Writes Sacha Baron Cohen, in "Why Satire Is No Laughing Matter" (Time).
According to Baron Cohen, the "bouffon" is a "tradition dated back to 11th century France, where societal outcasts—gay people, heretics, those with deformities—would be let back into their villages once a year to put on shows viciously mocking the ruling class."
I noticed that Time essay because of "What to Know About ‘Ali G: Who Iz I?’ Sacha Baron Cohen has revived his fictional wannabe rapper in a new movie that will be in theaters for just this weekend. Here’s what to know" (NYT).
Here's an excerpt from that (showing why Baron Cohen is highly motivated to justify his continuation of the Ali G character):
Like other characters created by Baron Cohen, Ali G has been criticized as a perpetuation of the very biases that the character purports to mock.
Curtis Walker, a British comedian, once compared Ali G to Al Jolson, a blackface “Mammy” singer.
Ali G is “dishing out all the clichés and stereotypical language,” Walker said. “I find it quite degrading and sad that this is what catches people’s attention.... I don’t like the concept of a white guy playing a Black guy anyway, and when he is playing a stupid stereotype, it is even worse.”
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26 comments:
I find the concept of bouffons fascinating, and I get the point of Baron Cohen's approach. I still don't enjoy his work at all, and never have. I guess I'm simply not the audience, and that is perfectly fine. His job is not to be all things to all people, after all.
If it really were an important “tradition” in France and well within the context would Cohen really NEED to explain it so explicitly?
No. I don’t think so.
Uh Oh!
Cracks in the Red Green alliance are forming!
LOL!
He's a much better serious actor than a satirist.
I can't imagine there are many people who would be surprised to find out that in real life Sacha Baron Cohen is an asshole.
Whatever character this guy is playing, I find him unfunny and tedious.
Time magazine? Really? That’s the best he could do?
His golf video is damn funny, but that’s about it.
"Don't hate me, I'm actually making fun of white people'
In 20 years, doing blackface will be considered transgressive, edgy, and thus acceptable to the then-progressive left.
Ali G's interview subjects put up with him because they perceived him as an ethnically ambiguous clown. They were afraid to be caught offending him on camera. Very few broke free of that perception. I never liked or watched him much.
I've seen his movies. I think they're funny, but I don't think he ever makes fun of any of the left wing idiots and idiocies. He pretends to be subversive, but it's mostly left wing agitprop. He's a propagandist presenting propaganda in the guise of edgy comedy. He's less self aware and just as fatuous as the people he makes fun of.
I’m tired of people with fame and fortune attempting to justify why they endure it all to help the little guys they actually loath and mock. But you know, they have to stick it to the man and by man they mean the average citizen voter just trying to make a living and bring some order to their society.
My favorite Ali G moment was when he was admitted to an audience with Donald Trump in Trump's New York office. After scene upon scene of numerous self-important libtards, politicians, and intellectuals falling like fools for this clown's shtick, Donald Trump had him sussed before he finished his opening gambit. Trump stood up, waved bye-bye to the hidden camera, and had Cohen shown the door in less than a minute.
"Al Jolson, a blackface “Mammy” singer."
I'm surprised to see the indefinite article. Were there other blackface “Mammy” singers?
I asked Grok and found out: "The song (music by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis) was first performed in 1918 by William Frawley (later famous as Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy) as part of his vaudeville act."
For me it's simple. I don't find him funny (or provocative or interesting). And that's a low bar... I find most comedians funny.
The only issue is whether it’s funny or not.
The problem with satire in this vein is that it can't be over-obvious, or the satire is going to be missed. But somehow Cohen manages this, and while he's doing that, he also cultivates an audience that doesn't see it as satire, but as reality-based humor. They buy into the character at face value as a real person. So even with a low common-denominator, those who are still fooled become the show. Makes you sad.
Sasha Baron Cohen has made good money not being funny. He is a genius of sorts.
@Michael Fitzgerald, it’s not the only time Sacha Baron Cohen was quickly shown the door. He tried to con a gun store owner into illegally selling him ax firearm. The gun store owner wasn’t having it, then recognized him. Audio and video of the incident were captured by the gun store’s security system.
America has now become a post-satire society. The Onion headlines seem more believable than the real news headlines.
I think you’re overthinking this.
I don’t know why, but stupidity is funny. A lot of comedy is built on people saying or doing stupid things. Primarily Ali G is funny because he says and does stupid things. Secondarily, he often makes people around him look and/or sound stupid.
That’s about it. It’s funny. And occasionally he makes you think about the issues he is talking about. Sexism, animal cruelty, anti-semitism, racism That’s a positive. But mainly it’s just funny.
Don’t over analyse it. Don’t over PC it. Just accept it for what it is and laugh along with the rest of us, and perhaps think about some of the issues in a way that makes the world a better place.
Every so often, you'll see this situation where a comedian get attacked and then all the other comedians separate into two distinct groups. One group will condemn the comedian as being offensive and going into territory that is off limits; and the other group will defend the comedian by saying that nothing should be off limits in comedy and comedians need to be allowed to be offensive. Obviously, I tend to be more sympathetic with the second group.
Rustygrommet said...
"He's a much better serious actor than a satirist."
A lot of comedians are very good serious actors. Like with serious acting, comedy tends to be better the more real it feels. I heard that Leslie Nielsen was having trouble trying to "act funny" when they started the movie, Airplane. What helped him get it dialed in was when they told him, "Play it like it's real."
“ the "bouffon" is a "tradition dated back to 11th century France.” I’m sure it was, but it goes back to the town of Sodom.
The term was extensively explored by Democrat Senators during the Kavanaugh hearings, using the English translation, “boof”.
In the 1950s satire really was about outsiders. By the 1970s it wasn't. Liberal satirists reflected the attitudes that had come to prevail in academia and the media. Ridiculing Nixon wasn't really "punching up" by that time.
Sacha Cohen is a wealthy Oxford educated jew, who came from a wealthy English family. He forced his wife to convert to Judaism, despite claiming to be some sort of "atheist".
He's never been subversive or "undermining the establishment". Cohen's humor has always been directed at the perceived enemies of the liberal establishment. The sort of people the NYT's and the London Times despise.
Of course, dumbshit libtard 'muricans never got that. They really thought that by going to the American south and making fun of the hicks, Cohen was on their side. LOL.
Its always amazes me how stupid americans are. They see Jon Stewart on TV pushing the liberal/left party line, beloved by every billionaire in NYC and Beverly Hills, and they think he's "edgy" and "inconoclastic".
If Network execs, chuck schumer and Norman lear thought you were hilarious, youre not "subversive". You're establishment.
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