The Scene: Borat learns to drive
Where: Baltimore County, Md.
After deciding that he must travel cross-country to meet Pamela Anderson, Borat decides to take driving lessons. Patiently teaching the easily distracted Kazakh is Michael Psenicksa, a driving instructor with 32 years of experience and the owner of his own driving school. During the harrowing car ride, Psenicksa tells Borat that in America, women must give consent for "sexy time."
"That's good, huh?" says the instructor.
"That's not good for me," Borat replies.
What happened: In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, Psenicksa said his encounter with Borat began in May 2005, when he received a phone call from someone saying his production company was filming a documentary about foreigners learning how to drive. He realized he'd been the victim of a gag after he told his son-in-law about the experience, who said it sounded like a gag from "Da Ali G Show." When Psenicksa saw the show, he recognized his student.
While he thought the movie was funny, Psenicksa says he was upset that other drivers were put at risk during the prank. "I'm not happy about that to this day."
The Scene: Borat buys a car
The Scene: Gaithersburg, Md.
Borat arrives at a dealership looking to buy a vehicle for somewhere in the range of $600 to $650. Borat asks the salesman, the aptly named Jim Sell, for a "pussy magnet," at which point he's shown a Hummer. After Borat learns that no such actual magnet exists, and that the Hummer is out of his price range, we appear to see Sell arrange for Borat to buy a used ice cream truck.
What happened: "I was approached by a man named Todd Lewis, who said he was a producer for a documentary," says Sell. "They wanted to film him negotiating with me over the price of a vehicle."
When Borat arrived, "they kept him away from most people in the dealership. I had no idea who he was. I just thought he didn't know anything about this country."
Sell knew something fishy was going on when Borat "gave me a pin and said it was a gift from his country. On one side was a flag, on the other side was a KKK sign."
"Luckily, I handled myself OK," says Sell. "I just feel bad I wasted three hours of my time for 150 bucks. And I had nothing to do with selling him an ice cream truck."
The Scene: Borat appears on a small Southern ABC affiliate
Where: Jackson, Miss.
Borat wreaks havoc at Jackson's WAPT, standing up every time he spoke, forcing the camera crew to scramble to avoid waist-level shots; offering up his sister to the silver-haired newscaster conducting the interview; interrupting the weatherman during a report by wandering on to the set.
What happened: A story in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger quotes station general manager Stuart Kellogg as saying, "We were gotten. Our folks researched the production company, which has its own Web site and sounds legitimate. They did their homework, but not well enough. It seemed plausible that he was who he said he was," Kellogg said. "Who knows what an accent from Kazakhstan sounds like?"
The story also reports that Borat's visit led the station to upgrading its policy on researching guests and on building security.
Another story reports that Dharma Arthur, the woman responsible for booking Borat on the show, says she lost her livelihood because of the incident. "I spiraled into depression, and before I could recover, I was released from my contract early. It took me three months to find another job, and now I'm thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure. The upsetting thing is that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comic genius."
The Scene: Borat meets a prostitute
Where: Helena, Ala.
Borat invites Luenell, a prostitute whose number he found in the back of a newspaper, to the Magnolia Mansion Dining Society, whose members promptly ask them to leave. Borat and Luenell go on to enjoy a night of mechanical bull riding at a local bar. Later, after Borat concludes that things aren't going to work out with Pamela Anderson, he realizes Luenell is the woman for him, marries her, and takes her back to Kazakhstan, where she feeds his whole town with her breast milk.
What happened: Sadly, Luenell Campbell is not a Borat-style "Pretty Woman" but a 37-year-old comedian and actress who has appeared in "So I Married an Axe Murderer" and "The Rock," and is currently on a comedy tour. She's coy about her participation in the film, telling MTV, "I can't tell you about any of the inner workings. I'm sworn to secrecy ... Borat and I go back a long way. We knew each other in Kazakhstan."
The Scene: Borat wrecks an antique store
Where: Adolph Rose Antiques in Vicksburg, Miss.
After being convinced that the shop owners are not trying to trick him by selling "old things," Borat destroys a good chunk of the store's merchandise via a series of pratfalls. Borat's offer to help pay for the broken antiques with a bag of pubic hair is, unsurprisingly, turned down.
What happened: Store owner Larry Walker tells us that he was called out of the blue by a producer asking permission to come to his store, in order to film "a Belarussian documentary about life in the South."
"I had a funny feeling at first," Walker continues. "But some woman called and seemed nice and convincing, and she sent me stuff on some official-looking letterhead. Then when Borat came, all hell broke loose."
Walker, who found that he'd been duped only after a friend saw Borat on the "Today" show, estimates that $500 worth of merchandise was broken during the filming, which lasted about three hours. Still, he says he harbors no ill-will about being featured in the film (the damaged antiques were all paid for, even though the film implies otherwise). "It's a very funny movie. You have to laugh at it now. But at the time, we were just glad to get rid of him."
The Scene: Borat takes a road trip with three frat boys
Where: The film implies that it takes place on a stretch in the Southwest. In fact, it was in South Carolina.
