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Ali G, delivering the Class Day speech to the Harvard class of 2004.

Ali G is a satirical character invented by the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

1 History

Ali G first appeared on Channel 4's The Eleven O'Clock Show as the "voice of youth". He interviewed British public figures, who, too scared to appear "uncool", were completely wrong-footed by his idiosyncratic interviewing technique, based mostly on the simple stratagem of pretending to be stupid.

He is a member of the " West Staines Massiv", and lives at 37 Cherry Blossom Close in the heart of the "Staines Ghetto". He was educated at what he calls "Da Matthew Arnold Skool". [1] Staines is a middle-class suburb of London that has been the butt of jokes for many years. Anywhere further from an American inner-city ghettoThe name ghetto refers to an area where people from a given ethnic background or united in a given culture or religion live as a group, voluntarily or involuntarily, in milder or stricter seclusion. The word historically referred to restricted housing zon would be hard to imagine. This fact is lost on Ali G, who believes himself to exemplify "Gangsta" culture.

Ali G has subsequently become a UK media phenomenon, with his own TV show. He was featured in Madonna's music videoA music video (also video clip promo is a short film meant to present a visual representation of a popular music song. The TV station MTV ("Music Television" launched in 1981), originated the format of end-to-end music video programming without any conven for her song Music as a limousine driver and subsequently recorded his own record with the rap/ reggaeReggae is an African Caribbean style of music developed on the island of Jamaica and is closely linked to the religion Rastafarianism, though not universally popular among its members. The origins of reggae can be found in traditional African Caribbean mu performer ShaggyShaggy (born October 1968 as Orville Richard Burrell is an Jamaican reggae artist. He takes his nickname after Scooby Doo's companion. He moved to Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York when he was 18. He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1988 and participat. In 20022002 is a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). 2002 was the first palindromic year since 1991 and the last until 2112. 2002 was also designated: International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains National Science Year in the United Kingdom he was the central character in the feature film Ali G Indahouse, in which he became elected to Parliament and had to foil a plot to bulldoze Staines. He is now the main character of HBO's Da Ali G Show, which also features two other characters played by Cohen.

2 Controversy


Because Sacha Baron Cohen is not black himself, but portrays a character who purports to be black and who is stupid, ignorant and misogynistic he has been accused by some of racism and of ridiculing black street culture. The West End premiere of Ali G Indahouse was met with anti-racist demonstrators protesting outside. However, others have suggested that the implication that black street culture is not a legitimate subject for parody is itself racist.

There is also some question about whether one is expected to believe that the character Ali G is black, or a parody of suburban white and Asian boys who attempt to gain credibility by adopting the paraphernalia and language of black urban culture (see also Tim Westwood). This question is cast into relief by one of Ali G's catchphrases, "Is it because I is black?" However, as with many other forms of satirical entertainment, this question may simply be the product of over-analysis. Cohen's character is an uneducated thug, with the Tommy Hilfiger and Nike shoes adding to the effect that he is a "consumer whore." Ali G does not believe he is black, and yet, does not believe he is white either.

In many ways, the Ali G character is a commentary on the adoption of American black street culture by non-Americans and people who aren't black. Because Cohen is a middle-class, Cambridge University educated actor portraying a suburban, presumably middle-class Briton of undetermined extraction who is, in turn, styling himself on American street life, the show maintains a certain Victor/Victoria quality. To many critics, Ali G is not satirising black urban culture, but those non-blacks and non-urbanites who embrace it.



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