It looks like some of the most beloved characters in recent history will be riding into the sunset together. Borat and Ali G will speak no more, and have been cast into oblivion. We get the scoop today from the professionals at Variety:
Sacha Baron Cohen tells The Daily Telegraph that he’s retiring the clueless Kazakh journalist, as well as his alter ego, aspiring rapper Ali G.
“When I was being Ali G and Borat I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them, so admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing,” the 36-year-old actor-comedian says in the British newspaper’s Friday edition. “It is like saying goodbye to a loved one. It is hard, and the problem with success, although it’s fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I `get’ with Borat again, so it’s a kind of self-defeating form, really.”
As much as I hate to say it; this is great news. Borat and Ali G are household names and there is no way the pair of characters will be able to surprise anyone ever again; unless you go to the far north or the deep jungle – and there people still kill strange men without regret. If Cohen continued with either of these characters it would eventually get lame and people would get sick of the over-saturation. Both of these characters had the luxury of exiting the stage at a time when they were regarded highly, and it is always wise to leave them wanting for more.
These characters were fantastic and have caused us all to laugh hard and lots. They have introduced us to the man behind the curtain, and Cohen will remain a beloved entertainer for years to come. To quote the great Dr. Seuss “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
I now throw it open to all of you in the message board. What was your favorite Borat and/or Ali G sketch/moment?
For Ali G – I loved it when he interviewed Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the U.N.
For Borat – I think my favorite moment was when he got permission to grab a man’s crotch at a gun convention.
