Sacha Baron Cohen has returned to his iconic character Ali G, with the comedian appearing in his trademark yellow shell suit and skullcap to promote a new sequelAli G: Who iz I?. The film, scheduled for release this Friday, follows the 2002 originalAli G Indahouse. Recent promotional efforts included a viral appearance at the Wimbledon men’s final and a London-based lookalike competition featuring over 300 fans traveling via an open-top bus. This is the biggest gathering of cultural appropriators in history,” Sacha Baron Cohen tells the camera in his parody of a street accent. Behind him, hundreds of fans cram onto a London Underground escalator, all wearing Ali G’s trademark yellow shell suit and skullcap. With the crowd enthusiastically finishing each one, baron Cohen shouts the character’s catchphrases through a megaphone. More than 300 fans attended an official Ali G lookalike competition, ferried around London on an open-top bus that stopped at landmarks including Big Ben, Leicester Square and Covent Garden, earlier this month. According to she, She believed Baron Cohen would not get away with portraying any other racial group “in the way he has done with the black community”. She argues they are no longer “culturally relevant”. According to ali G, Little Britain, Catherine Tate, all of those comedians and sketch shows, they made the voice the joke,”, Kean, who has written on accentism, drawing from her experiences being teased for her Essex accent. When discussing the forthcoming sequel on CBS on Tuesday, Baron Cohen’s “primary objective” appeared less ideological – to “get people to laugh really hard”. The fact that Ali G is outdated and problematic is the very reason I resurrected him,” Baron Cohen wrote. In many ways, worse than the one he left 20 years ago, the world he’s returned to is.
However, the revival has reignited longstanding concerns regarding the character’s use of racial stereotypes.
Critics, including comedian Dane Baptiste, have argued that the persona relies on harmful caricatures. As some critics argue, is the whole thing simply not very funny, alternatively.
Baptiste noted that the character’s signature catchphrases, such as “Is it because I is black?”, were often weaponized to mock black people and undermine genuine grievances related to systemic racism. The first black British comic nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award, remembers hearing Ali G catchphrases everywhere during the character’s noughties heyday. “A lot of the time, I would hear people using phrases like ‘Is it because I is black?’ or ‘Booyakasha’,” he recalls, comedian Dane Baptiste. Whereby, whenever black people experienced actual grievances relating to systemic and institutional racism, it was reduced to this catchphrase, even taking the phrase ‘Is it because I is black?’… that was used to the point of caricature. Which he calls a “black caricature”, is returning at a time when black creatives are being “starved of opportunities”, baptiste believes the character. Baptiste hosted shows such as Tonight at the London Palladium and Live at the Apollo. I remember going to school in the 90s and people would take the piss out of anyone whose voice wasn’t exactly the same as everyone else’s.
During the 2002 release, protesters similarly labeled the character a contemporary version of Al Jolson, the 1920s entertainer associated with blackface performances.
The criticism has gained significant traction online.
Labour MP Paulette Hamilton recently addressed the film on the Jeremy Vine show, characterizing the portrayal as racist. Meanwhile, singer and presenter Jordan Stephens has utilized TikTok to voice opposition to the character’s return. In response, Baron Cohen has maintained a defiant stance. On social media, he framed the sequel as a reaction to modern cultural constraints, stating, “In an age where a comedian’s career can be ended by a single un-PC joke, I thought I’d play it safe and bring this guy back.” Recently, he shared a video, external posted to a newly created Instagram account, in which a grey-haired academic urged viewers to boycott the upcoming film. During which the famous “goldenballs” line originated, david and Victoria Beckham show off their Red Nose Day 2001 noses while filming an interview with Ali G. Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2020, Baron Cohen reflected on interviewing Donald Trump for Da Ali G Show, and recalled how the programme’s producer was a well-spoken Englishman who Trump had assumed would be conducting the interview.
Despite the backlash, the character retains a dedicated following. Proponents suggest that the comedy functions as a satirical tool to expose prejudices rather than perpetuate them. He was immediately furious that he was going to have to speak to somebody from a lower-class borough rather than this rather astute Etonian producer. Though he added that “smuggled in there is a bit of satire”.
Perspectives on the Character’s Legacy
- DefendersSupporters include politician Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who described the character as clever satire that mocks society, and local enthusiasts in Staines-upon-Thames, who view the character as a source of community pride.
- Production StanceAddressing allegations of racism, individuals associated with the project have emphasized that the character was intended to expose racists rather than embody racism.
- Collaborator FeedbackThe production team has publicly stated that they would not participate in a project they perceived as racist.
- The Staines ConnectionLocal resident Alex Balkan, who previously campaigned for an Ali G statue, continues to advocate for the character’s role in putting the town on the map.
- Social CommentarySir Jacob Rees-Mogg defended the character, labeling criticism as “left-wing po-facery” and suggesting that the best comedy often pokes fun at society.
- Academic NoteSocial psychologist Amy Kean suggests the landscape for such comedy has shifted, noting that while characters like Ali G once dominated television, the sensitivity to using accents and voices as the primary punchline has evolved.
The upcoming plot for Ali G: Who Iz I? focuses on the character discovering that his long-term girlfriend, Julie, is eight months pregnant, leading to a journey to America. Little is known about the plot of the Ali G sequel beyond the character discovering his girlfriend Julie is pregnant and travelling to America to interview a slew of unsuspecting real-world participants, including American physicist Alan Lightman and retired Army General C Stewart Rodeheaver, who appears in the film’s trailer.
Historically, the character gained notoriety through deadpan interviews with high-profile figures, including Donald Trump and Mohamed Al Fayed.
Baron Cohen has previously noted that these interactions were designed to make interviewees uncomfortable by challenging their composure. Baron Cohen has in the past suggested that his character had a knack for pushing powerful interviewees into uncomfortable territory by playing with biases and expectations.
As the film hits cinemas, the central debate remains whether the character is a relic past its sell-by date or a necessary satirical provocation.
Important Details
- That’s against everything that I’ve done,” he added, that’s why I signed on. I wouldn’t sign on to work with somebody that I thought was racist.
- Almost 25 years on, Ali G still has loyal fans – including in his “home town” of Staines, in Surrey.
