On Canal + on demand
We knew the ability of the British actor Sacha Baron Cohen to always go too far in bad taste, to “corner” his victims (generally North American and famous) by pretending to be improbable characters incarnated with a rare transformist talent in films directed by Larry Charles.
After Ali G (2002) – whose main character appeared in the television series Da Ali G Show, in 2000 -, Borat (2006), Brüno (2009) and The Dictator (2012), here is the astonishing troublemaker who tried to define “Who is America” throughout a parody documentary series (« mockumentary », say the Anglo-Saxons). Who Is America will have seven episodes, broadcast weekly until August 26, on Showtime, in the United States, and subsequently on Canal +, in France.
Sacha Baron Cohen plays Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., a very right-wing conservative, and Dr. Nira Cain-N’Degeocello, at the opposite extreme of the political arc, who apologizes “To be a heterosexual cisgender white”, cross the country by bike, meet ” respectfully “ Republicans and tries to “To absorb the fracture” from the country…
We also meet Rick Sherman, a former prisoner whose work as a plastic artist consists of making portraits from his droppings and bodily fluids and, finally, Erran Morad, an Israeli army colonel who finds an ear. careful with some pro-weapon politicians.
If Bernie Sanders remains relatively calm and distant in front of the overplayed stupidity of Ruddick, two supporters of Trump are somewhat alarmed when Dr. Nira Cain-N’Degeocello evokes, during a dinner, his way of fighting against stereotypes gender by making her son (“Harvey Milk”) seated and her daughter (“Malala”) stand to urinate.
He also explains how he invites the latter to “Defile the American flag with its rules” to remind him that the “The founding of the United States took place in a bloodbath …” And to specify in front of his hosts, pale, that this activity is supported by the Clinton Foundation …
A firearm from the age of 3
The highlight of the first episode is when Erran Morad manages to convince various political representatives of the right wing of the Republicans to support him in his desire to give children access to a gun from the age of 3 …
Obviously, once again, Sacha Baron Cohen willfully dissolves the dividing line between information and parody and draws his victims – who know they are being filmed – into a trap which can, at best, make them look ridiculous, in the dark. worse, compromise them.
Even if we are horrified to see certain politicians lend themselves without batting an eyelid – or barely – to the shooting of an advertisement for firearms in the form of toys, we are however uncomfortable in front of the generalization of the principle. of deception. But playing with “false information” is Sacha Baron Cohen’s well-known trademark.
The international press remains fairly divided on the subject of Who Is America. The british newspaper The Guardian, written by Lucy Mangan, sums up this feeling well: “As in the previous [films de Sacha Baron Cohen]It is not always clear who or what the target is, and more often than not, interviews seem to end up revealing more the strength of people’s politeness than that of their gullibility. “
Who Is America, by and with Sacha Baron Cohen (EU, 2018, 7 × 27 min).
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