Israeli Viewers Are Furious About Sacha Baron Cohen's Portrayal Of An Israeli Anti-Terrorist Expert......Just Kidding They Think It's Hilarious

Daily Mail- Sacha Baron Cohen has always been an actor surrounded by controversy with his crude humor and convincing performances.  But his new Showtime show ‘Who Is America’ is making waves like never before, with its first three episodes targeting Republican politicians under the guise of Retired Colonel Erran Morad, an ex-Mossad agent and faux counter terrorism instructor. Posing as Morad in a green uniform and a bushy unibrow, he has outed real politicians on hot button issues in the United States such as terror and gun violence, leading to backlash from his American audience.

But watchers in Israel, on the other hand, think it’s hilarious. ‘The reaction has mostly been astonishment about the accuracy of the portrayal. He really got some of our traits down,’ Einav Schiff, a TV critic for the Yediot Ahronot newspaper. ‘Everyone here knows an “Erran Morad” but I haven’t recognized any outrage or embarrassment about the character. It’s mostly been ridicule for these Americans who have fallen for him,’ he added. Baron Cohen, whose mother is Israeli, has the accent and mannerisms down pat, according to Israeli fans.  

I gotta be honest, that did not go the way I thought it was going to go. Maybe it’s cause I’m used to the Outrage About Everything Machine that exists on the internet in 2018 but I for sure thought the Israeli people were gonna cry appropriation and be super pissed about Sacha Baron Cohen’s character on Who Is America. Instead it’s the exact opposite. The Israeli people absolutely love the character and think he nailed it. I mean I agree with them but that’s not the reaction I’ve come accustomed to. I know that Cohen’s mother is Israeli but that usually doesn’t stop people from being upset. People’s will to be upset about something usually trumps everything else.

This won’t shock anyone but I’ve watched all three episodes of Who Is America and it’s absolutely fantastic. Morad is a great character but the NPR character guy is my favorite. Cohen has been doing this shit forever but I’m still shocked he’s still able to dupe people. He’s got people doing WILD stuff on camera. I recently went back and watched a bunch of old Da Ali G Shows and they are crazy funny. It led me to reading up on how he originally tricked his interview subjects:

Even if the interview subjects seemed uncomfortable when they arrived, Baron Cohen committed the interview to tape before they had a chance to get out. After the subject had been placed in position on set, checked for lighting, and gotten their makeup on, Baron Cohen-as-Ali G would conduct a brief “pre-interview” with silly questions like “how do you spell your name?” and “how do you write this letter of the alphabet?” While they were still mildly bewildered, Baron Cohen would take his seat and start the interview proper.

So he’d pretend that he was the pre-interviewer and then just launch into the actual interview and the subject would just go with it. It’s pretty amazing planning actually. He also realizes that people would much rather be put through an uncomfortable interview than stop and be like, “Wait, what the fuck is going on here?” It’s incredible stuff but you already knew that.