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Ali G

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Ali G, delivering the Class Day speech to the Harvard class of 2004.
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Ali G, delivering the Class Day speech to the Harvard class of 2004.

Ali G is a satirical comic character invented and played by the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

Contents

History

Ali G first appeared on Channel 4's Eleven O'Clock show as the "voice of da youth". He interviewed various public figures in the United Kingdom, who, too scared to appear "uncool", were completely fooled by his idiosyncratic interview technique, based mostly on the simple stratagem of pretending to be stupid.

One particularly memorable interview was with a fashion designer. Ali G suggested that the Wonderbra should be banned as it misleads men into thinking that a woman's breasts are larger than they are; he retold a story of having been disappointed when a girl he had "pulled" proved to have been wearing a Wonderbra. He also asked his interviewee if he was pleased Gianni Versace was killed, because it meant less competition, and he suggested that he'd heard a rumour that Calvin Klein did it. (This was a clear satire on the feuding which followed the deaths of the american rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., where it was thought to be the work of rival music producer Suge Knight).

Other examples of his style of interviewing include coaxing The Bishop of Horsham into saying that he believed God created the Universe, and then asking "And since then, he's just chilled?" Ali G then asked the Bishop what God looks like, to which the Bishop replied "Well, he's sort of Jesus-shaped." Ali G also suggested that film censorship should be done by a younger person who understands the crude terms being used after asking James Ferman whether a succession of his made-up vulgarities would make a film an 18.

Ali G was featured in Madonna's music video for her song "Music" as the limousine driver, and subsequently recorded his own record with the reggae/pop performer Shaggy. In 2001, Ali G hosted MTV Europe Music Awards in Frankfurt, Germany. In 2002, he was the central character in the feature film Ali G Indahouse, in which he became elected to the United Kingdom's Parliament and had to foil a plot to bulldoze a community centre in his home town of Staines. He is now the main character of HBO's Da Ali G Show, which also features two other characters: Borat Sagdiyev, a foreign correspondent from Kazakhstan; and Bruno, a fashion reporter for Austria's fictional Gay TV. Both of these characters are also acted by Cohen. Ali G was recently featured in a series of ads for the 05-06 NBA season, in which he uses his brand of off-kilter reporting to interview various NBA stars. The spots were directed by Spike Lee.

Controversy

Sacha Baron Cohen is not black himself, but because he portrays a character who purports misogyny, he has been accused by some of racism and of ridiculing black street culture. The West End premiere of Ali G Indahouse was met with anti-racist demonstrators protesting outside. However, others have suggested that the implication that black street culture is not a legitimate subject for parody is itself racist. His catchphrases (see below) his Hilfiger and Nike shoes add to the effect that he is a "consumer whore."

Many may see Ali G as an appropriator of black culture, or blatantly as a wigger caricature who serves to satirize those who try to posture an urban culture to which they may not belong. Ali G once mentioned his "Tri-sexual" uncle whose name was revealed as Jamal, a common Muslim as well as Afro-Caribbean/African-American name.

Harry Thompson, a former producer of the Eleven O'Clock show, has said the character was given the name Ali G so he would have "a whiff of Islam about him," but Ali G's full name has since been revealed to be Alistair Leslie Graham, in his film Ali G Indahouse.

Ali G in academia

In recent years the character has become central to academic discussion in British and American high schools and universities concerning topics related to a black urban "subculture" and social class-based differences. There is some question about whether one is expected to believe that the alias of Ali G is black, or is, in fact, a parody of suburban white people who attempt to gain credibility by adopting the paraphernalia and language of black urban culture. Some claim that the character was inspired by Tim Westwood; however, Westwood claimed in the NME in 2000 that Baron Cohen had told him that he had based the character not on Westwood himself but on the "white, provincial" listeners who phoned up his show.

Ali G's popular catchphrase "Is it 'cos I is black?" was used as the title of an Oxford University thesis [link] into black underachievement, with research published by BBC News and The Guardian.

Ali G can also be seen as a commentary on the adoption of American black street culture by both non-Americans and non-blacks. Because Baron Cohen is a middle-class, Cambridge University-educated Jewish actor portraying a suburban, presumably middle-class Briton of undetermined extraction who is, in turn, styling himself on American street life, the show maintains a certain Victor/Victoria quality. To many critics, Ali G is not satirising black urban culture, but those non-blacks and non-urbanites who appropriate it. Ali G's behaviour and clothing also parodies the UK junglist subculture of drum & bass listeners, and has many similarities to hip-hop culture. There are indications that his portrayal also typifies the UK chav subculture.

Origins of phrases used by Ali G

The linguistic origins of the phrases used by Ali G are mixed. While many of his words are lifted intact from Jamaican English, there was a fashion among a number of schools in and around Notting Hill and Hammersmith in the 1980s for whites to speak as if they were ragamuffins. This appears to have been strongly influential on Ali G's phraseology.

For example "I was at this safe par'y on Saturday night, and there was nuff punani." See Wiggers.

Fictional background

He is a gang member of the "West Staines Massiv", and lives with his grandmother in a semi-detatched house at 36 Cherry Blossom Close, in the heart of the "Staines Ghetto". He was educated at what he calls "da Matthew Arnold Skool" which is a real secondary school in Staines. Staines is a middle-class town to the west of London that has been the butt of jokes for many years, and it is demographically very distant from the American inner city ghetto that Ali G makes it out to be; still, he believes himself to exemplify gangsta and wigger culture.

Famous people interviewed by Ali G

Ali G quotes

External links

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