• FunkyStuff [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      20 days ago

      I used to find it funny when I thought it was supposed to be a meta-ironic thing, like “isn’t it funny that Americans believe this is what someone from Kazakhstan is like”

      Then I found out Sacha Baron Cohen is actually a Zionist who fully believes that Kazakhs are like that.

      • neo [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        20 days ago

        I also used to think that was the point. Borat as a character was used to poke fun of American ignorance and racism. Maybe if I go back and rewatch old episodes of the ali g show I would still think that.

        But whatever that original portrayal might be, the current version is painfully unfunny and plainly racist unto itself. Not very different from white people going “removed” to do a fake Chinese accent.

      • plinky [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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        20 days ago

        I mean meta irony would be if he used his own identity, and not racist caricatures invented in his little racist head and then slap real country names on top.

        I legit don’t understand this viewpoint, didn’t in 2000s either.

        Pardon my comparison, but if he done blackface and started talking about voodoo to real americans to expose their beliefs about black people, it’s still would be as racist as 30s america.

      • Z_Poster365 [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        20 days ago

        I mean he knows they aren’t like that because they filmed in Romania, not in Kazakhstan, because Kazakhstan is far too developed to fit the stereotype he was going for