Trump: Under the Mask
The grandiose social experiment by Sacha Baron Cohen
It’s been one hell of a year, full of divisive issues brought to the forefront by rollercoaster political campaigns, a constant bullhorn of polarizing propaganda from media outlets, and the unwelcome opinions of (former) Facebook friends and family. If you’ve been thinking, “This election can’t be real, right? This must be some kind of joke!” Well, it turns out you were onto something.
At this morning’s rally at the Sarasota Fairgrounds, Florida, Trump took to the stage. “I have a huge surprise people, huge. You’ll never believe it — I’m not who you think I am.” Peeling away what appeared to be a silicone mask, he revealed himself as English actor and comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen.
Yes, you heard right. The Sacha Baron Cohen who appeared as Borat on Jimmy Kimmel back in March to joke about Trump being one of his satirical characters. In an reverse psychological twist, it turns out he wasn’t kidding after all.
Cohen is best known for his 2006 “shockumentary” movie, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Journalist Borat Sagdiyev leaves his native Kazakhstan to travel to America to make a documentary… His backward behavior generates strong reactions around him, exposing prejudices and hypocrisies in American culture. In some cases, Borat’s interview subjects embrace his outrageous views on race and sex by agreeing with him, while others attempt to offer a patriotic lesson in Western values.
— Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/borat/
Cohen went on to explain his latest film, aptly titled Trump: Cultural Learnings of America for Make America Great Again. Over a year and a half in the making, Trump will be a standalone sequel to Borat. The sequel flips the original plot completely upside-down by appointing a true American patriot as the protagonist.
“This may have been my most challenging but rewarding project,” Cohen explains. “When we pitched Mr. Trump the initial screenplay, we were sure he would shoot it down. To our surprise though, he was completely sold on it — loved the idea. Outside of generating press and donation revenue, he sincerely wanted to expose the underlying societal tensions and systemic injustices that have been swept under the rug for far too long. We think it’s a laugh out loud comedy everyone can enjoy.”
Trump: Cultural Learnings of America for Make America Great Again hits theaters right after election day on November 9th. Available on iTunes the following week on November 15th.
