Campaign against Sacha Baron Cohen's film: "Do not screen it"
Following the release of the trailer for the Ali G comeback film, criticism has been directed at Sacha Baron Cohen's character, with claims that it is "racist and outdated" — and a massive campaign is demanding that cinemas not screen the film at all.
The comeback of Ali G to the big screen is already getting complicated: according to Variety, a new campaign in the UK is calling on cinemas around the world not to screen the new film by Sacha Baron Cohen, Ali G: Who Iz I?. The storm began after the trailer was released earlier this week.
It is a new mockumentary surrounding the satirical character, which is scheduled to be released on October 23. In clips from the film, Ali G is seen with fake dreadlocks and a Rastafarian hat, and also talks about his desire to be an absent father. On social media, many accused the character of being an outdated and racist caricature.
On Wednesday, NewsCord, a media monitoring platform, launched a campaign calling on cinemas to refuse to screen the film. As part of the campaign, emails are sent to major chains on behalf of those who sign up, and according to NewsCord, as of Friday, more than 36,000 emails had been sent. The campaign claims that Cohen uses satire as a cover for racist stereotypes. NewsCord representatives point, among other things, to a journalistic report from 2000, two years after Ali G first appeared on British television, in which black British comedians claimed that the character serves as an alibi for racism.
Ali G was created by Cohen in 1998 as part of the 11 O'Clock Show on the British Channel 4: a not-very-smart white man who mimics urban British hip-hop culture and Jamaican culture. The original joke was that his intentionally offensive behavior mocks his ignorance and cultural appropriation in general. The character quickly became a hit, received his own show, and launched Cohen's career.
Alongside the criticism, Variety reports that claims the campaign has already achieved a significant victory are likely incorrect. NewsCord published a response it received from the Picturehouse Cinemas chain, which stated:
"At the moment, we have no plans to screen this film upon its release."
However, this is not necessarily related to the campaign. According to Variety, this is likely a standard customer service response, as it would be for any inquiry about a film that has not yet been scheduled by the company. In other words, no decision has yet been made regarding Ali G: Who Iz I?. However, Variety notes that due to Picturehouse's usual tendency toward art-house cinema, and because the release date falls during the London Film Festival and the start of awards season, it is not certain that the film was expected to be a major focus for the chain anyway.
It is unclear if Cohen expected the scale of the criticism that arose around Ali G: Who Iz I?, but it seems he at least anticipated backlash. In a tweet linking to the trailer, he wrote:
"In an era where a single comedian's career can end because of one politically incorrect joke, I thought I'd play it safe and bring this guy back."
