ali g

Ali G is a satirical comic character invented and played by the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Originally appearing on Channel 4's Eleven O'Clock show, Ali G is now the main character of Channel 4's Da Ali G Show.

History

Ali G first appeared on Channel 4's Eleven O'Clock show as the "voice of da youth" in early-1999. 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 girl'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.

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." During his interview with James Ferman, former director of the British Board of Film Classification after asking whether a succession of his made-up vulgarities would restrict a film to an over 18 audience, Ali G suggested that film censorship should be done by a younger person who understands the crude terms being used. Ali G began an interview with the Chairman of the Arts Council of England Gerryl Robinson with the question Why is it that everything you fund is so crap?

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 played by Cohen: Borat Sagdiyev, a foreign correspondent from Kazakhstan; and Bruno, a fashion reporter for Austria's fictional Gay TV.

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

The West End premiere of Ali G Indahouse was met with demonstrators protesting outside. Others however, have suggested that the implication that black street culture is not a legitimate subject for parody is itself racist.^{citation needed]} It has been suggested that the target of his satire is not black culture itself, but white English boys who have already appropriated the rap culture.^{citation needed]}

Many may see Ali G as an appropriator of black culture, or blatantly as a caricature who serves to satirize those who try to posture an urban culture to which they may not belong.^{citation needed]} 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.^{citation needed]}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's method for duping unsuspecting but extremely well-known guests into giving interviews (that later leave them looking foolish) is a very well kept secret. During the UK run of the show, his British producers never revealed the exact methods used to get interview requests granted. However, his rising popularity meant that he could no longer slip by the publicists of famous people. This was supposedly one of the main reasons for shifting the show to America.^{citation needed]}

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 bachelor's thesis [1] 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 parody the UK junglist subculture of drum & bass listeners, and has many similarities to hip-hop culture.

Fictional background

Ali G is a gang member of the "West Staines Massiv", and lives with his grandmother in a semi-detached 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 inner city ghetto that Ali G makes it out to be; still, he believes himself to exemplify gangsta culture.

Notable people interviewed by Ali G

• Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, astronaut, second man to walk on the moon
• David and Victoria Beckham, football player and his wife, a former singer
• Tony Benn, former Labour politician
• Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former Secretary General of the United Nations
• Rhodes Boyson, former Conservative cabinet minister
• Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade, professional basketball players
• Pat Buchanan, political commentator
• Noam Chomsky, MIT Professor [2]
• Jarvis Cocker, Pulp singer
• Paul Daniels, magician
• Sam Donaldson, veteran journalist
• Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of Harrods and Fulham FC
• Daryl Gates, former LAPD Chief
• Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives
• Neil Hamilton, former Conservative politician
• Kent Hovind, evangelist and Young Earth creationist
• Jenna Jameson, Adult film star
• C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General
• James Lipton, host of Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio
• John McCain, US Senator, R-AZ
• Ralph Nader, consumer activist and former U.S. presidential candidate for the Green Party
• Thomas J. Pickard, former FBI Director
• Gail Porter, television presenter
• Sally Jessy Raphaël, former talk show host
• Andy Rooney, of the CBS program 60 Minutes
• Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor and Air Force General
• Dick Thornburgh, former U.S. Attorney General
• Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey Governor and EPA Administrator
• Donald Trump, real estate developer
• Gore Vidal, author and essayist
• Sammy Wilson, northern Irish politician Democratic Unionist Party

See also

• Sacha Baron Cohen
• Bruno
• Borat

External links

• Da Ali G Show on HBO
• Official Ali G site
• UK Ali G fan site
• Sacha Baron Cohen interview with NPR's Robert Siegel
• Channel 4 Ali G website
• An article in the Guardian
• Ali G interviews NBA stars
• Ali G Comes to America: Recognise!