LOS ANGELES — In an industry increasingly dominated by superheroes, sequels, reboots and movies about people explaining multiverses to each other, Sacha Baron Cohen has apparently decided that what cinema really needs is a man from Staines wearing a tracksuit, a Rastafarian hat and an alarming amount of confidence.
Ali G is back.
And judging by the reaction, several people would quite like him to go back.
The new film, Ali G: Who Iz I?, is scheduled for theatrical release October 23 through Amazon MGM. The mockumentary brings Cohen back into character and, in keeping with the Ali G tradition, places the character among real people rather than simply surrounding him with actors.
Naturally, this has caused a little trouble.
Because apparently the one thing more dangerous than artificial intelligence, declining box-office numbers and a $200 million movie nobody asked for is…
Ali G asking somebody a stupid question.
The Return Nobody Was Supposed To Make
Ali G first appeared in 1998, eventually becoming one of Cohen’s defining creations and leading to his own television series and the 2002 movie Ali G Indahouse.
More than two decades later, Cohen has brought him back.
The trailer has already triggered criticism, with campaigners arguing that the character represents outdated racial stereotypes. A campaign has called on cinemas to refuse to screen the movie, with tens of thousands of emails reportedly sent to cinema chains.
Which has created an interesting new Hollywood marketing strategy:
Make the movie controversial before anyone has seen it.
It’s basically free publicity.
“Banned” Is Doing A Lot Of Work Here
There is, however, a small problem with the word “banned.”
Reports have circulated suggesting that Picturehouse Cinemas had decided not to show the film.
Variety subsequently reported that the response from Picturehouse was a standard reply indicating that the film had not been booked, rather than a definitive decision to ban it.
Which is perhaps the most British development imaginable.
The film hasn’t necessarily been banned.
It may simply not be booked.
But “Ali G Not Yet Booked By Cinema” doesn’t have quite the same headline energy.
“ALI G BANNED!”
Now that’s a movie campaign.
The Beautiful Thing About Ali G
Here’s the thing about Ali G.
He was never supposed to be a sophisticated character.
That was the point.
He was stupid.
Confidently stupid.
Spectacularly stupid.
The joke was frequently that he walked into situations believing he was the smartest person in the room while having absolutely no idea what was going on.
And sometimes the people being interviewed were perfectly capable of making themselves look ridiculous without any assistance whatsoever.
That was Cohen’s particular talent.
Give someone a microphone.
Give them a completely ridiculous premise.
Then wait.
And Now We Have The Internet
The extraordinary thing about the new Ali G controversy is that the character has returned to a world considerably more ridiculous than the one he left.
When Ali G first appeared, he had to make politicians, celebrities and public figures look ridiculous.
Today, they have social media.
They do it themselves.
Ali G used to ask politicians ridiculous questions.
Now politicians post ridiculous things voluntarily.
He used to misunderstand the news.
Now the news sometimes appears to misunderstand itself.
He used to create controversy.
Now controversy has an algorithm.
So perhaps the real question isn’t:
“Is Ali G still relevant?”
It is:
“Is the world now too Ali G for Ali G?”
The Cinema Ban That Became The Marketing Campaign
Hollywood has spent decades trying to manufacture urgency.
This time, it appears to have arrived naturally.
The trailer comes out.
People complain.
Other people defend it.
Campaigners demand cinemas don’t show it.
Fans demand that cinemas do show it.
Journalists write about people arguing about whether people should watch it.
And somewhere inside Amazon MGM, someone quietly whispers:
“Excellent.”
Because there is one thing that every studio understands.
People can ignore a movie.
They find it much harder to ignore a movie they’re being told they’re not supposed to watch.
Respeck The Controversy
Cohen himself appeared to anticipate the backlash.
In material accompanying the trailer, he joked about bringing Ali G back at a time when a comedian’s career can supposedly be damaged by a single politically incorrect joke.
And that’s arguably the most interesting thing about the entire exercise.
Ali G has always lived in the uncomfortable space between satire and offence.
Some audiences see a character exposing prejudice and stupidity.
Others see a character reinforcing stereotypes.
Those interpretations have existed since the character’s earliest years and remain part of the debate surrounding the new movie.
The argument isn’t new.
The internet is simply much louder.
But Is It Actually Amazing?
Well…
That’s for audiences to decide.
And that is precisely the problem with trying to ban something before everyone has had the opportunity to see it.
You might hate it.
You might love it.
You might think it is the funniest thing Cohen has done in years.
You might think Ali G should have remained peacefully retired somewhere in Staines.
But at least the argument is taking place around an actual piece of cinema.
And in an industry currently producing an extraordinary number of movies designed to offend absolutely nobody, there is something almost refreshing about a filmmaker deliberately walking into the room wearing a shellsuit and asking:
“Why is everyone getting so upset?”
Hollywood’s Most Dangerous New Strategy
Perhaps Ali G: Who Iz I? isn’t dangerous at all.
Perhaps it is simply old-fashioned comedy arriving in a new media environment where every joke immediately becomes a headline, every headline becomes a campaign and every campaign becomes another piece of marketing.
The movie hasn’t even opened yet.
People are already arguing about it.
People are already writing about it.
People are already trying to stop people from seeing it.
And millions of people who hadn’t thought about Ali G in years have suddenly remembered exactly who he is.
Which brings us to the uncomfortable conclusion:
The man may have been away for 20 years.
But Ali G still knows how to get attention.
Booyakasha.
Hollywood, you’ve been Ali G’d.
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