Line #37 Series/WhoIsAmerica


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whoisamerica400c.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:310:[[UsefulNotes/MeltingPot A nation whose people are increasingly diverse politically and ethnically.]]]]
3	''Who Is America?'' is a 30-minute mockumentary series airing on Creator/{{Showtime}}. The series centers around Creator/SachaBaronCohen playing a wide variety of characters to prank various people, mostly political figures.
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7	!!Tropes:
8	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Morad has Dick Cheney sign a "waterboarding kit" that was previously signed by the likes of Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Music/DemiLovato.
9	* AsideGlance: Morad gives a split-second but ''priceless'' one to the camera after successfully tricking Jason Spencer into screaming the N-word at the top of his lungs, on camera.
10	* AsianSpeekeeEngrish: Jason Spencer trying to imitate a Chinese tourist.
11	* AssKicksYou: Morad convinces Spencer that this is the best way to [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext defend yourself against terrorists.]]
12	* BaitAndSwitch:
13	** "Picture this scene. You are chained to a radiator, naked, with a bag over your head. All of a sudden, terrorists break in and kidnap you...completely ruining [[NoodleIncident your birthday party]]."
14	** Baron Cohen often pulls the strings on many of his interviewees, such as when Billy Ruddick interviewed Corey Lewandowski and started praising Trump with Corey endorsing his behavior up until Ruddick brought up the fact that Trump called Miss Venezuela "Miss Piggy" and that must be a compliment to which not even Corey could defend that insult.
15	* BaitAndSwitchComment: Nira gives one to the people of Kingman.
16	-->'''Dr. Nira Cain-N'Degeocello:''' Let me assure you that I share your concerns about terrorism, and we will do everything we can to protect these Muslims from it.
17	* BigOlUnibrow: Morad has one that you could launch a fleet of aircraft off of.
18	* CardCarryingVillain: To whit, when Dr. Nira met the people of Kingman, Arizona:
19	-->'''Dr. Nira:''' I didn't imply anyone here was racist.
20	-->'''Guy in the back:''' I am! [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain I'm racist against Muslims.]]
21	* CringeComedy: The humor from the series mostly comes from placing Baron Cohen's interviewees in the most embarrassing situations possible, or having them say the most awkward or offensive thing possible (which is shockingly frequent).
22	* {{Eagleland}}: The premise of the series is that most of the interviewees, and some of Baron Cohen's characters (like Billy Ruddick) are a hard Type 2.
23	* EveryoneHasStandards: Morad, the slightly-crazed Mossad agent who supports arming 4-year-old children, admonishes Jason Spencer (without breaking character!) for [[NWordPrivileges screaming the N-word at the top of his lungs]], calling it "disgusting."
24	* GilliganCut: In the "Kinderguardians" segment, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Gaetz Matt Gaetz]] tells Morad that no legislator is going to go on TV to endorse a policy they just heard of. Cut to several political figures (including [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Lott Trent Lott]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Rohrabacher Dana Rohrabacher]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Wilson_(American_politician) Joe Wilson]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Walsh_(American_politician) Joe Walsh]]) doing exactly that.[[note]]Remember, these are ''real people''.[[/note]]
25	-->'''Matt Gaetz:''' You want me to say on television that I support three- and four-year-olds with firearms? Is that what you're asking me to do?\
26	'''Erran Morad:''' Uh, yes.\
27	'''Matt Gaetz:''' Typically members of congress don't just hear a story about a program and then indicate whether they support it or not.\
28	''[cut]''\
29	'''Trent Lott:''' I support the "Kinderguardians" program.
30	* IAmAHumanitarian: Rick Sherman offers Bill Jilla what he claims to is the flesh of a Chinese dissident. Jilla ends up eating it quite willingly.
31	* InsaneTrollLogic: Sacha's characters are quite abnormal and so is their logic. First interview, he played Billy Wayne Ruddick and "interviewed" Bernie Sanders. They discussed the 1% and 99% in which Ruddick claims if you take one of the 9s from the 99% to the 1% then it makes 19%.
32	* InsistentTerminology: Jason Spencer doesn't call it a "burkha ban", it's an ''"[[DistinctionWithoutADifference anti-masking statute.]]"''
33	* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Quoth Jason Spencer when asked to portray a Chinese tourist. Remember that Sushi and "konnichiwa" are Japanese and Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnamese:
34	-->'''Jason Spencer:''' ''([[AsianSpeekeeEngrish faux-Chinese accent]])'' Oh, ''(unintelligible)'' Konichiwa, Red Dragon Bejing, ''(unintelligible)'', sushi, ''(unintelligible)'', Red Dragon, Ho Chi Minh City...
35	* ManipulativeBastard: Corey Lewandowski, who claims that Trump is not a sexist or misogynist. When Billy points out Trump called a Miss Venezuela pageant girl "Miss Piggy" for being fat, Corey claims Trump was still reacting in a way that was necessary (not true, that joke was a jab at her weight). Billy then asks if [[Franchise/TheMuppets Miss Piggy]] is supposed to be some sort of feminist icon.
36	* NeverMyFault: While playing Ruddick, Sacha complained to Bernie that Obamacare is to blame for the fact he suddenly, spontaneously got diagnosed with both Type 1 and 2 diabetes and chalky deposits. Bernie did seem confused, but his reply was "Billy, I'm not your doctor".
37	* NWordPrivileges: Morad tells Jason Spencer that shouting "the N-word" out loud is the best way to attract attention to yourself (and consequently scare off kidnappers.) Spencer then immediately starts screaming the N-word. (The word Morad was thinking of was "noonie", [[BaitAndSwitch by the way.]])
38	* OnlySaneMan: Perhaps unsurprisingly, UsefulNotes/BernieSanders is the only politician interviewed by Cohen (as Billy Ruddick) who comes across in a good light, as he ''very calmly'' explains his positions to Billy without ever losing his patience, and never loses his cool even when Billy makes utterly ludicrous claims like that [[ArtisticLicenseStatistics combining 1 percent and 99 percent together you get 19%.]]
39	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The people of Kingman, Arizona are [[{{Understatement}} not big fans of Islam.]]
40	* RealityShowGenreBlindness: Whatever possessed Jason Spencer [[note]]Who was at the time of filming ''a serving member of the Georgia House of Representatives''[[/note]] to agree to drop his pants and scream the N-word ''on camera'' has to qualify.
41	* RefugeInAudacity: As usual for Baron Cohen. His goal seems to be to make every character more extreme and impossible to believe than the one before.
42	* RunningGag: A surprisingly subtle one, in that Erran Morad's military rank changes every episode he appears in.
43	* TakeThat: Done to ''the target's face'', no less. Morad meets with Alabama politician [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Moore#Republican_U.S._Senate_primary Roy Moore]] to demonstrate a device he claims that can detect pedophiles, only to have the machine beep for a positive reading every time he points it at Moore. Moore is not amused.
44	* {{Troll}}: Sacha Baron Cohen deliberately fools around with American politicians like Bernie Sanders to create comedy under the guise that they were going to do serious interviews.
45	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Par for the course with Cohen's prank shows, most (if not all) of his marks end up going along with outlandish situations with only a bit of hesitation. This is especially the case for Rick Sherman, where a woman provided him with her own pubic hair for one of his art pieces without blinking an eye.
46	* VulgarHumor: No surprise, considering who's behind the show. Rick Sherman making art out of [[invoked]] [[{{Squick}} ejaculate and pubic hair]] is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

Context Series / WhoIsAmerica