Analysis of The Ali G Show - Article Example

Analysis of The Ali G Show Channel 4 in the UK is a channel that has revolutionized what viewers watch on TV. Besides the usual programmes aired by other channels in genres like drama, thrillers, movies, comedies and documentaries, channel four has managed to stir a lot of controversies with some if the programmes it airs. From other media channels, the social media, newspapers and from politicians calling for censorship for some of its programmes, channel 4 has managed to quite make a name for itself. Channel 4 is a public television broadcasting company formed in 1982 and operates via cable in Britain and also offers internet TV services. Channel 4 is a publicly owned entity owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. Channel 4 transmits some of the most promising TV programmes like Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mom and more controversial programmes like Ali G and Brass Eye, which has been condemned by the general population, religious organizations and politicians as well. Channel 4’s tag line is ‘demonstrating innovation and experiment’ (Channel 4 2011). The Ali G show is one of the controversial programmes aired by Channel 4 (Kelso 2002). The Ali G show is a satirical programme starring Ali G, a character played by British actor Sacha Baron Cohen. The series has been aired twice; the original in the UK in 2000 and its follow up was aired between 2003 and 2004 in the US channel HBO and was called Ali G in the USA. Ali G plays a host in an interview show where he interviews celebrities, high-ranking officials in different capacities and politicians, but in a comical way. One of the reasons it is comical is that the interviewees usually think it is a serious talk show until later on during the interviews. Ali G’s full screen name is Alistair Leslie Graham, but he shortens it to what he believes is a more interesting name that can better be identified with a more youthful, hip hop and Caribbean oriented crowd, Ali G. his accent is also exaggerated a lot with the Afro-Caribbean accent . His clothing, character and the way he carries himself around are also influenced largely by hip-hop. Ali G is always in brightly colored tracksuits, sports sneakers, a tight headgear called a du rag and matching sunglasses that give him his unique look. Furthermore, he imitates African-Americans a lot, even though he is from the UK. His interviewing skills are also anything but comical. In the USA for instance, he tells his interviewees, usually celebrities, that he is a British media personality that wants to interview them about the media and politics. And just like in normal interviews, the collected and well-groomed celebrities start to answer his questions the way they are used to in other conventional interviews they attend. The issue is, they are not aware that Ali G is probably pulling their legs and that his interviews are neither normal nor conventional. As soon as the celebrities answer the questions, Ali G picks up a word they have said and twists and turns it and the rest of the interview leaves the formerly collected celebrity lost for words, before finally realizing that Ali G is not really serious. He calls on his ‘hommies’ to give opinions and ask other silly questions that leave interviewees agape and very uncomfortable. His ‘hommies’ or friends, including his girlfriend, are just as comical and unconventional as Ali G himself. There are also two other characters in the show, played by Cohen himself, but in different capacities. These two other characters also form part of what makes the Ali G show one of the funniest, satirical programmes in the UK. One of the characters is Borat Sagdiyev, who apparently met Ali G on a vague satellite TV, while ‘awaiting a free preview on a fantasy channel’, as Ali G usually puts it. Borat is from Kazakhstan, is a gypsy and his native language is Hebrew. Borat opens the world of his weird gypsy way of life to the viewers in as funny a way as his counterpart Ali G. he often comes across as anti-Semitic and misogynistic, something that does not make everyone comfortable or happy. Borat’s role in the Ali G show is to travel around the United Kingdom and the United States of America, interviewing random unsuspecting people. His interviews are not the conventional or proper ones considering his accent, his very controversial standing and views and the way he carries himself around during the interviews. Borat’s interviews often involve him taking part in the activities that are being carried out by the people he is interviewing, like jogging or eating or even shopping and carrying babies. He also makes a lot of reference to cultures of his hometown and asks people to partake in them. These cultural practices can be considered as anything but normal. These references are about his dead wife, his brother, about his favorite sport, kushik, which could be considered inhuman because it involves sport hunting dogs and killing them for fun. He also makes remarks in his broken English to insinuate that he would love to have sex severally with his interviewees. Though it might seem completely uncomfortable to be interviewed by Borat, he has his day on the field and manages to make audiences across the UK and the USA laugh and hate him at the same time. The third character in the Ali G show is Bruno, who only has one name and insists that he does not have a surname or a middle name, just the one name Bruno. Bruno is supposedly an Austrian in nationality, and he declares himself as being the voice of the youth in Austria. Bruno is also a homosexual and takes every opportunity to be flagrant about it. Bruno, like Ali G and Borat, is also very unconventional and comically so in his activities. He has to be listened to and attracts a lot of attention wherever he goes to, mostly because of his style of dressing that expose a lot of his body, including wearing very skimpy bottoms that hide very little. Being interviewed by Bruno can be a very uncomfortable situation, especially if one is a conservative person. Bruno has the habit of getting crowds charged up, and not in a positive way, but one that leaves the crowd baying for his blood. For instance, he once performed with a group of cheerleaders in a football game, of course dressed in his skimpy attire, and caused the crowd to become so angry that he had to leave the stadium. Bruno also has the habit of lying to people to say things in polish and lying about their meanings. His favorite is telling people, especially