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A ScreenOnline Article About Da Ali G Show (BFI)

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Channel 4, tx. 31/3-5/5/2000, 6 x 30 min episodes

Producers

Dan Mazer

Harry Thompson

Production Company

Talkback

Directors

James Bobin

Steve Smith

After gaining cult popularity in the 11 O'Clock Show(Channel 4, 1999-2000), Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy creation Ali G was soon rewarded with his own show and became the "voice of yoof" in Britain, even delivering Channel 4's alternative Christmas message on Christmas Day 1999. The Fubu-clad Ali G, with his tales of life on the mean streets of Staines, and sex and getting high constantly on his mind, was never too far from making a fool of himself with his own ignorance and misunderstandings.

But much of the show's humour came from the guests' inability to realise they were talking to a comic creation rather than a real person. The sight of guests, including Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, disgraced Tory MP Neil Hamilton and TV presenter Gail Porter, earnestly trying to engage in serious discussion with a character whose sole purpose was to confuse and humiliate them became a regular feature. One memorable discussion even had a guest commenting on the fact that Ali is Black.

With this blurring of reality and fiction, the show and its star garnered considerable controversy. Initially the character was seen as an affectionate homage to Hip Hop culture, and by extension the dominant position of urban black music and fashion in youth culture. But Ali G's creator found himself under fire from some Black comedians and commentators for his refusal to explain the ethnic origins of the character. Although some saw Ali G, with his constant uttering of 'street' phrases like "Bo Selecta" and "Aiight", as a take off of young white or Asian kids trying to be Black, others increasingly felt the character was mocking urban culture itself, and consequently Black people in Britain.

The show also introduced another Baron Cohen character, the Kazakhstani reporter Borat, a bumbling innocent travelling across the country commenting on the vagaries of British life. For the actor's critics the character was further evidence of his careless propagation of racial stereotypes under the guise of comedy.

Despite his critics' concerns, the character is funny, with real satirical bite, and remains hugely popular with young black and white audiences alike. Ali G has become a cultural phenomenon, as witness the memorable, and slightly disturbing, sight of Richard Madeley dressing up as the character on This Morning (ITV 2000).

In 2002, the character made his big screen debut with the highly successful Ali G Indahouse (Germany/US/France/UK, d. Mark Mylod).

Ali Jaafar

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Satirical comedy series featuring Sacha Baron Cohen

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The Guardians Take on the affect of Da Ali G Show

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But some of the most successful black comedians have accused Ali G of offensive racist behaviour - mocking black people and using language and performing material that broadcasters would not tolerate from black comedians.

The weekly New Nation newspaper asked seven of the biggest stars on the black comedy circuit about the character, after he delivered the alternative Queen's speech on Channel 4 on Christmas Day.

Curtis Walker, whose own show Urban Heat was broadcast on BBC2 last month, described Ali G as "offensive", comparing him to Al Jolson and a 1950s style of comedy entertainment. "[He's] dishing out all the cliches and stereotypical language. I find it quite degrading and sad that this is what catches people's attention. I don't like the concept of a white guy playing a black guy anyway, and when he is playing a stupid stereotype it is even worse."

Felix Dexter, of The Real McCoy comedy series, said he appreciated the humour of an innocent confronting an expert with neither understanding the other. But, he added: "I feel that a lot of the humour is laughing at black street culture and it is being celebrated because it allows the liberal middle classes to laugh at that culture in a safe context where they can retain their sense of political correctness.

"I don't think a black comedian could do it because to me the humour is essentially coming out of a white guy pretending to be black," he said.

Though conceding she found Ali G funny, Gina Yashere of the BBC2 series A-Force, told the newspaper: "It's a good character but the only reason he has got as far as he has is because he's white. He wouldn't have been able to get arrested let alone his own TV show if he'd been a black guy. A black man pretending to be dumb like that would have seemed too real for white people. The humour would have been lost. I don't think he's racist or taking the piss out of black people. What is offensive is the whole media frenzy about him."

Even a fellow Channel 4 star, Richard Blackwood, who has his own series on the network, said he was concerned that viewers watch Ali G and think that was how black people behaved. "Someone told me he was actually doing an Asian person trying to be black but if that is the case then I don't think people are getting it. Too many people are left thinking that is how black people chat to one another, that they are ignorant and don't know about world issues."

