KZBlog

The Kazakhstan Embassy in the United States puts out a newsletter, had two items on Borat today.

The first is the Take That, Borat program to show Westerners the real Kazakhstan.

The tours, called “Kazakhstan vs. Boratistan” and “Jagzhemash!!! See the Real Kazakhstan”, include visits to the cosmopolitan Almaty and its beautiful surroundings, tours of ancient sites such as the Hodja Akhmed Yassaui Mausoleum in Turkestan, as well as plentiful opportunities to meet and interact with the real Kazakhs. In addition to sightseeing, tours also include visits to local colorful bazaars, artifact shops and high fashion boutiques, as well as trying kumyss, the deliciously tasting Kazakh traditional drink made from fermented horse milk.

Molotsi, it’s about time someone tried to launch a tourism campaign to get Westerners here. The nation has a lot to offer, but I think the tourism angle gets ignored because the profits aren’t in the billions of dollars, or out of shame–“Who would want to come here? Kazakhs themselves vacation in Turkey and Europe!”

Second, Kazakh Aul of the US (aul means village), an organization dedicating to promoting Kazakh culture for children adopted by Americans, and aiming to open a cultural center in the US, has made a statement regarding Borat’s movie and its effect on adopted children here.

We can expect adults to process the humor and get that the joke is not on Kazakhs, but we really can’t expect kids to. Especially kids that may already have a sense of shame or alienation associated with Kazakhstan–in so far as someone brought them out of that country “to lead a better life”:

Another adoptive mother described her children watching an announcer on VH1 segue from a story on Madonna’s recent adoption of an African boy to a story on Borat, saying something along the lines of, “And, now, a country you wouldn’t want to adopt from, Kazakhstan…” The woman’s 7-year-old Kazakh daughter burst into tears.

What a 7-year old child was doing watching VH-1, I don’t know, and I’m not arguing for censoring or banning the film, but it is something to think about, particularly as other people pick up on the joke, such as Boris, Borat’s brother! In their heart of hearts, do Kurt Loder or this Boris guy really think Kazakhs are stupid savages? Probably not. Do they care? Probably not.

EDIT: Pic found on a message board for Kazakhstani studying in the US. If it’s copyrighted, let me know and I’ll take it down