Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G returns in Ali G: Who Iz I on Friday, October 23, with the comedian arguing that the character’s flaws give him a reason to bring him back.
“The fact that Ali G is outdated and problematic is the very reason I resurrected him,” Cohen, 54, wrote. He believes the world has deteriorated in the 20 years since Ali G left it, with the prejudices his characters target growing more entrenched.
Cohen describes Ali G as a white man who appropriates the style and words of rap and dancehall artists. The joke, he says, is aimed at Ali G himself and the largely white, male establishment figures who treat him as credible. His characters, including Borat, are meant to expose bias and stupidity.
He also acknowledges that “satire can offend people other than the intended targets” and that audiences don’t always understand his characters as he intends. Cohen says he’s spent his life opposing bigotry and injustice and working with civil rights groups, making it difficult to recognize himself in social media portrayals that place him alongside the people he mocks.
He accepts that much of his comedy is juvenile. His approach is to make people laugh first, then leave them thinking about what they’ve seen after the film or show ends.
Cohen says a movie can’t eliminate longstanding prejudice or halt the extremism driving societies toward autocracy and mass violence. His hope is that it can “help sound the alarm” about fanaticism and conspiracy theories.