Post Borat: Did Sacha Baron Cohen change the Human Geography of Kazakhstan?
Edward Morgan | October 2010
You may remember the opening line of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for make benefit of glorious nation of Kazakhstan. It was: ‘Hi, my name a Borat, I like you, I like sex, its nice’. It was enough to make the hardiest of viewers cringe with embarrassment, a whole deal worse if your nationality was Kazakh. This summer I managed to visit the South Eastern regions of Kazakhstan with ExpAnd (our universities expedition society). Aside from our main research project, I met locals, both from the cosmopolitan city of Almaty and from the traditional rural areas to gain an insight as to whether, 4 years on, Sacha Baron Cohen’s fictional character has changed life in Kazakhstan.
To those who abandoned their careers in Geography whilst at school or even during their sub-honours years, I would like to briefly remind the readers why Human Geography deserves its place in a social science magazine. Human Geography is the study of the pattern and distribution of human behaviour and activity on the Earth’s surface. It’s not just about maps or the environment, but in this case it’s about the interactions of politics, culture, society and economics amongst others. It is not a ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ but rather a unique method of explaining human phenomena on our planet. For this article therefore, I am going to use Cohen’s 2006 ‘blockbuster’ as a cultural entity and evaluate whether the release of the film changed the attitudes, perceptions or activity of people in Kazakhstan and the relationship the global community has with the country.
A renewed sense of space and place
If you were to walk down a British high street, prior to the release of Borat, and ask a person whether they had heard of the country of Kazakhstan or even to point out Kazakhstan on a label-less map of the world, chances are the response would be unsure at best. If you were to ask the same person to draw, without assistance, an outline of the world’s continents and national boundaries and label them, chances are the drawing would show the Asian landmass as being dominated by Russia and China and Kazakhstan being represented by a small square in the middle, if at all.
The point is, is that Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country on Earth accounting for 1.8% of the Earths land surface, yet very few prior to 2006, know anything about this country at all. Despite having every chemical element on the periodic table occurring naturally within its borders, Kazakhstan is ranked 55th in the world in terms of nominal GDP, marginally ahead of Bangladesh – not exactly a world superpower. In terms of western perceptions therefore, Kazakhstan barely existed and is, or was, a great unknown to Britain.
Having laughed, cringed or watched in horror at Cohen’s opening line of the film, you may remember the second - which outlined (insensitively) using a map of Central Asia where Kazakhstan is located in the world. It was arguably this moment which was most influential in the film, in that it placed the vast geographic area of Kazakhstan onto the mental maps in the heads of the millions who flocked to the cinemas to see it. In addition to the film itself, Borat was at the forefront of western media, on the front page of newspapers, magazines and appearing on TV. The film even flew up the agenda of governmental foreign affairs. By late 2006, Kazakhstan was the talk of the world. From a perspective of a human geographer, Kazakhstan culturally was becoming globally very important in a way never before seen in its history, whether as an independent state or as part of the Soviet Union. So now that the world’s mental map has changed, has that led to a change in its society, economics or even its politics?
Borat Bounce
Whilst visiting Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, I asked our two translators (two 19 year old students from Kazakhstan’s top university) what their and their peers attitudes towards Borat are. Their response was hostile, unforgiving and as raw as it was 4 years ago although they would happily talk about the character. “Everyone in our country hates Borat, he does not represent the real Kazakhstan”. The response was bold, but unsurprising. However, our translator followed her response by saying: “our university lecturer told us that Borat has helped our country to develop through tourism”.
Indeed this is a phenomena that is well accounted for. Paul Brummell, the British Ambassador to Kazakhstan, mentions it in his tourist guide and numerous newspaper articles published in mid-2007 talk of the influx of foreigners wanting to see the ‘real’ Kazakhstan. Whilst most Kazakhs loathe the character (our translator was too offended to watch any more than 10 minutes of the film) there is, however, a growing sense that what Cohen has done for the country is really quite valuable.
