Sacha Baron Cohen: anti-racist activist?
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Hmmm…Interesting factoids about Cohen from Wild About Movies:
Baron Cohen was involved in the ARA anti-racist alliance for many years – actually marching against fascists and racists in London and against apartheid in the 80s
The Times wrote a piece entitled “Ali G Creator is in fact Leading Civil Rights Scholar,” which examined how Baron Cohen made a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Martin Luther King while doing research for his dissertation in Cambridge. Entitled “ A Case of Mistaking Identities – the Jewish Black Alliance,” the thesis examines the nature of cooperation between the African-American and Jewish communities and suggests ways of how to improve relations in the current day. His professor describes it as a major work of importance on the civil rights movement and is suggested reading for history students in Cambridge.
Da Ali G Show has been commended for its positive effects on race relations by the CRE [commission for racial equality]
Da Ali G Show led to lectures during police training, on why it is crucial not to see the population solely in terms of black and white.
What do you think?
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Leigh wrote:
I think Sacha Baron Cohen is enormously funny…
Not everyone finds his particular brand of humour to be humorous, but that’s fine.
Nnot everyone finds the Wayans Brothers funny either, but I don’t find them being demonised on the internet…
Posted 08 Nov 2006 at 12:33 pm ¶
amy wrote:
I think Cohen’s comedy can be really hilarious and affirming for an insider audience — one that is already anti-racist. But I wonder if irony ever has the power to reach or transform people beyond that. Do people who actually share the characters’ racism even get the joke?
Posted 09 Nov 2006 at 1:55 am ¶
Yori Kim wrote:
well, i watched the borat movie and BORAT wasn’t racist BUT the people he interviewed are(mostly) racist, it’s sattire showing how racist people are and him answering all the racist questions with ridiculusly stupid answers, and you wouldn’t beleive some of the racist people he interviewed during his show AND his movie, one of them even liked hitler……..how AWFUL
–
Posted 09 Nov 2006 at 8:36 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>one of them even liked hitler……..how AWFUL
He interviewed Schwartzenegger?
Sorry, had to do it…
Posted 09 Nov 2006 at 11:34 am ¶
HighJive wrote:
>>well, i watched the borat movie and BORAT wasn’t racist …
Not sure what movie you were watching, Yori Kim. Borat the character was pretty clearly anti-Semitic. And misogynistic. And homophobic. And a host of other things, satire or not.
The movie itself was racist in its depictions of certain segments, from Blacks to citizens of Kazakhstan.
Posted 09 Nov 2006 at 9:47 pm ¶
Rachel wrote:
I had initially thought that Borat was about risque ethnic humor. Then, one of my students told me about it, and she said it was a commentary on racism. So now I have to go see it.
I don’t have an opinion yet, since I haven’t seen it. But if it weren’t for my student, I probably would not have considered it at all.
Posted 09 Nov 2006 at 10:01 pm ¶
Yori Kim wrote:
oh yeah…….sorry ’bout that highjive i forgot ’bout that 2………..heh, um……….i like SOME of his humor, but i know some is wrong 2, just because somebody makes fun of someone else, doesn’t mean you should make fun of them back(example: japanese blackface, black making fun of japanese.)
so your right, but some of the stuff that DOESN’T have to do with race is funny.
Posted 10 Nov 2006 at 9:31 am ¶
Yori Kim wrote:
but Highjive i DO have an arguement for you, i mean he’s not against jewish people, because he IS jewish, and he WAS in an anti-racist alliance, i researched. and in real life he’s not like that at all, it’s just an act.
(no offense to you ^-^)
Posted 10 Nov 2006 at 9:37 am ¶
Conflag wrote:
This article is ridiculous. Sacha Baron Cohen is incredibly racist himself. Making a movie that mocks and slanders an entire nation (Kazakhstan) is pretty damn racist.
Imagine a movie which depicts Israelis as horse urine drinking, dirty, racist, perverse people who love incest. Would this movie be accepted anywhere in the US, or in Europe for that matter?
Posted 21 Jun 2009 at 9:42 pm ¶