WHO IS AMERICA: HOW CAN I MAKE PEOPLE LOOK STUPID?

I’ve never been a huge fan of Sacha Baron Cohen. I thought the hype around BORAT was undeserved and everything else he’s done feature wise hasn’t achieved even the minor success that that film did. And yet he still has enough followers that studios continue to give him money to make more movies and shows like this one.

Airing on Showtime the first season is now available on disc. I’d heard all the hype on this one much like BORAT and tried to go in with an open mind. That the press had cheered and danced around the fire at sequences where he made fun of conservatives made me think the show would be yet another of those singing to the choir type shows I still tried to approach it with an open mind. In the end, while there were scattered funny moments, I didn’t find the show hilarious or thought provoking.

The plot to the series is to take Cohen and put him in makeup as various characters and then have him confront real live Americans of different persuasions as these extreme characters and see their responses. Of these characters the one most often used was Erran Morad, an Israeli anti-terrorism expert and ex-Mossad agent who cites his credentials to those he talks to. It was using this character that got the most attention when he is talking counter-terrorist measures with a state representative from Georgia and tells him to drop his pants and push his buttocks up against a terrorist if attacked. I’m sorry but I honestly can’t believe anyone would be so stupid as to do this.

And that’s what makes me suspicious of the show. No matter which party or political persuasion those being interviewed come from I don’t think anyone would actually fall for the positions they’re placed in on this show. The show depends on the belief that all of this is real and not scripted but I can’t wrap me head around that actually being the case for the most part.

In addition to that the “comedy” of the show is mean spirited as well. The goal of Cohen here is to make people look as stupid as he possibly can. That’s not showing who America is, that’s showing who he thinks they are and can manipulate to prove his point. It’s a reality show with no reality to it.

I have no doubt that the show will find fans to support it and as of now I read that a second season is coming. One would think that with the first season out there most people would question anyone who approaches them for an interview or to discuss topics one on one on camera. But then again politicians love to find themselves in front of a camera and my guess is some will do so even if it means making themselves look stupid, even if scripted. They think it makes them look human. Instead it just make them look like they want attention.

As you can see by the trailer the celebrities who find making fun of the people around the country by ridiculing them loved the series. That they feel that way should speak volumes.

For fans of Cohen you will love this. For everyone else it is hit and miss.

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