One of the most fascinating comedians of our age
Added 7/20/2009
I had a great political science professor as an undergraduate, Jim Ranchino, a student of William Appleman Williams. Nothing angered Ranchino so much as lightly examined or passively accepted ideas. His goal as a professor, he said, was to raise our "B.S. quotient." To this end, he would try to make us challenge him. On occasion he would do his best to make his students challenge him, to force us to refuse to accept him as an authority, even intentionally lying for the entire class period, making up increasingly outrageous "facts" about, say, the war in the Pacific in WW II or the beliefs of some political philosopher. His goal was not to get us to ingest a certain body of "facts," but to get us to question, to challenge, and confront.
I think Jim Ranchino would have appreciated Sascha Baron Cohen's humor. His three alter egos - Ali G., Borat, and Brûno - are among the most challenging comic characters to have appeared in the past couple of decades. They are challenging both because Cohen uses them to challenge and satirize our almost limitless gullibility. Ali G. is a brilliant caricature of wannabes, people who are so fake that they themselves are unaware of it. We don't know what Ali G.'s real name is, but we know that he is a white, upper-class twit. He talks of "Keeping it real," yet he is so self-deceived that he can confront his viewers by asking, "Haven't you ever seen a black man before?" So on one level we laugh at Ali G. because he is a self-deceived idiot, but on another we laugh at the people who are taken in by his fraud. And since many of the people Ali G. deceives are people that we look up to in our culture, the joke is on us as well. Cohen's strategy is perhaps best seen in a skit where Brûno interviews a man in charge of a fashion show and asks him a string of questions that directly contradict one another, such as "Why was everything so light?" follows by "Why was everything so heavy?" His final question in the interview is, "Is consistency important to you?"
Of course, this constant puncturing of the pretensions of our culture would be merely an intellectual exercise if the series wasn't also hysterically funny. There are times in DA ALI G. SHOW when I laugh about as hard as it is possible for me to laugh. There are also times when I merely winch. Cohen is almost always on the edge in his humor, which how he likes it. Much of the time when I watch him, I'm extremely uncomfortable; the rest of the time I'm laughing my head off. In one scene I might be dying as Ali G. asks Buzz Aldrin, "Will man ever set foot on the sun?" (After Aldrin assures him that we will not, ever, because it is too hot, Ali G. asks, "What if we were to go during the winter?") In another I might feel uneasy compassion for some poor soul as Borat shows pornographic Polaroids of him and his sister. Sometimes his skits show us at our worse, such as the glee with which patrons in a country western bar join Borat in singing "Throw the Jew Down the Well." Are we, we wonder, really that racist beneath the surface? Or are the people in the bar oblivious as to the meaning of the lyrics?
Cohen has a longstanding interest in prejudice and hatred of otherness. At Cambridge University his studies were centered on the American civil rights movement in the sixties (I've wondered if his frequent visits to Mississippi on his shows are related to his academic background). I'm not saying that everything on Cohen's shows has an elevated purpose or is high-minded, but I do believe that it is part of the mix. Obviously he is first and foremost an entertainer more than willing to take the low road for a laugh, but it is also obvious that his questions often have other purposes.
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Ali G,Borat,Bruno. Hilarious Tv SHOW!
Added 3/12/2009
Ali G Show,Ali G Bruno,Borat. My favorites being Borat and Bruno. Ali G asks Silly Questions to Famous guests, Borat acting like a total idiot,
Bruno making fun of fashion types, All Funny, Offensive and still funny at times.
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great stuff
Added 12/18/2007
i dont get the people who rate this 1 star. this is SATIRE and nothing more. its brilliant, its funny and i love showing it to people who have never seen it before.
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A Reality Show at it's Finest
Added 11/17/2007
Da Ali G show is a comedy reality show that originally aired on HBO.Sacha Cohen plays the role of 3 very different characters and shocks the public. Theres Ali G - a unintelligent gangster who interviews many politicians and rights activists. There's Bruno, a gay man who interviews many straight people who have no idea what show they are on, and there's Borat, who is a foreigner new to the US. Many people are probably familiar with Borat, who had his own movie that was insanely popular. If you like Borat you'll probably love Da Ali G show. This season only has 6 episodes but each one is incredibly hilarious. It is amazing what people will believe, especially when talking about the Ali G character. If you are interested in a vulgar comedy show that puts people in difficult and embarrassing situations, check out Da Ali G Show, Season 1.