Only one of the comedians interviewed by the paper was entirely positive about Ali G. Roger D contrasted him with Jim Davidson's 1970s Chalkie character: "Jim Davidson came across as someone who did not know black people at all, but this guy Ali G seems to have done his homework and got it down pat. He knows his character.

"As for whether a black comedian could get away with the same thing... I just doubt it would catch on in the same way and that's because Ali G is a white Jewish guy taking on this black persona and that is such a ridiculous concept that it adds to the humour."

Michael Eboda, editor of New Nation, conducted a poll of readers to accompany the comedians' comments. The paper found that more than 80% were fans of Ali G and concluded that his critics were "taking themselves too seriously". Mr Eboda compared Ali G to Harry Enfield's 1980s character Loadsamoney, a fantastically wealthy builder. "They are a critique of the times," he said. "This character is rooted in a cultural phenomena of our times - namely that many young white and Asian youngsters adopt black personas and appear ridiculous to everyone besides themselves. I don't think it's offensive," he said.

Ali G is said to have been inspired by the Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood. Cohen is reported to have become incensed by white middle class listeners phoning in to Westwood's radio shows requesting dedications to the "the Staines Massive" and generally attempting to behave like LA gang members.

A Channel 4 spokesman denied the character was racist. He said: "The point is that it is not attempting to be an imitation of a black person, it satirises white men trying to adopt black street culture."

But he added that the comedians might be right to claim a black comedian could not perform the same material. "There is an issue as to whether people from black and Asian backgrounds get the same access into the system and it is one that Channel 4 is addressing," he conceded.
Celebrity crosstalk Interviewing Sir Rhodes Boyson about education:
Ali G: What is the use of a kilo? Why don't they modernise and teach in ounces, quarter of ounces, eights of ounces?
Sir Rhodes: Well, it could be useful if you are baking.
Ali G: Alright, baking, for real.
Sir Rhodes: Yes, for real. I make my own breakfast every morning.
Ali G: I mean who bought a kilo of anything, except me mate Dave and he's doing a three-year stretch.
Interviewing James Whitaker, former royal correspondent and columnist:
Asked if people objected to "Carmella" because "she is so mingin", Whitaker said she was a very fit woman.
Ali G responded: "She ain't fit, man! She looks like Rod Hull."
Topics

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Comics find Ali G is an alibi for racism

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He's a Jewish, Cambridge graduate playing Channel 4's "voice of youth" who speaks the language of black street culture. But some of the most successful black comedians have accused Ali G of offensive racist behaviour - mocking black people and using language and performing material that broadcasters would not tolerate from black comedians.

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A BBC Geonome on 'is ali g racist'

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BBC News | TALKING POINT | Is Ali G racist?

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Spoof character, Ali G’s new film has opened to a mixed response. The character has been accused by some sections of the black community as racist, because he adopts elements of black youth culture. What do you think?

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The stanadards take/ channel 4 takes on Da Ali G Show being aired in the modern day.

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Ali G and Borat wouldn’t get made nowadays says Channel 4 executive

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New Ofcom welfare regulations no longer allow prank shows of that type

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Hansard report

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Fans take on ali g's sense of comedy

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Da Ali G Show is a 30-minute comedy show that ran on Channel 4 in 2000 before Channel Hopping to HBO from 2003 to 2006. It stars Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays three different fake journalists, Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, and Brüno Gehard. The show features the three journalists interviewing various figures and in various awkward situations. The Channel 4 and HBO runs together total 18 episodes, with the first 6 on BBC, for 3 6-episode seasons.

Ali G (whose "real" name is Alistair Leslie Graham) is the main character. He appears as a hip-hop artist, speaks in American hip-hop vernacular with a British accent, and is almost unbearably ignorant. He is the leader of the West Staines Massiv, a posse from "West" Staines, a suburb of London.

Ali G interviews people in the guise of a British talk show host interested in the media and politics. Some of his more impressive interviews include ones with Boutros Boutros-Ghali (the U.N. Secretary General at the time; he called him Boutros Boutros Boutros Ghali); politicians Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan, and James Baker (former U.S. Secretary of State, to whom he refers as "this geeza"); linguist Noam Chomsky (whom he refers to as "Norman Chompsky"); and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. In an interview with C. Everett Koop, the former U.S. surgeon general, Ali G refers to the "dong bone" as an example of a bone that grows.

Ali G did a movie, called Ali G Indahouse, which is completely scripted.

