In My Country There Is Problem

Last updated
"In My Country There is Problem (Throw the Jew Down the Well)"
Song by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines
from the album Stereophonic Musical Listenings That Have Been Origin in Moving Film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"
Published 2004 ( Da Ali G Show ), 2006 (album)
Genre Country, comedy
Length2:17
Songwriter(s) Sacha Baron Cohen

"In My Country There Is Problem", also known as "Throw the Jew Down the Well" after the song's key line, is a song written by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for his comic character Borat Sagdiyev. It features in the episode "Peace" of the series 3 of Da Ali G Show , in the 'Country Music' segment of "Borat's Guide to the USA (Part 2)", that focuses heavily on the positive reaction of the patrons of a honky-tonk in Tucson, Arizona to the antisemitic sentiments of the song. It appeared in Stereophonic Musical Listenings That Have Been Origin in Moving Film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" .

Contents

Background and content

Baron Cohen's character Borat is a simple-minded antisemitic and antiziganistic Kazakh journalist who is depicted in Da Ali G Show as attempting to learn about the culture of the United Kingdom and, in the HBO series, the United States. In interviews, Baron Cohen, who is Jewish, has stated that the purpose of Borat was both to expose antisemitism in his interview subjects, as well as simple indifference to antisemitism. [1] [2] Baron Cohen, as Borat, displays his character's fear and hatred of Jews frequently on the show.

The song itself is a country-style song played on acoustic guitar, consisting of three verses. The first verse is a complaint about the state of transport in Kazakhstan, which is followed in a refrain with a call to "throw transport down the well—so my country can be free." The second verse is directed at the Jews of Kazakhstan, alleging they "take everybody's money", and calling for the listeners to "throw the Jew down the well". The third verse contains a warning for the listener to "be careful of [the Jew's] teeth" before repeating the second refrain. [3]

Appearances

Borat debuted the song in the third episode of the third season of Da Ali G Show, "Peace" on HBO on 1 August 2004, as the climax of the character's investigation of country music. He sang the song at a country music club in Tucson, Arizona. By the end of the song, much of the club's patronage was cheering and singing along. [4] [5]

Reception

The Jewish Daily Forward interviewed some of the audience members and found that many understood that the song was a joke and that Borat was a comedian in disguise. Borat's full performance lasted two-and-a-half hours, during which he also sang about throwing his wife and family down a well. A Jewish audience member shown laughing in the HBO clip said, "You could tell right away it was a wig he was wearing, and a fake mustache. I would say 99% of the people in here saw that, too." [6]

Rolling Stone called the skit "the most famous, comically potent moment of Da Ali G Show." [7]

Jody Rosen, writing for Slate , wrote that Borat managed to offend everyone:

... Borat's performance of "In My Country There Is Problem (Throw the Jew Down the Well)" on an episode of Da Ali G Show [is] a densely packed piece of sociopolitical parody: an incitement to pogrom ("Throw the Jew down the well/So my country can be free/You must grab him by his horns/Then we have a big party") sung by a British Jew disguised as a Central Asian bumpkin before a whooping, Bud-swilling audience at a Tucson, Ariz., honky-tonk. It's hilarious. It's catchy. And it's a perfect distillation of Borat's satirical attack, designed to offend and indict just about everyone: Old Europe and Middle America, fulminating right-wingers and piously PC liberals, in addition to Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman. [8]

The Anti-Defamation League sent Baron Cohen an open letter warning him that, while they understood the message he had intended the sketch to deliver, they were concerned that this aspect may not have been grasped by his audience. [9]

Columnists David Brooks [10] and Charles Krauthammer [11] said that the song, rather than being biting satire, was "a supreme display of elite snobbery reveling in the humiliation of the hoaxed hillbilly."