young ones to say they are gay, in Polish. Bruno is also famous for interviewing fashionistas and has very harsh words for people who do not met his fashion criteria and do not have a fashion sense in his opinion. He says that such people should be sent to concentration camps. This is a very controversial and prickly statement, especially given his Polish background. Bruno also interviews people in parties a lot and gets them to say very unconventional views and the fact that these people are under the influence of alcohol makes matters even worse. Bruno’s role in his interviews is to expose the mediocrity, shallow-mindedness and short-termness of fashion in the lives of people and in society in general. Granted, the Ali G show has brought more viewers to tune into channel four, just out of curiosity to see what the fuss is all about. In its airing of Ali G, Channel four has managed to bring to TV something that many mainstream media would be reluctant to do (Topcik 2005). Controversy has not only dogged the show, but has also got people talking about it and trying to figure out what Channel 4’s agenda is, apart from the obvious fact that they want their ratings up, something they achieved in the end. Controversy is usually stirred when something comes to the public view that is usually spoken about in low tones or avoided completely as a topic because it is either a taboo topic or due to preconceived ideas about the topic (Gibson 2000). When somebody or an organization brings it to light, there is an outrage as people demand that action be taken against these people, without even thinking about it. Satirical programmes and shows come in handy in these situations, even though these shows are not sometimes spared from these either. Satirical shows tend to bring out issues considered taboo by a majority of the people, even though people are suffering from the silence and more people would prefer that the issue was addressed more openly. Some of the issues that caused a furor when once aired include homosexuality and the rights of homosexuals and paedophilia in the society especially within religious organizations. The Ali G show tends to touch on the hypocrisies going on in the society and also trying to change the way society views some things that are considered conventional and the right way to go about them. This does not necessarily make people happy. It is human nature to oppose change and those that fear change tend to fight it the most, though the bases of their arguments are usually not founded. Homosexuality is a theme in the Ali G show that is very obvious, and mostly comes out through Bruno, the Austrian. For a long time, homosexuality was and still is a touchy issue all over the world. Even though homosexuals’ rights are protected by the law in places like the UK, it does not stop people from being homophobic and hate homosexuals. Bruno’s dressing is an exaggerated way of depicting homosexuals, but it does make people aware of their feelings towards homosexuals and makes them come to terms with accepting that homosexuality is here to stay and that homosexuals are human beings with feelings, just like everyone else. Bruno also pokes at history with the acidic statements that make reference of historical events like the fact that Jews were sent to concentration camps during Germany’s Nazi rule. Being Polish, he can afford to make fun of that period, yet it is a topic that many people would not discuss let alone make fun of because of the grimness of the issue. Bruno makes it fine for people to poke fun of things that they fear as it helps them deal not only deal with the situation, but also brings it to public light and get people to talk about it without being castigated. Ali G picks on society; what people do and how they behave that is termed proper and right. The society as we know it today has too many hypocrisies, forcing people to conform to certain standards whether these standards are useful and beneficial or not. This conformity has led to disastrous effects as people outdo each other in trying to be like the rest. Those who do not conform are usually labeled unkind names, and these further acts to make the situation worse. In order to conform, people have lost their individualities, gotten into debts they cannot afford to repay and depression levels are on higher levels than ever, with even children feeling the pressure of being in with the crowd. The media is largely responsible for this, always setting standards that people find hard to achieve; expensive fashion, impossible ideal weights, new cars, homes and coming from certain neighbourhoods. Channel 4, in its bid to be creative and innovative, decided to poke fun of the images portrayed by the media, itself included, using shows like The Ali G show. Instead of a properly trimmed, completely handsome, well-mannered and expensively dressed and accessorized interviewer, viewers meet Ali G, who is dressed like most people do in their homes, comfortably and without accessories that are too expensive (Walsh 2002). Ali G shows the other side of the town that people prefer not talking about. The fact that he interviews actual celebrities and more so asking them very embarrassing questions and the viewers get to see the human side of these celebrities, whom they had placed in high pedestals they themselves never imagined themselves to reach, breaks the fallacy that celebrities are above other human beings. This reality is useful in a society where people feel less like human because they do not meet certain criteria. Channel 4 has actually lived up to its motto and gained popularity by airing the Ali G show. Though it means that at the end of the day they actually make fun of themselves because the Ali G Show is also a satirical show on the media, it was done in good spirit and made people laugh. This also brought to fore many issues that people were scared to talk about, face or address, hence poking on the consciences of people about them. The Ali G Show is not only entertaining, but informative in its content. References Channel 4. 2011. History of Channel 4. Available at . [accessed on January 6 2012] Gibson, J. 2000. Comics find Ali G is an alibi for racism. The Guardian (London), January 11, p.5. Kelso, P. 2002. Race protest at Ali G's film premiere. The Guardian (London) March 21, p. 15. Topcik, J. 2005. For Ali G, More Fame But Fewer Dupes. The New York Times. July 23, p. 18. Walsh, J. 2002. Ali G: Keepin' it real, for real. The Independent (London), March 16, p.10. Read More