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Comment by jfb | Hacker News Reader

It is very nicely done, but I think that "Eastern Europe" as a synonym for "Borat" is a trope that, while never accurate, has run its course.

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Borat -> Kazakhstan -> Asia

"Eastern Europe" != Asia

But the actual Borat movie (the parts outside of America) was filmed in Eastern Europe (Romania, I think), not Kazakhstan.

I think you read too much into it. Everyone calls that area of the world "Eastern Europe".

And yes, you do hear "Northeastern US", "Southern US", "West Coast", "The Midwest"... people refer to large areas of land using compass points.

Huh? Who mentioned Borat?

Why else mention "from Eastern Europe"? Would "from France" or "from Sweden" be seen as remarkable? It's a great page from anyone, 16 or no, but the fact that he's from Slovakia isn't germane.

Well, GDP/capita in Slovakia is quite a bit lower than in France or Sweden, and that is a common trait across Eastern Europe. As he is asking for hosting, money enters the equation.

Well, it was implied. Why else mention 'Eastern Europe'? Do we ever mention geographical location in other articles, as in "this startup from the Eastern US has..."? Nope, we don't.

Here, "Eastern Europe" seems to have been included (in combination with "16 year old") to evoke an image of an inexperienced youngster in an underdeveloped, backwards area that is nevertheless outperforming you.

So no, no-one mentioned Borat, but the imagery associated with it was certainly implied.

See kriro's comment, but to address your question:

Do we ever mention geographical location in other articles, as in "this startup from the Eastern US has..."? Nope, we don't.

Yes we do. We say "Northern America". For the US we also talk about the West Coast versus the East Coast, and the Midwest.

How would you feel if it was "this 16 yo african american" ?

To talk about a 16 year old African American? Fine? Why wouldn't I?

I believe his point was that calling attention to someone's race (or location) is extraneous information that's not necessarily important. One might mean it as simply clarifying ("that young african american kid, not the long-haired kid next to him"), but it's easy to misunderstand that as some implication that it's notable that they're a ____ person (poor, female, foreign, different-colored-skin) rather than that what they did is notable in its own right.

In this case, I think it's very interesting that this young man has had the creativity to make such a site, and prepare his message so well. I admire the degree of preparation he's put into this: he clearly seems to understand the visa process. I like his "let's make sure we are right for each other first" message, as well.

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