The so called ‘Borat Bounce’ refers to the change in the economic landscape in Kazakhstan in the wake of the film’s release. To put it simply, the high publicity has led to thousands of people visiting Kazakhstan, whether it’s for curious tourists looking for a new fashionable destination or entrepreneurs looking for a new business deal. The Radisson Blu luxury hotel chain has since built a new hotel in the country’s capital city, Astana and has plans to open another in Almaty in two years time. Unfortunately, Kazakhstan is a country with 12% of its population living in poverty and still recovering from its dark communist era. The economic impact of Borat to bring in business into Kazakhstan is profound and a god send to the communities with very high rates of unemployment. Something that is being recognised by governments around the world. Indeed, the macroeconomic indicators have been promising; unemployment has fallen since the release of the film and GDP figures indicate that Kazakhstan narrowly avoided recent recession despite a drop in output. However, Kazakhstan’s central bank had to deal with a new problem – inflation. During the immediate post Borat years inflation reached a peak of 17.1%, considered by some economists to be due to the ‘Borat Bounce’. Luckily the recent financial crisis helped bring inflation to more manageable levels.
A new political landscape?
Even before its release, Sacha Baron Cohen was rocking the political boat. The blatant sexism, anti-semitism, racism and the ability to give the post Soviet Kazakhstan a (misguided) cultural identity more effectively than its own government and people. This shocked the world so much so that there was a real fear among diplomats of political uncertainty with Kazakhstan’s relationship with the west.
Indeed, all Arab countries (except Lebanon) banned the film, Russia refused to certify the film for distribution, effectively banning it and Kazakhstan did not distribute the film at all (according to our translators, curious Kazakhs would watch the film online or order it off Amazon); even showings of the film in the USA were scaled back. This goes to show that this was no ordinary film. Aside from the numerous lawsuits which extend from Kazakhstan, USA, right through to Romania and Uzbekistan, it was the response of the government which was the most intriguing.
Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, rushed to both Downing Street and the White House following the release of the film in November 2006 in a race to protect Kazakhstan’s battered image. The government hired PR companies to publish promotional articles in the New York Times. Whilst the initial political reaction was tense, Nazarbayev’s response in a Downing Street press conference took a conciliatory line towards the character and was even quoted as saying “the film was created by a comedian, so let's laugh at it. Still, any publicity is good publicity”. Indeed, this was the new theme of response from the Kazakh authorities. The Kazakh minister for Tourism and Sport also acknowledged that Borat had boosted foreign tourism in Kazakhstan, so much so that a Kazakh tour company are now offering a Kazakhstan Vs Boratistan tour to show people the real Kazakhstan. The Kazakh embassy in London even went as far as describing the film as an ‘irreverent and hilarious Hollywood blockbuster’.
What can be said about the political landscape? Despite Borat leaving a trail of destruction, in terms of people offended and filed lawsuits, it would seem that relations between Kazakhstan and the West are strong as they have ever been. Which, given Kazakhstan’s undemocratic 19 year history, constant allegations of corruption and the notorious Kazakhgate scandal, is quite an achievement.
Drawing the threads together
So if you were to walk down a British High Street today, would your interviewee give a more certain response? Are Kazakhs really better off today than they were 4 years ago? Did Sacha Baron Cohen really change Kazakhstan, or even the world’s geography? I would certainly argue that the answer to all three of those questions is yes. A lot of what the discipline of Human Geography considers is how people think and perceive the world they live in. What Cohen has done with Borat is change the way people think about Central Asia, albeit by one of the most ridiculous methods possible. However, it has been extremely effective. From talking to the locals on my visit, there is a sense of real optimism among Kazakhs about the future of their country. They talk of a stronger economy, stable and good international relations which may grant them to be the 5th letter in the phrase ‘Bric economies’ (perhaps ‘Brick economies?’). I’m sure the Kazakhs just wish the publicity and good fortune didn’t have to come from someone who suggested to the world that the ‘mankini’ was there national dress.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to my translators from KIMEP University in Almaty, Elmira Kerimbayeva and Aizhan Abdrakhman who helped give our group an insightful and fascinating visit to this little known country. Also I pass on my thanks to Niall Currie, Andrew Griffiths, Hugh Hanmer and Eve Blumson who made the trip possible and a great success as well as being a fantastic team to travel with.
Many thanks to my translators from KIMEP University in Almaty, Elmira Kerimbayeva and Aizhan Abdrakhman who helped give our group an insightful and fascinating visit to this little known country. Also I pass on my thanks to Niall Currie, Andrew Griffiths, Hugh Hanmer and Eve Blumson who made the trip possible and a great success as well as being a fantastic team to travel with.