Related Research Articles

Antisemitism is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. This sentiment is a form of racism, and a person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Primarily, antisemitic tendencies may be motivated by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or by negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case, usually presented as racial antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—this is a common theme within the other Abrahamic religions. The development of racial and religious antisemitism has historically been encouraged by the concept of anti-Judaism, which is distinct from antisemitism itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali G</span> Fictional character created by Sacha Baron Cohen

Alistair Leslie Graham, better known as Ali G, is a satirical fictional character created and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. A faux-streetwise poseur from Staines, England, Ali G speaks in rude boy-style Multicultural London English and brags about coming up "in da heart of da Staines ghetto" and leading a local street gang, "Da West Staines Massiv." He conducts interviews with unsuspecting subjects who do not realise they have been set up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacha Baron Cohen</span> British comedian, actor, screenwriter and film producer (born 1971)

Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English comedian, actor, screenwriter and film producer. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen. At the 2012 British Comedy Awards, Baron Cohen received the Outstanding Achievement Award and accepted the award in-character as Ali G. In 2013, he received the BAFTA Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy. In 2018, The Times named him among the 30 best living comedians.

Scholars have studied and debated Muslim attitudes towards Jews, as well as the treatment of Jews in Islamic thought and societies throughout the history of Islam. Parts of the Islamic literary sources give mention to certain Jewish groups present in the past or present, which has led to debates. Some of this overlaps with Islamic remarks on non-Muslim religious groups in general.

A number of organizations and academics consider the Nation of Islam (NOI) to be antisemitic. The NOI has engaged in Holocaust denial, and exaggerates the role of Jews in the African slave trade; mainstream historians, such as Saul S. Friedman, have said Jews had a negligible role. The NOI has repeatedly rejected charges made against it as false and politically motivated.

<i>Da Ali G Show</i> English satirical television series

Da Ali G Show is an English satirical sketch comedy television series created by and starring English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. In the series, Baron Cohen plays three unorthodox journalists: faux-streetwise poseur Ali G, Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev, and gay Austrian fashion enthusiast Brüno Gehard. These characters conduct real interviews with unsuspecting people, many of whom are celebrities, high-ranking government officials, and other well-known figures, during which they are asked absurd and ridiculous questions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borat Sagdiyev</span> Fictional character created and portrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen

Borat Margaret Sagdiyev is a satirical fictional character created and performed by Sacha Baron Cohen. He is supposedly a Kazakhstani television journalist and is the main protagonist of the mockumentary Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), its sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2020), and a main character of Da Ali G Show.

Erran Boaz Baron Cohen is an English composer and trumpet player known for collaborations with his younger brother, Sacha Baron Cohen.

<i>Borat</i> 2006 mockumentary directed by Larry Charles

Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, or simply Borat, is a 2006 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Larry Charles and starring Sacha Baron Cohen. Baron Cohen plays the leading role of Borat Sagdiyev, a fictional Kazakhstani journalist who travels through the United States to make a documentary which features real-life interactions with Americans. Much of the film features unscripted vignettes of Borat interviewing and interacting with real-life Americans who believe he is a foreigner with little or no understanding of American customs. It is the second of four films built around Baron Cohen's characters from Da Ali G Show (2000–2004): the first, Ali G Indahouse, was released in 2002, and featured a cameo by Borat; the third, Brüno, was released in 2009; and the sequel to Borat, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, was released in 2020.

This is a list of countries where antisemitic sentiment has been experienced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Mazer</span> British screenwriter, producer, director and comedian

Daniel Gideon Mazer is a British director, screenwriter, producer, and comedian. He is best known as the long-time writing and production partner of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and worked with him on his three unorthodox characters Ali G, Borat, and Brüno. He also co-wrote and co-produced the films based on Baron Cohen's characters such as Ali G Indahouse, Borat, and Brüno.

