The new Sacha Baron Cohen movie Ali G: Who Iz I? has already garnered complaints that the film and the title character — who Baron Cohen has portrayed for decades on television and one prior film — perpetuates old racist stereotypes.
Now one of the biggest comedy stars of the 2000s have joined calls for the film’s boycott. That’s Borat Sagdiyev, the Kazakh reporter who famously came here to report on our customs for state television, and wound up driving around the United States in an ice cream truck and then chased Pamela Anderson around a Virgin Megastore.
Borat says he has seen Who Iz I? and he’s also heard the complaints that the film is racist.
“Sadly,” Borat added, “it is not.”
Okay, yes, Borat just happens to be Sacha Baron Cohen. And his calls for a boycott of the “dastardly” comedian are just the new trailer for Ali G: Who Iz I? But it’s a pretty clever trailer all the same. Watch it below:
READ MORE: Hit Movies That Could Have Gotten Sequels But Didn’t
Here is the film’s official synopsis:
After twenty years spent “chillin’, tokin’ and bonin’”, Ali G is shocked to discover that his long-term girlfriend, Julie, is 8 months pregnant. Faced with an extra mouth to feed, he gets off his batty and heads to America to reclaim his former glory… but soon encounters adversaries who will ultimately threaten his and his child’s very existence.
Ali G: Who Iz I? is scheduled to open in theaters on October 23 — although the latest press release says it’s playing theaters just for “one weekend only.”
25 Movies With Surprising Letterboxd Scores
Sometimes consensus about a work of art is not what you expect it to be, especially on a site like Letterboxd, which aggregates the movie ratings and reviews of thousands of users.