fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I 'get' with Borat again, so it's a kind of self-defeating form, really."

The Borat film was a box office smash that turned Cohen's cluelessly offensive Central Asian character -- complete with thick moustache, wild-eyed grin and boisterous catch phrases like "Very nice!" and "Sexytime!" -- into a household name.

The film benefited in part from publicity sparked by Kazakh officials protesting the unflattering portrait of their country as a backward nation of misogynists and anti-Semites.

Speaking from a hotel in Los Angeles where he now lives with his Australian actress girlfriend Isla Fisher and new-born daughter Olive, Cohen said he was sorry to leave Borat behind.

"But the success has been great and better than anything I could have dreamed of," said Cohen, who is currently starring with Johnny Depp in the musical "Sweeney Todd," playing Pirelli, a rival singing barber who meets a bloody end at Todd's hands.

Since creating Ali G and Borat, Cohan has rarely given interviews out of character. He said it was much easier for him like that -- and more entertaining.

"I think it can get a little (bit) tiresome if you're having to be the real person and talking about how important and interesting the role was," he said.

Cohen is now finishing work on his next project in which he plays Bruno, a gay, Austrian fashion reporter who also was introduced on his TV program "Da Ali G Show."

*********************************************************

I won't be losing sleep over this - I could laugh at the Borat character occasionally, but hated the Ali G character. Just never found it all that funny.

Czas na Zywiec · 12-23-2007, 01:37 PM

Yea, apparently he was supposed to be your typical "chav" but it never really translated that well to American audiences lol. I love Borat tho but you know, good for him. You don't really want to milk a character for too long.

Dean Winchester · 12-23-2007, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Czas na Zywiec

Yea, apparently he was supposed to be your typical "chav" but it never really translated that well to American audiences

I think he did quite well in America, $128 million as the spinoff to a little-seen cult HBO series starring a guy best known for being in a Madonna video up to that moment was very respectable. It made back it's budget opening weekend.

Personally tho, it's good he killed Borat because while Borat is great, he could only do the act for so long before everyone was in on the joke.

comedyfreak · 12-25-2007, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikado

Good riddance, I cant stand either of those unfunny, characters

Ditto!

friendsfan77 · 12-28-2007, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dean Winchester

Ali G was a parody of rich white teenagers who adopt hip hop culture as their own because it makes them look cool, when in actuality they wouldn't survive for two minutes in the hood. If you were in high school at all in the 90's or afterwards, you know these people. It was a great diss I thought.

Wow, that is funnier to me after I remember these types of people I knew in high school. I never thought of it that way.

12-22-2007, 09:08 AM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Sacha Baron Cohen Says Borat is dead NEW YORK (AP) - Borat is dead. Sacha Baron Cohen tells The Daily Telegraph that he's retiring the clueless Kazakh journalist, as well as his alter ego, aspiring rapper Ali G. ''When I was being Ali G and Borat I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them, so admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing,'' the 36-year-old actor-comedian says in the British newspaper's Friday edition. ''It is like saying goodbye to a loved one. It is hard, and the problem with success, although it's fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I 'get' with Borat again, so it's a kind of self-defeating form, really.'' Baron Cohen brought Borat Sagdiyev - an anti-Semitic buffoon in search of Pamela Anderson - to the masses last year with his smash comedy, ''Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.'' He first introduced the character on ''Da Ali G Show,'' which was carried in the U.S. on HBO. ''It's much easier for me to be in character and it's a lot more fun,'' he says. ''If I'd done the entire promotional campaign for (the 'Borat' movie) as myself it wouldn't have developed in the same way.'' Baron Cohen - not Borat - can be seen as a singing barber in Tim Burton's ''Sweeney Todd,'' co-starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. His spokesman, Matt Labov, did not immediately return phone and e-mail messages by The Associated Press seeking comment on the ''deaths'' of Borat and Ali G.
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12-23-2007, 11:42 AM	#11
TripperFan In God's Arms Now Forum Star Join Date: Sep 14, 2003 Location: Heartbreak Ridge Posts: 12,086	Sacha Baron Cohen to shed Borat persona for good British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen says the time has come to shed forever his persona as Borat, the boorish, oversexed, TV journalist from Kazakhstan who became a surprise box office sensation last year. In a rare interview as himself, Cohen told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper he found it painful to abandon his Borat character, and another of his oddball alter egos, Ali G, but felt both had become too familiar to the public. Cohen created both personae as devices for improvised social satire, in which people he interacted with in interviews or casual encounters became his unsuspecting comic foils. His act was most famously showcased in last year's movie phenomenon "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," a faux documentary of the Central Asian reporter on a cross-country U.S. road trip. "When I was being Ali G and Borat, I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them. So admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing," he told the newspaper. "It is like saying goodbye to a loved one. It is hard, and the problem with success, although it's fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I 'get' with Borat again, so it's a kind of self-defeating form, really." The Borat film was a box office smash that turned Cohen's cluelessly offensive Central Asian character -- complete with thick moustache, wild-eyed grin and boisterous catch phrases like "Very nice!" and "Sexytime!" -- into a household name. The film benefited in part from publicity sparked by Kazakh officials protesting the unflattering portrait of their country as a backward nation of misogynists and anti-Semites. Speaking from a hotel in Los Angeles where he now lives with his Australian actress girlfriend Isla Fisher and new-born daughter Olive, Cohen said he was sorry to leave Borat behind. "But the success has been great and better than anything I could have dreamed of," said Cohen, who is currently starring with Johnny Depp in the musical "Sweeney Todd," playing Pirelli, a rival singing barber who meets a bloody end at Todd's hands. Since creating Ali G and Borat, Cohan has rarely given interviews out of character. He said it was much easier for him like that -- and more entertaining. "I think it can get a little (bit) tiresome if you're having to be the real person and talking about how important and interesting the role was," he said. Cohen is now finishing work on his next project in which he plays Bruno, a gay, Austrian fashion reporter who also was introduced on his TV program "Da Ali G Show." ********************************************************* I won't be losing sleep over this - I could laugh at the Borat character occasionally, but hated the Ali G character. Just never found it all that funny.
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12-22-2007, 09:37 PM	#2
Dean Winchester Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 28, 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 14,803	I loved Borat, but I think it was the right thing to do, Borat and Ali G are both way too familiar to audiences that people would be in on the joke now if he still walked down the street with the Freddy Mercury mustache and light blue suit in the Russian accent. There's still going to be a Bruno movie, and I am sure Sacha will create new characters that will be just as funny.

12-22-2007, 10:18 PM	#4
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,886	Good riddance, I cant stand either of those unfunny, racist characters (Either one is just short of working in "black face", IMO)

12-22-2007, 10:46 PM	#6
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,886	I know hes Jewish, but the character is a racist portrayal of a muslim, and Ali G is just doing blackface (making fun of black culture) in whiteface.

12-22-2007, 11:15 PM	#8
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,886	Well, i find this guy rascist and totally UNfunny...to each his own, i guess ^_^

12-23-2007, 01:37 PM	#12
Czas na Zywiec what up Forum Star Join Date: Jun 28, 2001 Location: Southwest Side, Chicago Posts: 18,398	Yea, apparently he was supposed to be your typical "chav" but it never really translated that well to American audiences lol. I love Borat tho but you know, good for him. You don't really want to milk a character for too long.