Have we not suffered enough? The US is currently in the throes of a parasite-induced watery diarrhoea outbreak while being governed by a mad king suffering from a horrible case of logorrhea. Meanwhile, on both sides of the Atlantic the temperature is about a million degrees and the world is experiencing a “Godzilla” El Niño. Thanks to the extreme weather and the Iran war, global food prices are about to rocket. Everything is going to hell, basically. And now, to top it all off, we’ve just had the news that we’re getting an Ali G reboot.
I iz being deadly serious here. News broke last week that Sacha Baron Cohen has finished secretly filming a new Ali G movie – 24 years after the character, a satirical take on privileged suburban kids appropriating black street culture, was last seen on the big screen. Baron Cohen then showed up at Wimbledon over the weekend in character, posting an Instagram proclaiming: “I iz Back!”
Respek to Baron Cohen. He’s done some hilarious work over the years and, despite some problematic elements, Ali G was funny back in the day. That day being 1998, at the dawn of the internet. It’s hard to keep any joke relevant for that long and Ali G now feels painfully outdated. The internet is full of comedians doing the sort of character work and pranks that once made Ali G feel novel. (I highly recommend looking up Druski and his Nascar stunt.) And his brand of satire has lost its effectiveness in a post-shame world where high-profile figures are happy to say the quiet part out loud.
It’s possible, of course, that Baron Cohen has found a zeitgeisty way to reboot Ali G; one which doesn’t punch down or wade into the sort of nasty racial stereotyping that the comedian can sometimes perpetuate. But if he has, then it wasn’t on show during his Wimbledon outing, which was full of cringe ganja jokes. Again, I would urge you all to consult your calendars: it is 2026. Arguing for the decriminalisation of cannabis is a mainstream position. Weed moms are the new wine moms. Joking about cannabis is about as edgy as making a jab about millennials eating avocado toast. Some people may be happy Ali G is back, but I’d rather he just stayed indahouse.
• Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
