Sacha Baron Cohen is bringing Ali G back to the big screen, but the character is already stirring controversy.
Tens of thousands of emails were sent urging theaters not to screen “Ali G: Who Iz I?” over accusations that the character is rooted in offensive racial stereotypes — something that’s never stopped theaters from promoting his films before.
And for this reason, BlazeTV hosts Stu Burguiere and Dave Landau aren’t sure the negative hype is entirely organic.
Dave recalls his old films where he would interview important figures like Dick Cheney who “wouldn’t know who he was.”
“It was always a fascinating interview because he would just bomb the interview, and it was always pretty funny to watch,” he says, noting that his film “Borat” made him laugh “the hardest” he ever has in theaters at “how unbelievably funny and inappropriate it was.”
“I am not a fan at all … of this, ‘Well, our standards have changed, and now he can’t do this character anymore.’ It’s more of just like, ‘I don’t know, I’m kind of done with that character from 20 years ago,’” Stu chimes in.
“Well, everybody knows who he is,” Dave agrees. “So it’s either they’re in on the joke, or they’re being paid to be on it. I mean, half the trailer is just people breaking because they know who he is.”
“It’s played out,” he continues. “We know the joke and so do the people that he’s playing the joke on. I certainly don’t think it’s racist. If it’s racist against anybody, it’s probably Jews, and he’s Jewish.”
“I mean, the most offensive stuff in Borat was against Jewish people,” he adds.
Dave also notes sarcastically that “sending emails because a movie shouldn’t be shown and getting 37,000 of them” doesn’t “at all build hype and give incentive for places to show a film.”
“I’m kind of skeptical, honestly,” Stu says. “It feels to me like a promotional stunt, like, ‘Oh gosh, everyone’s calling him racist, this is a big controversy.’”
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