'Who is America?'

Even if the name Sacha Baron Cohen may not instantly ring a bell, some of his characters most likely will. The best known of which is the wannabe London rude boy character of Ali G, which at the beginning of the 2000’s took the comedy world by storm. Walking the line between satire and documentary, Cohen created a new format where his character, with all his stereotypes of British rap, grime, and rude boy culture. Would interview various prominent characters within culture and politics, among them even a pre-president Trump. The amazing thing about it was how far he’d get his guests to go along with absurdities through playing down the intelligence of his character and the clever use of slang, which made the show a true inside joke for youth culture. 

Cohen then went on to create other characters that would build on the same interview premise, Borat from Kazakstan, which incorporated all our stereotypes of a poor western European nation, and Bruno the over the top fashion reporter from Austria, who would shine a spotlight on the often not too intelligent reasoning that can happen in the conceptualisation of fashion. 

After the fairly uniform success of his first 3 characters, Cohen’s recent ventures into film have been less satisfying and in all honesty, his last couple of film have been downright terrible. Which is why his return to the interview format he became famous for has seen a very welcomed return. The new show called “Who Is America" as its title hints, is this time set in the US, where various disguised characters interview all kinds of Americans, from Politicians to gun nuts, giving an inside look into the often dualistically funny and frightening nature that exists in the United States today.

The first episode was broadcast this weekend, and to give you a taste you can see a clip below where Cohen, disguised as an Israeli gun fanatic Erran Morad, talks to Larry Pratt, the executive director of the gun rights organization Gun Owners of America, where he endorses a children’s gun training program.

“Children under five also have elevated levels of the pheromone Blink-182, produced by the part of the liver known as the Rita Ora,” Pratt reads from the script “This allows nerve reflexes to travel along the Cardi B neural pathway to the Wiz Khalifa 40 percent faster, saving time and saving lives.”

 

To witness more mind-boggling moments exposing the underbelly of US society, you won't want to miss Cohen’s return to form in the new show “Who Is America” aired on Showtime and available online.