printHave just finished watching “Da Compleet Second Seazon of Da Ali Gi Show,” on DVD. Great stuff.
I’ve never cared much for Andy Rooney, but I have some “respek” for him after watching how angry he got over Ali Gi‘s English. Remember, all the interviewed believe that the interviews our gangsta from the streets of Staines conducts for the benefit of his audience—the urban youth of the U.K—are “for weal.” And so politically correct are they that few dare protest Ali Gi’S abominal ignorance and English. Except for Rooney. Good for the “geezer.”
“I is here wit’ none other dan my main man Andy Rooney,” to which Rooney replies: “I am here; I am here, I am here.” Ali tries again, “Does you think that…” To which Rooney, raging like Rumpelstiltskin, retorted: “It’s ‘do you think, do you think.'”
Still, Rooney ought to develop a funny bone. I mean, when Ali feigned hurt over Rooney’s rudeness—”‘is it ‘cos I is black,’ (even though he is quite obviously not)—Rooney should have cracked up. On the other hand, this culture has deteriorated to the extent that it’s not easy to tell whether the Ali Gis of the world are “for weal” or not.
Remember, in Ali Gi, Sasha Baron Cohen—the comic genius who’s also behind the Borat and Bruno characters—is lampooning a creature whose utter illiteracy has been cultivated by the establishment as a form of authenticity. All his guests, with few welcome exceptions, are quite polite and rather accepting of his unabashed idiocy.
I can’t wait to see Cohen’s new feature film: “Cultural Learning of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.”
Business enterprise, with the help of the politically correct (those who perceive any form of positive criticism as sacrosanct), have cultivated the creature Ali Gi portrays. Business feeds off the natural instincts of youth to gravitate toward conduct that is rebellious, simple, and anti-intellectual (many scholars and acclaimed mucisians owe much to their parents inculcation of values and reinforcement throughout their tender years). Therefore, the image and ‘culture’ sells and generates big business. The politically correct, which at one time legitimately attempted to thwarte inappropriate language and conduct (such as the use of epithets and other culturally and racially insensitive manifestations), has made some forms of cultural and linguistic relativism the norm within American culture.
Ali Gi’s mode of speaking is nothing new and it has existed in certain communities for several centuries. It is entirely “authentic” but not something to be emulated. Also, Ali Gi, could for all intents and purposes, be “black” to the unknowing interviewee.
Part of the “polite syndrome” we see in the Borat pieces result from peoples’ wish for good relations instead of seeming combatative in any way.