With the new trailer for, ‘Ali G Who iz I?’ recently released with much anticipation from fans it seems that not everyone is pleased to see the return of the character created by Sacha Baron Cohen. The Ali G film ban comes from Picturehouse who run 25 cinemas in the UK.
Why the Ali G film ban?
It appears that this has been orchestrated due to an online campaign by media watchdog platform NewsCord whose demand is that cinemas worldwide should refuse to screen the comedian’s new film alleging that he has, ‘enforced harmful stereotypes across marginalised communities through his characters’ and that distributor Amazon MGM has ‘revived a racist caricature’. As a result more than 34,000 emails were reportedly sent to cinema chains as part of NewsCord’s campaign. Picture house have issued a statement saying, ‘We currently do not have any plans to screen this film on its release”
Behind the face…
Now all of this might well have been relevant if it were not for the fact that Cohen created Ali G as a satire of a white man from Staines adopting the street speak, dress and mannerisms he associates with Black British culture that ultimately was an indictment on the character’s own ignorance.
Response…
Of course such a ‘ban’ has done nothing more than give the film publicity and seemingly aware that we are in are far different from the lat 1990’s when the character fist hit TV screens Cohen in typical style said at the launch of the trailer, ‘“In an age where a comedian’s career can be ended by a single un-PC joke, I thought I’d play it safe and bring this guy back.”
It seems however the Picturehouse are alone with the new Ali G film ban….but we’d really love to know what you think about this in the comments below
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