” 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 British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for his comic character Borat Sagdiyev . It features in the ‘Country Music’ segment of ‘Borat’s Guide to the USA (Part 2)’, which is heavily influenced by Arizona’s country and western bar to the anti- Semitic feelings 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” .
Background and content
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 transportation in Kazakhstan , which is followed by a call to “Throw transport down the well-so my country can be free.” The second verse is directed to 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 chorus. [3]Baron Cohen’s character Borat is a single-minded antisemitic and antiziganistic Kazakh journalist who is Depicted in Da Ali G Show as Attempting to learn about the cultivation 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, and more simply to antisemitism. [1] [2] Baron Cohen, as Borat, characteristically displays his character and hatred of Jews frequently on the show.
Appearances
Borat debuted the song in the third episode of Da Ali G Show as the climax of the character’s investigation of country music. Tucson, Arizona is a country music club , and is one of the best clubs in the world. [4]
After the episode had been broadcast, The Jewish Daily Forward published an article which claimed that the song depicted on the show was in fact a small segment of Borat ‘s full performance at the bar. Borat’s actions were indeed a joke. [5]
Criticism
Jody Rosen, writing for Slate , with Borat managed to offend everyone:
… Borat’s performance of “In My Country There Is Problem” 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 not get away from you / You must get 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 hearing 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 ,right-wingers and piously PC liberals , in addition to Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman . [6]
After the episode had been broadcast, the Anti-Defamation League felt Baron Cohen said that they had understood the subject, but they were concerned that this aspect could be grasped by his audience. [7] The organization issued a similar statement prior to the release of the Borat film. [8]
David Brooks [9] and Charles Krauthammer, [10] Others, notably columnists , [10] have expressed the opinion that the song, rather than being biting satire, was “a supreme display of elite snobbery reveling in the humiliation of the hoaxed hillbilly .”
See also
- Antisemitism
- List of British Jewish comedians
References
- Jump up^ “Cohen defends ‘racist’ Borat movie” . BBC News . 2006-11-16 . Retrieved 2010-05-05 .
- Jump up^ Sacha Baron Cohen – The Real Borat – Finally Speaks: Rolling Stone
- Jump up^ Borat – In My Country There Is Problem Lyrics | FindLyrics.comArchivedJanuary 25, 2007, at theWayback Machine.
- Jump up^ The Unofficial Borat Homepage | Borat’s Guide to the USA II, Episode Three: Country Music
- Jump up^ “Comic Pushes Limits in Antisemitic Sing-along – Forward.com”
- Jump up^ “Borat Owes Me 97 Dollars: How Sacha Baron Cohen is Jewish vaudeville” . Jody Rosen, Slate . December 17, 2006.
- Jump up^ Letter to Sacha Baron Cohen (“Ali G”) Archived2007-06-07 at theWayback Machine.
- Jump up^ “Statement On The Comedy Of Sacha Baron Cohen, AKA” Borat ” ” . Anti-Defamation League . 17 December 2006. Archived from the originalon 12 February 2007.
- Jump up^ Brooks, David (2006-11-16). “The Heyday of Snobbery” . The New York Times .
- Jump up^ http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/219322/throw-jew-joke-down-well/charles-krauthammer