Some Jews worried over Cohen's 'Borat': ADL speaks out

By Stone Martindale Oct 2, 2006, 22:10 GMT

Actor Sacha Baron Cohen in the role of fictitious Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev is turned away from the Kazakh Embassy in Washington, September 28, 2006. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat" film has the Jewish Anti-Defamation League worried.

Cohen, creator of satirical Ali G character that airs on HBO, is coming under intense  ADL scrutiny.   The ADL, like the government of Kazakhstan, fears the American public is too stupid to get the 'farcical' nature of Cohen's anti-Semitic character 'Borat,' claiming it may serve to reinforce bigoted beliefs against Jews according to Ynetnews

Cohen's upcoming film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan based on one of his characters, Borat, is a parody of a blissfully unaware eur-asian reporter with oblivious anti-semitic side comments in a series of laughably inappropriate situations.

"The premiere of Sacha Baron Cohen's new film featuring his farcical character 'Borat' has raised anew concerns among some in the Jewish community about the character's notoriously boastful expressions of anti-Semitism and stereotyping of others," wrote the ADL in a press release Thursday.

"When approaching this film, one has to understand that there is absolutely no intent on the part of the filmmakers to offend, and no malevolence on the part of Sacha Baron Cohen, who is himself proudly Jewish. We hope that everyone who chooses to see the film understands Mr. Cohen's comedic technique, which is to use humor to unmask the absurd and irrational side of anti-Semitism and other phobias born of ignorance and fear.

"We are concerned, however, that one serious pitfall is that the audience may not always be sophisticated enough to get the joke, and that some may even find it reinforcing their bigotry," the press release elaborated.