TIL that during the filming of Borat, Police was called 90+ times
And the FBI was assigned to follow the film team on reports of a "vaguely middle-eastern man with a bear in an ice-crem truck", which has to be the funniest report xD
I actually met a man from Kazakhstan in my store the other day. He gestured to me that he’d like to sleep in the parking lot and pointed, “in truck. In truck. No English.” Imagine my surprise when I said, “what language?” and this very Asian looking fellow said, “Russian. But not me Russian. Me Kazakhstan”.
I got to use the translate app on my phone for the first time and when I said, “Ah, I’ve heard of Kazakhstan. I seen Borat.” He said, “No no no, uh, he is from London. He is not really from Kazakhstan. We hate him. We’re so tired of him. That is not what we are really like.” I said, “Oh I know that Kazakhstan is a former Soviet country and you guys are nothing like that. Borat is a man from England. He’s a comedian. I know it’s a joke.” “Oh it makes me so happy you know about the real Kazakhstan.” He said.
Then I ordered him a pizza to be delivered to his truck.
It was a fun experience meeting him. He was a great guy.
We talked for hours using the Google translate app.
There were a couple of gaffs. I realized after he left when I said “nice to meet you.” It heard, “it was nice to me too.” But otherwise it worked pretty well. It amazes me that we can do that nowadays.
They were wrong because they hadn't heard of it (not really their fault, it's not like we're all talking about Kazakhstan every day).
They doubled down because that's what people do to protect their egos. Look up the backlash effect if you want to know why they didn't believe you even with a maps link. It's traumatic to be wrong and have someone prove it to you.
The ability to self correct is one of the biggest differences between smart and stupid. A smart person might be wrong 1-2 times, before correcting on that point. A stupid person will value ego over truth and double down. This effect compounds over time, particularly when combined with an inquisitive mindset (another important marker).
An American not knowing the existence of Kazakhstan is pretty reasonable. But an American not knowing that New Mexico is a state is completely disappointing and happens way too gd often.
I've heard differing things about Kazakhstan's reaction. Wasn't there a time where Sacha Baron Cohen would have been a dead man if he entered Kazakh borders?
More recently though, he has spent his time complaining about the rise of antisemitism when he himself has done a fair amount of work contributing to it while in the character of Borat.
I haven't watched that, I was specifically referring to his interview with the Irish times where he said comedy is supposed to hurt people, which is a hilariously bad take.