Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Ali G’ Faces “Racist” Backlash as UK Cinema Chain Has “No Plans” to Screen Film

Here come the censors.

Picturehouse Cinemas, a UK cinema chain, have confirmed they will not screen Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming “Ali G: Who Iz I?” In October — a decision that comes amid a campaign accusing the character of perpetuating racist stereotypes.

The campaign is being led by media-monitoring organisation NewsCord, which is urging major UK cinema chains including Odeon, Cineworld, Vue, Everyman and Showcase to refuse to screen the movie. The group claims Cohen uses satire as a “cover for enforcing racist stereotypes” and has accused the revival of Ali G of bringing back a “racist caricature.” More than 27,000 emails (!) have reportedly been sent to cinema chains.

Ali G was created as a white man from Staines who blindly adopts the slang, clothing and mannerisms he associates with Black British culture. The joke has always been about his ignorance and ridiculousness. The character is deliberately offensive. That is rather the point.

NewsCord claiming Cohen uses satire as a “cover” is itself merely a cover for the group’s push to censor the film.

I thought we were past the point where, if a comedy character offends someone, the answer is to stop people from seeing it. Are we still living in 2020?

Cohen was a comedy revolutionary in the early 2000s with “Da Ali G Show,” creating Borat, Brüno and Ali G — characters who blurred the line between performance and reality, exposed people’s biases and turned culture clashes into sharp social satire. A lot has changed socially and politically since then.

Regardless, Cohen clearly anticipated the outrage.