Borat is now the most well-known of the three alter-egos in Da Ali G Show. Borat is an anti-Semitic, misogynistic, but friendly Kazakhstani who is in America to learn about its culture. Borat's schtick is to make people uncomfortable by seeming backward and/or prejudiced or to get them to agree with his statements. Since he is played as a foreigner, people are usually hesitant to call him on any of his difficulties. Borat's comments are often anti-Semitic (although Baron Cohen is Jewish) and completely insensitive, as when he comments that Barbara Bush's last name is used in his language to mean pubic hair, while he's talking to a friend and admirer of Mrs. Bush.

The very successful movie is based on this character.

Brüno is a gay Austrian fashionista and journalist. Brüno's typical gags run in two forms: making people uncomfortable with his aggressive homosexuality and getting people in the fashion industry to go along with his hateful, ignorant and absurd statements. Some examples are interviewees saying that Osama bin Laden is cool, that people with bad fashion should be sent to concentration camps, and that fashion has saved more lives than doctors. There's a Brüno movie, too, in which Brüno's, er, member makes an appearance, along with Harrison Ford.

This show provides examples of:

A Cappella: Ali G is a wannabe hip-hop artist and he would do beatboxing from time to time, often improvising on the topic that was discussed. As if the guests were not trolled enough already.

Ambiguously Brown: Baron Cohen has a dark complexion, and in the show it's not clear what race his Ali G character is supposed to be, given his appearance and ambiguous name. In the film, it's revealed that his full name is Alistair Leslie Graham and that he's a white suburbanite who pretends that he's a black gangster.

As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Borat's Kazakh is actually mostly Hebrew. He also writes his notes in Hebrew, which has almost given up the joke on at least one occasion.

Blatant Lies: In one segment of Da Ali G Show, Bruno asks a panel of fashion critics their opinions and then asks them to say the exact opposite thing for the cameras. They are all more than happy to do whatever the host asks them.

Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Borat says, "In Kazakhstan we have many hobbies: disco dancing, archery, rape, and table tennis."

Bavarian Fire Drill: One sequence has Bruno attend a fashion show claiming to be the "muse" of a fictional designer. The designers attending to show, apparently too afraid to appear out of touch, pretend to know who the designer is and accept Bruno as a model. He manages to con his way onto the runway.

Buxom Is Better: Ali G says to a group of doctors and experts on medical ethics that he heard that some women got their breasts reduced. He thinks it's selfish as it's just one woman getting rid of backache, but pleasure is taken away from numerous men. One really cool doctor (who might have figured out that they were being trolled) politely explains to him that those breasts are grossly enlarged and not attractive. Ali assures him he was talking about nice ones, and the doctor suggests that it's a matter of taste. Ali is impressed and wants to chat about that after.

Cannot Tell a Joke: Both Ali G and Borat suffer from this.

Channel Hop: The show moved from Channel 4 to HBO in 2003.

Early Installment Weirdness: The British show has a laugh track. Bruno also clearly has Borat's mustache dyed blond, which he lacks in the HBO version and the film.

The Eponymous Show

Global Ignorance: Ali G

Laugh Track: The first season used one. It was later ditched after the show's Channel Hop.

Mundane Luxury: While discussing "techmology" and whether it's good or whack, one of the guests (Kent Hovind) says he's been to the third world countries and that he's grateful for having flushing toilets.

Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Ali G in a nutshell.

Ruritania: The Borat sequences portray Kazakhstan as a cartoonishly poor and ignorant backwater, largely based on Eastern European stereotypes. This exploits that fact that most people know absolutely nothing about the Turkic nation of the Eurasian steppe as it really is.

Those Wacky Nazis: One of the show's most daring sequences involves Bruno covering a British skinhead concert. After asking probing questions about the shirtless participants of a mosh pit, Bruno asks one skinhead, "Are there any skinheads who aren't gay?" In another moment, some skinheads accuse Bruno of having a "bender mustache," to which Bruno enthusiastically agrees, causing the skinheads to react in shocked disgust.

Unwanted Spouse: Borat cannot stand his wife, alive or dead; after she is killed (off-screen) by a bear, he celebrates joyfully, and he still has nothing but bad things to say about her, even in death.

Dating Coach: Did you like some things about your wife?
[beat]
Borat: ... no.

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Da Ali G Show is a 30-minute comedy show that ran on Channel 4 in 2000 before Channel Hopping to HBO from 2003 to 2006. It stars Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays three different fake journalists, Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, and Brüno Gehard. The show ...