Reactions to Sacha Baron Cohen’s new Ali G film are increasing and campaigners are launching a petition to ban the film from cinemas.
Cohen released the first trailer for Ali G: Who Iz I last week, marking his return to the satirical character after a two-decade absence.
Cohen, in his directorial debut, secretly filmed the mockumentary for a year, following his character’s life “since the world went to shit” along with his pregnant girlfriend – played by Morgana Robinson.
But criticism of the Amazon MGM film, which will be released in theaters on October 23, has been widespread.
A day after the trailer’s release, NewsCord – a British news comparison and media monitoring platform – launched a campaign urging cinemas around the world not to show the film.
The campaign group has said it has emailed 15 major chains worldwide on behalf of those who register. On Sunday, the activists reported that they had been instructed to send 41,000 emails.
Opposition to Sacha Baron Cohen’s new Ali G film is growing, with campaigners launching a petition to ban the film from cinemas
The campaign accuses Cohen of using satire as a “cover for enforcing racist stereotypes,” writing on X:
‘Ali G is a cover to make fun of Jamaican culture. The character reinforces harmful stereotypes about how a Jamaican man behaves in society.”
‘Ali G smokes weed, is a misogynist and does nothing meaningful in life. He does this because he thinks this is what a Jamaican does.”
‘The world is laughing at Ali G. But the real butt of the joke is black people, especially Jamaicans,” they added. “This is evident from a number of films by Baron Cohen, in which a race or religion is the victim of the ‘joke’.”
They added in an Instagram post: ‘Black British comedians called the character ‘an alibi for racism’ in 2000; Jeanette Winterson asked what separates it from the Black and White Minstrels; Kazakh and Arab organizations documented the damage from the catalog behind it. Sony Pictures UK sells it with the line ‘He iz back. We are not liable.’
They added: ‘The screens belong to the chains and a booking is a choice.’
Phil Clapp, head of the UK Cinema Association, said Variety in response to the campaign: ‘Cinemas exist to captivate and entertain the widest possible audience. They are not there to act as censors or arbiters of public taste.”
‘So if a film has been given a certificate by the BBFC, they will decide whether or not to play it solely with the likely reaction of their audience in mind.’
Cohen released the first trailer for Ali G: Who Iz I last week, marking his return to the satirical character after a two-decade absence
A defiant Cohen himself also addressed the growing backlash, writing of
Reports indicate that British cinema chain Picturehouse had responded to the campaign and confirmed that their outlets would not be showing the film.
However, Variety has since reported that Picturehouse’s email was a standard response from customers to every release question about a film that has not yet been booked by the company and is not on the schedule, while no decision has yet been made about Ali G: Who Iz I?.
Cohen teased the comedy legend’s return with a surprise appearance at Wimbledon in July, where he donned his character’s signature look: bling jewelry paired with a tracksuit and sunglasses.
It was first reported last year that Sacha was ‘bringing back his iconic comic creation, 27 years after the character first appeared on screens – where he was featured as the ‘voice of youth’ on Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show in the autumn of 1998.
He then became the title character of Da Ali G Show in the early 2000s; before starring as the titular character in Ali G Indahouse.
A day after the trailer’s release, NewsCord – a British news comparison and media monitoring platform – launched a campaign urging cinemas around the world not to show the film.
Cambridge-educated comedian Cohen decided to retire the character in 2007 as he became more recognizable, limiting the effectiveness of his antics.
There have been whispers of a comeback in recent years, but in 2023 Alf Lawrie, the head of factual entertainment at Channel 4, shut down the rumors, saying the show would never have happened under the modern rules.
He mused: ‘You can’t make Ali G, Borat or Brass Eye now because the rules have changed. You can’t fool people on the same grand scale.
‘TV has become a slightly more regulated environment than twenty years ago.
“When you made Borat 20 years ago, you could very seriously pretend it was from Kazakhstan, and until it aired people had no idea what else. Nowadays you can no longer deceive in the same way…
‘We now have much more respect for our contributors than before. But it means the nature of some satire has changed.”
