Post 9/11 Cinema: A deeper look at Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen has a known history of Islamophobia in his films made after 9/11, particularly Borat (2006) and Bruno (2009), further justifying the US's invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sacha Baron Cohen has a known history of Islamophobia and orientalism in his films made after 9/11. This is further justification for the US's invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and it's further support of Israel. We need to look at Borat (2006) and Bruno (2009) with a critical lens, especially in the current political climate right now.
SBC claims his films aren’t Islamophobic or negatively depicting Arabs, but that's hard to beat, considering he rocked up to his own premiere at Cannes on a camel.
His films are made with the western lens and frequently show orientalism. He depicts other cultures as the other as a socially alien society.
Borat (2006)
Borat was released three years after the US invasion of Iraq, keeping in mind that Kazakhstan has a dominantly Muslim population. According to “The Problem With Borat” by Ghada Chehade, one group he offends the most is the very group people trace as homophobic racist misogynistic and anti-Semitic.
The humour is ultimately directed at this buffoon, Borat. He is in the butt of every joke. He is the one we laugh at or where intended to laugh out. He is more savage, vulgar, barbaric than any of the bigoted Americans they attempt to expose. He has a thick accent, black hair, a thick moustache. He has backward views on women, queer people and Jewish people as is already the Muslim stereotype in post 9/11 America.
In the film, Borat says "although Kazakhstan is a great nation, it has several problems: social, economic, and Jews". Some of the other vulgar things he says is that he takes naked pictures of his own son, or he sleeps with farm animals and his sister. He has no respect for women, and he condones rape.
Borat is a mixture of every hateful stereotype there is about Muslims, worst being that all Muslims hate Jewish people. When he was in high school, SBC was involved in a very Zionist youth group. He continues to express these same views about israel today. Clearly, he's not anti-Semitic when he's out of character, but every time he plays his alter ego, he clearly is.
Bruno (2009)
Sacha Baron Cohen was sued by a Palestinian shopkeeper who was cast in the film Bruno. He set up an interview with him and incorrectly described him as a terrorist. SBC went on to do promotional interviews afterwards on shows like Letterman, and described him as a terrorist again.
Ayman Abu Aita went into the interview thinking that he was going to be talking to a journalist about activism and peace. The West Bank shopkeeper is described as a Christian and a peace-loving person.
In the final cut of the film, Abu Aita is described as a member of the militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs brigade. He has never associated with the Al-Aqsa brigade or any terrorist activity. He does admit that he was jailed once, but that was for peacefully resisting the Israeli occupation. This depiction of him in the film then spurred death threats against him, it damaged his business, and it made him fear for his family.
SBC set up this interview with the help of the CIA agent as a "Middle East Consultant" (Which by the way, many Hollywood films collaborate with the Department of Defence to create US propaganda, especially after the Iraq war).
From "The Spy Who Said Too Much" in The New Yorker:
"Baron Cohen wanted to make a similar film, “Brüno,” in which he would play an over-the-top gay Austrian fashion journalist. He asked about a particular gag he had in mind, as Kiriakou recalled it: “I want to get in front of bona-fide terrorists—I’m thinking Al Qaeda, maybe Hezbollah—and I want to show them Polaroids of men having anal sex and ask them if it constitutes torture.”
Kiriakou said that he advised Baron Cohen to “stay away from the religious types, because they will kill you, your crew, and they will go out into the streets and kill people who remind them of you.” "
So then they decided to go to occupied West Bank instead. On Letterman, SBC said that he feared for his safety because he was interviewed with the Palestinian shopkeeper. He also claimed that the interview was taken place in a secret location. However, the interview actually took place in a hotel room.
This depiction of Muslim men shows SBC's absolute disdain for them. It's not unsurprising to me that he would make a film like this after 9/11. This proves that all of these films are further justification for the US's invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and knowing SBC's history of being a Zionist, it's further support of Israel.
References:
Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, 1988. “Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media”
Edward Saïd, 2003. “Orientalism”.
Phil Hoad, 2012. “Why The Dictator failed to conquer the Arab world”. The Guardian.
Ghada Chehade, 2017. “The Problem with Borat”. Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education.
Jessica Steinberg, 2012. “Before ‘The Dictator’ and ‘Borat,’ friends recall, Sacha Baron Cohen was a very nerdy, very funny, Israel-oriented guy”. Times of Israel.
Jewish Virtual Library, “Sacha Baron Cohen”.
Adam Gabbat, 2009. “Palestinian sues Baron Cohen over terrorist claim in film”. The Guardian.
Associated Press, 2012. “Palestinian Portrayed as ‘Terrorist’ Settles ‘Bruno’ Suit Against Sacha Baron Cohen, David Letterman”. Hollywood Reporter.
Spy Culture. “National Guard Emails on Bruno”
Time Magazine. “Bruno's ‘Terrorist’ Speaks Out”
Steve Coll, 2013. “The Spy Who Said Too Much”. The New Yorker.
Rachel Shabi, 2009. “The non-profit worker from Bethlehem who was branded a terrorist by Bruno”. The Guardian.