The character known as Borat popped up in Amsterdam on Thursday, praising the city’s freewheeling nightlife and defending his portrayal of the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan. Borat boasted of picking up a date at a popular Amsterdam bar known as a gay meeting place.
“This woman reminded me of Kazakhi woman; she was more tall than me, with hair on arms, and some hair on face, and deep voice,” he told the Dutch press.
Borat Sagdiyev, played by British comic Sacha Baron Cohen, has been criticized as a homophobic, misogynistic, English-mangling caricature–the very traits that endear him to fans of his satire.
Kazakhstan’s government placed four-page advertising inserts in The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune last month, countering Borat’s portrayal of the ex-Soviet country as a backward place.
Borat said Thursday that the ads were placed by agents of neighboring Uzbekistan, and he threatened to “commence bombardment of their cities with our catapults” if they do not stop.
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The Personals page was compiled by Emily Rosenbaum from Tribune news services and staff reports.