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Diz Be Funne but Simpel: Da Ali G Show
Added 9/21/2007
Da compleet first seazon of Sacha Baron Cohen's the Ali G show is hilarious at times, if mostly for the caustically funny, oblivious reactions he elicits from the prestigious and famous. Though the humor is well intentioned from a liberal English Jew, the parodist anti-Semitism, misogyny, and bigotry is unclear in its vague social messages; stereotypes drawn just for the sake of humor hold a power in manipulating the less analytic of views. Cohen is rude, offensive, and harmful to his targets but refreshingly crude nonetheless to his audience
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One of the most fascinating comedians of our age
Added 7/20/2009
I had a great political science professor as an undergraduate, Jim Ranchino, a student of William Appleman Williams. Nothing angered Ranchino so much as lightly examined or passively accepted ideas. His goal as a professor, he said, was to raise our "B.S. quotient." To this end, he would try to make us challenge him. On occasion he would do his best to make his students challenge him, to force us to refuse to accept him as an authority, even intentionally lying for the entire class period, making up increasingly outrageous "facts" about, say, the war in the Pacific in WW II or the beliefs of some political philosopher. His goal was not to get us to ingest a certain body of "facts," but to get us to question, to challenge, and confront.
I think Jim Ranchino would have appreciated Sascha Baron Cohen's humor. His three alter egos - Ali G., Borat, and Brûno - are among the most challenging comic characters to have appeared in the past couple of decades. They are challenging both because Cohen uses them to challenge and satirize our almost limitless gullibility. Ali G. is a brilliant caricature of wannabes, people who are so fake that they themselves are unaware of it. We don't know what Ali G.'s real name is, but we know that he is a white, upper-class twit. He talks of "Keeping it real," yet he is so self-deceived that he can confront his viewers by asking, "Haven't you ever seen a black man before?" So on one level we laugh at Ali G. because he is a self-deceived idiot, but on another we laugh at the people who are taken in by his fraud. And since many of the people Ali G. deceives are people that we look up to in our culture, the joke is on us as well. Cohen's strategy is perhaps best seen in a skit where Brûno interviews a man in charge of a fashion show and asks him a string of questions that directly contradict one another, such as "Why was everything so light?" follows by "Why was everything so heavy?" His final question in the interview is, "Is consistency important to you?"
Of course, this constant puncturing of the pretensions of our culture would be merely an intellectual exercise if the series wasn't also hysterically funny. There are times in DA ALI G. SHOW when I laugh about as hard as it is possible for me to laugh. There are also times when I merely winch. Cohen is almost always on the edge in his humor, which how he likes it. Much of the time when I watch him, I'm extremely uncomfortable; the rest of the time I'm laughing my head off. In one scene I might be dying as Ali G. asks Buzz Aldrin, "Will man ever set foot on the sun?" (After Aldrin assures him that we will not, ever, because it is too hot, Ali G. asks, "What if we were to go during the winter?") In another I might feel uneasy compassion for some poor soul as Borat shows pornographic Polaroids of him and his sister. Sometimes his skits show us at our worse, such as the glee with which patrons in a country western bar join Borat in singing "Throw the Jew Down the Well." Are we, we wonder, really that racist beneath the surface? Or are the people in the bar oblivious as to the meaning of the lyrics?
Cohen has a longstanding interest in prejudice and hatred of otherness. At Cambridge University his studies were centered on the American civil rights movement in the sixties (I've wondered if his frequent visits to Mississippi on his shows are related to his academic background). I'm not saying that everything on Cohen's shows has an elevated purpose or is high-minded, but I do believe that it is part of the mix. Obviously he is first and foremost an entertainer more than willing to take the low road for a laugh, but it is also obvious that his questions often have other purposes.
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If you loved Borat, this will be a delight.
Added 6/21/2009
While the show may not be quite as consistently strong as Borat, it comes close and some of the interviews are real gems.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Great purchase
Added 5/26/2009
If you saw and enjoyed season one, season two will not let you down. It is funny to see how people react in situations that are extreme when they believe it to be real. This is absolute comedy but if you are interested it is also mind blowing to see how ignorant and immature people can be when they come into contact with the characters Ali G, Borat and Burno. Sometimes we forget how people are racist, sexist bigots because they hide it and this show is amazing because it pulls the truth from real people.
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