Borat gets picked up on the side of the road by three members of the Chi Psi fraternity. David, Justin and Anthony fulfill just about every frat-boy stereotype possible, saying they wished they had slaves, explaining that minorities have all the power, disabusing Borat of the notion that Pamela Anderson is a virgin, and devolving into general drunken boorishness.
What happened: The University of South Carolina chapter of Chi Psi has been expectedly tight-lipped about the incident, which doesn't portray the boys in a particularly positive light. Chapter president Todd Bailey told a Web site that he's not eager to see the film: "Personally, I have no desire to see it, but I have to be aware of what's in the movie."
David Corcoran, the most outspoken of the three, spoke with FHM about the experience. "This guy said they were filming a Kazakh reporter who wanted to hang out with frat guys," Corcoran said. "They met 10 of us and I guess chose the three who wouldn't recognize Borat." The producers paid for the three men to drink at a bar, and then had them get in the RV and "pick Borat up ... as if he was hitchhiking." Once in the RV, he says, Borat showed them naked pictures of his sister and confessed to beating women.
Two of the guys -- identified in court filings only as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 -- are now suing 20th Century Fox and One America Productions, the production company behind the film. The suit claims all three were told at the time that the film wouldn't show in the U.S. and their identities would be kept secret. They're seeking unspecified damages for "humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community."
The Scene: Borat tries to kidnap Pamela Anderson
Where: Los Angeles
A lovelorn Borat finally meets the object of his desire at a Virgin Megastore and attempts to kidnap her by throwing a bag over her head. After she escapes, he then chases the barefoot Anderson into the parking lot, where he is thrown to the ground by two security guards.
What happened: Anderson tells MTV that she has been sworn to secrecy about her involvement with the project, but says, "I love Sacha. He's such a nice guy ... He's the new Monty Python."
Despite her silence, it seems more than likely that Anderson was in on the joke. In August 2005, when the film was still shooting, there were suspicious reports of a Malibu beach commitment ceremony between Anderson's two dogs that was interrupted by Borat, who "emerged from the surf astride an inflatable turtle." Borat, the story claimed, "sprinted toward Anderson and felled her with a perfectly executed rugby tackle ... [she] struggled to her feet and brushed sand off of her long white gown as her loyal bodyguards seized the interloper, dragged him back to the shore, and dunked him in the hungry waves." That sounds like an alternative ending that might have just been too implausible to make the final cut. But we're sure it'll wind up in the DVD.
[Added Nov. 14, 2006] The Scene: Borat at home in Kuczek, Kazakhstan
Where: Actually in Glod, Romania
The film begins with Borat giving a tour of the run-down, poverty-stricken village of Kuzcek, where people share living quarters with livestock and the car he leaves for America in is powered not with gas, but a team of horses. Borat also introduces us to locals, like the village "mechanic and abortionist" and his sister Natalya -- the fourth-best prostitute in Kazakhstan. We're also shown a brief clip of the annual "Running of the Jews," where people dressed in fanged and green-skinned "Jew" costumes run the streets of Buzcek, as the villagers attack them. Borat returns to Kuzcek at the end of the film, bringing with him his new American bride Luenell.
What Happened: According to this story in the U.K.'s Daily Mail, the Kuzcek scenes were actually shot in Glod -- a village of 1,000 people at the foot of Romania's Carpathain Mountains. The story explains how the villagers were told that the filming was for a documentary about their hardship. Upset at their portrayal as a bunch of backwoods prostitutes and rapists, the residents of the village are planning to sue the filmmakers.
After being shown the film's trailer by the Mail's reporter, Spirea Ciorobea, represented in the film as the "village mechanic and abortionist," had the following to say: "What I saw looks disgusting. Even if we are uneducated and poor, it is not fair that someone does this to us."
The disabled Nicu Tudorache, who unwittingly appears in the film with a sex toy attached to the end of his amputated arm, expressed similar concerns. "This is disgusting," he said. "They conned us into doing all these things and never told us anything about what was going on. They made us look like primitives, like uncivilised savages."
Conditions in Glod were evidently enough to disturb Cohen -- whom villagers describe as "nice and friendly, if a bit weird and ugly" -- as the comedian was reportedly accompanied by bodyguards while on location and stayed in a hotel in Sinaia, a nearby ski resort, rather than the "run-down" motel the rest of the crew called home.
[Added Nov. 20, 2006] Glod is now suing the makers of Borat for $30 million dollars in damages and seeking to stop screenings of the film if its not re-cut to present the town in a more positive way. According to the Los Angeles Times, the suit filed in New York (two others will be filed in Florida and Germany), seeks $5 million to be used to improve schools and other infrastructure in the impoverished village, an additional $25 million in humanitarian aid and an unspecified amount for fair compensation for the villagers, who were paid roughly $4 a day for participating in the film, which has made $90.5 million in domestic box office receipts. The production contends that the actors were paid more than $4 -- a sum double the amount suggested by the Romanian Film Office -- and that they gave $10,000 to the village after their stay to purchase computers for the local school.
About the writer
David Marchese is an editorial fellow at Salon.
Willa Paskin is an editorial fellow at Salon.
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