<i>Borat</i> (soundtrack) 2006 soundtrack album to Borat by various artists

Stereophonic Musical Listenings That Have Been Origin in Moving Film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" is the soundtrack to the 2006 mockumentary film Borat, released by the "Kuzçek Records" in association with Downtown and Atlantic Records. The soundtrack was released digitally through the iTunes Store on October 24, 2006, and in stores and through other online music stores on Tuesday, October 31, 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of antisemitism in the United States</span>

Different opinions exist among historians regarding the extent of antisemitism in American history and how American antisemitism contrasted with its European counterpart. In contrast to the horrors of European history, John Higham states that in the United States "no decisive event, no deep crisis, no powerful social movement, no great individual is associated primarily with, or significant chiefly because of anti-Semitism." Accordingly, David A. Gerber concludes that antisemitism "has been a distinctly minor feature of the nation's historical development." Historian Britt Tevis argue that, "Handlin and Higham’s ideas remain influential, and many American Jewish historians continue to present antisemitism as largely insignificant, momentary, primarily social."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antisemitism in the United States</span> Hatred towards the Jewish people within the US

Antisemitism has long existed in the United States. Most Jewish community relations agencies in the United States draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents.

<i>Brüno</i> 2009 mockumentary comedy film by Larry Charles

Brüno is a 2009 mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles and starring Sacha Baron Cohen, who produced, co-wrote, and played the gay Austrian fashion journalist Brüno. It is the third film based on one of Cohen's characters from Da Ali G Show, following Ali G Indahouse and Borat. The film was released on July 10, 2009, to mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed $138 million worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Defamation League</span> International Jewish organization

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is a New York–based international Jewish non-governmental organization and advocacy group.

Economic antisemitism is antisemitism that uses stereotypes and canards that are based on negative perceptions or assertions of the economic status, occupations or economic behaviour of Jews, at times leading to various governmental policies, regulations, taxes and laws that target or which disproportionately impact the economic status, occupations or behaviour of Jews.

Antisemitism in contemporary Hungary principally takes the form of negative stereotypes relating to Jews, although historically it manifested itself more violently. Studies show antisemitism has become more prevalent since the fall of Communism, particularly among the younger generations. Surveys performed from 2009 and beyond have consistently found high levels of antisemitic feelings amongst the general population.

<i>Borat Subsequent Moviefilm</i> 2020 mockumentary film by Jason Woliner

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, or simply Borat Subsequent Moviefilm or Borat 2, is a 2020 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Jason Woliner. The film stars Sacha Baron Cohen as the fictional Kazakh journalist and television personality Borat Sagdiyev, and Maria Bakalova as his daughter Tutar, who is to be offered as a bride to then–U.S. vice president Mike Pence during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. It is a sequel to 2006's Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

References

  1. "Cohen defends 'racist' Borat film". BBC News. 2006-11-16. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  2. "Sacha Baron Cohen – the Real Borat – Finally Speaks". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006.
  3. Borat – In My Country There Is Problem Lyrics | FindLyrics.com Archived January 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "The Unofficial Borat Homepage – Borat's Guide to the USA II, Episode Three: Country Music". www.webgeordie.co.uk.
  5. Abraham Foxman (2010). Jews and Money: The Story of a Stereotype. St. Martin's Press. ISBN   9780230112254 . Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  6. Popper, Nathaniel (August 13, 2004). "Comic Pushes Limits in Antisemitic Sing-along". The Forward.
  7. Sepinwall, Alan (16 July 2018). "'Who Is America?' Review: Sacha Baron Cohen Swings at Broken U.S.A. and Misses". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  8. "Borat Owes Me 97 Dollars: How Sacha Baron Cohen is Jewish vaudeville". Jody Rosen, Slate. December 17, 2006.
  9. "ADL Letter to Sacha Baron Cohen". Anti-Defamation League. August 9, 2004. Archived from the original on June 7, 2007. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  10. Brooks, David (2006-11-16). "The Heyday of Snobbery". The New York Times.
  11. Krauthammer, Charles (24 November 2016). "Throw the Jew Joke Down the Well'". National Review.