Talk:Ali G

Is Ali G satire? I'd say he's a spoof. -- Tarquin 08:42 Jul 30, 2002 (PDT)

Isn't spoof a form of satire? -- Oliver Pereira 17:15 Nov 10, 2002 (UTC)

My dictionary says " a mildy satirical parody or lampoon". let's say we're both right :-) -- Tarquin

Sounds good to me. :) -- Oliver Pereira

Respek. -- GURoadrunner

Controversy

On what evidence are you basing your assertion that Ali G is supposed to be of Pakistani extraction? I've never seen such evidence. The name "Ali" is not proof enough. I'm not sure what color Ali G is supposed to be, but I doubt very much Cohen has ever said explicitly that he is meant to be Pakistani. Moncrief 00:22, Nov 17, 2004 (UTC)

Most reports I've seen say Cohen is Jew pretending to be a white guy pretending to be black. I've always thought he was mocking middle class white boys, not Asians. The article should be changed, perhaps it could be mentioned that some feel he is mocking asian homeboys instead.--ZayZayEM 05:10, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I alwats though the name "Ali" was the bit that made him Asian. And nothern English cities are chock full of Asians who look and act just like Ali. But I recall now that his full name is Alistair Leslie Graham -- a WASP name if ever there was one. So I stand corrected, and thank you for checking me. MichiganDan 03:50, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)

How does Ali make him seem Asian? As he says, "Is it cuz I is black?" In the US, hip-hop culture is influenced by Islam, or rather by the Nation of Islam and its offshoots. The name Ali is part of the parody of the white English guy who thinks he is/wants to be an urban black American.

Re: today's edit. I want to say that I thoroughly disagree that Ali G is meant to be Asian in any way. I think the joke works best because his full name is actually Alistair and he is in fact a white guy from Staines. I think any "reading" that imputes that Ali G is in fact meant to be Asian is a projection on the part of the person doing that assuming. Moncrief 09:41, Jan 7, 2005 (UTC)

AFAIK it has been admitted that the choice of the name Ali was deliberate, and intended to make people wonder if he might be a Muslim. The point of this was to discourage interviewees suspicious about whether he was genuine to challenge him, as it might be taken as religious bigotry to say "this guy can't be real" if he was a Muslim. As for race, it's pretty clear he's not Asian from the colour of his skin—the humour lies in the way he says things like "Is it because I is black?" when he obviously isn't. This parodies the sort of people who might be referred to as wiggers. — Trilobite (Talk) 13:50, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I cannot understand for the life of me why one editor of this page believes, despite Ali G's full having been revealed as being traditionally English; despite his creators intentionally having him live on "Cherry Blossom Close" in Staines; despite all of the indications that he is meant to be entirely a poseur and not in fact anything but English.... despite all of this, why one user insists that he is in fact Asian or Middle Eastern. The very point of him is that he isn't. This is not an "American" reading. This is just the obvious conclusion of the clues his creators have developed. Moreover, you will have to explain why you think that Arab and Asians in the UK have more in common with African Americans than blacks in the UK do. This seems a wild assumption to me; if you want to argue it, explain why you think it's true. Moncrief 20:02, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)

• Exactly what I though as I was reading this article. Mystache 17:30, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

• Well his name might have been revealed to be Alistair but his uncle’s remains Jamal. It’s surely deliberately ambiguous. I’ve seen white and Asian Alis and the joke works the same whichever is the target: neither have much in common with African Americans. Bombot 14:35, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

For one thing,it's make believe and two, I think he does both, when its convienent to be British, thats what he is, when he wants to be Asian, thats what he is.it depends on what Sasha Cohen wants.

Links to Official Sites

should the page link to official sites? there's at least one official site (the HBO show in the US). anyone know how to do that? Streamless 18:54, 14 November 2005 (UTC)