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The first episode ofWho Is America?has a lot of familiar Sacha Baron Cohen shenanigans.
Theyreattempts to make fools out of everyone, and to varying extents they succeed.
Aim at the head, shoulders, not the toes, not the toes, Van Cleave sings.
Watching adult men earnestly agree that 4-year-olds should carry guns is something else.
Its one thing to watch Baron Cohen make someone like Bernie Sanders play along with his bit.
Its something that we should think about, America.
Its a damning moment, especially when delivered with the added oomph of Walshs impeccably media-trained performance.
In less than a month less than a month!
a first-grader can become a first-grenader, Walsh says, sounding like a salesman.
But Who is America?
is also posed so broadly that the answers can seem largely meaningless.
America is all of these people!
It taps into an undercurrent of not just idiocy, but indictment.
Not just shock, but real threat.
It almost feels like a protest.
Except it also raises the same questions as every other comedy that gets lauded for destroyingor evisceratingor crushingits target.
We already live in a world where the idea of giving guns to preschool teachersis apparently debatable.
Is giving the gun to the kids actually absurd enough to shake up popular opinion?
Does Baron Cohens comedic reach have more cultural sway than John Oliver or Jimmy Kimmel?
Is that even the intent?
Will a significant number of people be outraged by elected officials who say they think babies should have guns?
And that makesWho Is America?much less funny.
‘Who Is America?’
Guests, In Their Most Gullible Moments
