BOOYAKASHA!

so who IS the blinged-out dumbass that gave the decidedly un-harvard 2004 harvard commencement speech? [read the transcript.]

having had no funds to pay for cable, i've been a little behind on programming like "da ali g show," one whose popularity has spread like kudzu. since half of the known readers of this blog don't own a television set, i think i should probably explain the whole phenomenon starting at square one. i'm also a johnny-come-lately, but i think there are people that haven't yet been exposed to the subversive brilliance of this show, so if you've known about this show for a while, just bear with me.

"da ali g show" runs on HBO, and the main character is a parody of a white kid pretending to be black - he's decked out in a yellow tracksuit, too much jewelry, a skullcap that matches the tracksuit, and he simultaneously mangles the english language AND ebonics (i.e. the character tries to be "down" but is too clueless to even use proper slang terms - the "ali g translator" is here).

the "ali g" character manages to get interviews with high profile people in the media and politics and puts them in uncomfortable positions by asking them seemingly idiotic questions (in an earnest manner), sometimes exposing their innate prejudices and elitist attitudes. in the episode i saw last night, "ali g" gets an interview with cranky old fart andy rooney, the guy who gives his ascerbic two cents at the end of "60 minutes." andy rooney has in recent years come under fire for insensitive remarks about minorities and homosexuals. in 1990, rooney said "blacks have watered down genes because the less intelligent ones are the ones that have the most children." rooney has also complained that immigrants haven't assimilated and can't speak english properly. there is no doubt that "ali g" chose to interview rooney for these reasons. as soon as "ali g" sat down in his outlandish outfit, rooney sniffed at him and asked "have you ever done this before?" then "ali g" purposely uses improper grammar to piss him off: "does you think the media has changed?" rooney takes the bait and gets angry, telling him that his grammar is atrocious. then "ali g" responds: "iz you bein' mean to me 'coz i iz black?" (paraphrased) and this causes rooney to stomp out of the room. clearly, "ali g" isn't black - but the whole two minutes offends rooney and makes him look like a grumpy and cartoonish old fart. the scene is very funny.

at first glance, you're like "who the fuck is this clown, and why is he popular?" initially, one is confused into thinking that the clownish character is a simpleton and the show should be lumped into the "jackass" and "tom green show" category, when in fact it is more on the level of "south park," and in some instances, several steps scarier. whereas "south park" relies on pure satire, "da ali g show" is much more subversive in that it gets people to say in public what they normally wouldn't say to an average person on the street. the people being put on the spot aren't let in on the joke, and they are exposed as racist, homophobic, or just plain stupid just by being themselves.

"ali g" is one of the characters created by british comedian sacha baron cohen. the "ali g" character is the one that provides the most comic relief. his other two characters are more subversive in that they retain clueless, affable, smiling personas to bait unsuspecting people into making shocking admissions.

the "borat" character is a polite reporter from kazakhstan with mysoginistic and anti-semitic views - created to get people to come forward with similarly mysoginistic and anti-semitic views - after all, they think their comments are being broadcasted in a country that thinks those views are okay, and "borat" has a friendly, earnest and clueless air about him that makes it easy for people to open up to him. for example, in one episode, a hunter advocates hitler's "final solution" to the "borat" character, although HBO decided not to air the segment.

the "bruno" character is a shallow very gay fashion reporter from austria who thinks that all males are gay. in one of the episodes i saw last week, "bruno" makes a group of frat boys at daytona beach flex, rip off their shirts, and even expose their bottoms by making them believe they are just being filmed for the purpose of promoting the party atmosphere of daytona beach. then at the end of the segment, "bruno" says "this has been austrian gay tv!" causing the boys to recoil in horror. in another episode, "bruno" goes to a gun show and comes out to a redneck and implies that the redneck is also gay. the redneck responds (paraphased) "if you call me gay again, i will kick your butt!" "bruno" blinks his eyes innocently and start to speak again. the redneck then interrupts him saying "i mean it! watch what you say, or i'll kick your ass!"

these characters are so subversive that even the anti-defamation league, while acknowledging that the characters were created to expose things like anti-semitism in america, sent a warning to cohen to make his act more sensitive or at least more obvious (so that people who are stupid can "get" it).

in short, "ali g" is a character played by a smart man playing dumb to expose the idiocy in american culture. (note: he did the same thing in the UK for years before his act hit the US.) cohen actually graduated from cambridge university and wrote his thesis on the black civil rights movement and posed the question as to whether there was a black-jewish alliance.

so, there you have it. that's the "dumbass" who gave the 2004 harvard commencement speech.