Borat Sagdiyev

Borat Margaret Sagdiyev ( kk, Борат Маргарет Сағдиев) is a satirical fictional character created and performed by Sacha Baron Cohen. He is supposedly a Kazakh television journalist and is the main protagonist of the mockumentary ''Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'' (2006), its sequel '' Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'' (2020), and a main character of Da Ali G Show.

Borat's humour arises from his espousal of outrageous sociocultural viewpoints, his violation of social taboos, and his use of vulgar language and behaviour in inappropriate settings. Most often the comedy relies on Borat's obliviousness to First World natives not sharing his regressive worldview, but occasionally Borat's innocent and collegial demeanor will provoke his targets to reveal biases they would otherwise be reluctant to share publicly. ''Entertainment Weekly'' put the 2006 film on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "The Kazakhstani journalist gave us some of the most incisive cultural commentary ever filmed. That, and a wrestling match between butt-naked men. Something for everyone."

Origins

The character was first developed for the purpose of short skits on '' F2F'' on Granada Talk TV that Baron Cohen presented in 1996–1997, with the character at this time being known as Alexi Krickler. The character, now known as Kristo Shqiptari, was picked by BBC Two's ''Comedy Nation''. Alexi and Kristo were nearly identical in looks and demeanor to the later incarnation, although Alexi claimed to be Moldovan and Kristo claimed to be Albanian rather than coming from Kazakhstan. The character remained dormant while Baron Cohen concentrated on his popular Ali G persona for Channel 4's '' The 11 O'Clock Show'', but with the subsequent success of Ali G and the creation of ''Da Ali G Show'' (also on Channel 4) Baron Cohen revisited his Borat character.

Fictional character biography

Borat was born and raised in the village of Kuzcek, Kazakh SSR to Maryam Tulyakbay and Boltok the Rapist (who is also stated to be his grandfather, uncle and former father-in-law until the demise of Oksana). He stated that his mother gave birth to him when she was 9 years old. She is shown as a short old lady (revealed to be 43 years old) in his 2006 film, where he gives the viewer a guided tour of his hometown. He has a (remarkably well-endowed) 13-year-old son named Hueylewis, 12-year-old twin boys named Bilak and Biram, as well as 17 grandchildren. He has a sister, Natalya, whom at different times he has described as the "number four prostitute in all of Kazakhstan". Another sister who appears to be a very young teenage girl is shown at the beginning of ''Borat's Guide to Britain''. It has been revealed in an interview with a general practitioner that he caught syphilis from one of his sisters during a Kazakh folk festival. He also has a younger brother, Bilo, who is intellectually disabled and kept locked in a cage. Bilo was not always disabled and was shown as an average early teenage boy in ''Borat's Guide to Britain''. At some point, Bilo sustained brain damage during an exorcism, when another brother of Borat's tried to release a demon from Bilo through the "traditional Kazakh folk remedy" of opening the skull and sticking the tooth of a red-haired woman in the brain.

Borat's neighbours are Nursultan Tuyakbay (whom Borat considers "a pain in my assholes") and Dr. Yamak, a scientist who works for the Kazakh government and claims to have proven that women have "brain the size of squirrel". In ''Borat's Guide to Britain'', Borat and Yamak settle a dispute in the traditional Kazakh "civilised way" by beating each other's genitals with a leather glove until one of them gives up.

It is unknown how many times Borat has been married, but he has had at least five wives. In ''Borat's Guide to Britain'', he admits to being a bigamist and has three additional lovers (two of whom he describes as his "mistress" and his "girlfriend" respectively, while he " has to pay money for" the third). One of his wives (Ludmilla) is said to have been shot by a hunter when he mistook her for a bear as she ploughed the fields. His former wife, Oksana (who was also his half-sister as they had the same biological father), is reported in the ''Borat'' film to have been attacked, "violated" and "broken" by a bear while taking his brother Bilo for a walk in the forest. Borat is not saddened at all by the tragedy. He thanks the man who brings him this "good news" by giving him a high five and celebrates his new-found freedom by pursuing Baywatch star Pamela Anderson and eventually reunites with and marries Luenell, an African-American prostitute he met whilst filming his documentary. In the sequel, Luenell is nowhere to be seen and can be assumed to have either left Borat or died in the fourteen years since the first film. Borat goes on to ask a professional babysitter late in the film to be his "new black wife", to which she politely declines.

According to various in-character interviews with Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat attended Astana University, where he studied English, journalism and plague research. He created five new plagues which "killed over five million goats" in Uzbekistan, the country that he has a strong hatred of. Prior to his plague research, Borat worked as an ice maker, " gypsy-catcher", "animal-puller" (one who produces semen from animals) and computer maintenance engineer (specifically removing dead birds which had nested in the vents of computers' casings). He now works as a journalist and announcer on Kazakh television. This job helps Borat and other Kazakhs "express themselves in ways they otherwise would not have been able to do".

Borat mostly speaks English during his reports. His supposed Kazakh language in some scenes is in fact a mix of Hebrew and Polish (both of which Baron Cohen has good knowledge of). Borat usually introduces himself with the term "Jagshemash" ("Jak się masz?", meaning "How are you?" in Polish) and ends reports with "Chenquieh" ("Dziękuję", meaning "Thank you" in Polish). He often uses the phrase "Wa wa wee wa!", an expression of surprised delight which came from a skit by Dov Glickman on the popular Israeli comedy show '' Zehu Ze!''.

Although nominally pagan most of his life in a predominantly Muslim (albeit secular) country, sometimes remarking that he "follow the hawk", during his trip to the USA, he attends a Pentecostal

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