McCurdy 1 

Collette I. McCurdy 

Evan Coleman 

Humanities III Honors 

November 9, 2019 

Next-Level Manipulation 

What does the word “best” mean in the phrase, “present your best self?” Is it truly about doing 

what’s morally correct, or doing what our audience wants us to do? I​ n a professional interview, for 

example, people often speak about how passionate they are about their job, because even if it isn’t 

completely true, it’s what the boss wants to hear. Presidential candidates do the same thing⁠—they 

typically try to talk about their strengths rather than address their past mistakes. But how far does 

“presenting your best self” go? When do we cross the line between being a people pleaser and being a 

decent human being? Comedian Sacha Baron-Cohen explores this concept in his hilarious new series, 

Who is America?​, where he portrays outrageous characters and conducts interviews that dive deep into 

the inherent ideology-driven beliefs that are still prevalent in modern-day America. Through his 

hyperbolized characters and juxtapotized ideas, Baron-Cohen presents a compelling, 

thought-provoking, and eye-opening piece that highlights the true values of powerful political leaders 

and citizens that remain unaddressed.  

One popular character that Baron-Cohen has taken on is Erran Morad, an Islamophobic 

anti-terrorist instructor who interviews some of the nation’s most powerful leaders on highly 

controversial issues. In his first episode, Morad held a discussion with Philip Van Cleave, the president 

of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, where they talked about second-amendment rights. By 
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hyperbolizing his character into an extreme right-wing Trump-supporter, Baron-Cohen was able to 

enthusiastically support Van Cleave but also emphasize the absurd beliefs that these lawmakers held. 

For example, near the beginning of the interview, Morad introduced his “Kinder-Guardians” program, 

a class created to train three-year-olds on how to shoot a gun. When describing the program, Morad 

mentioned a downside of gun rights when describing the death of his son: “My son was in the very 

first program​—may he rest in peace—he died doing what I love.” Obviously, this was a fictitious story 

that exaggerated the hardcore beliefs of a gun-owner, but to Van Cleave, this seemed absolutely 

realistic, and, based off of his earnest expression and eager nodding, completely worth it. This just goes 

to show how incredibly willing certain politicians are to defend their second-amendment right, no 

matter the consequences.  

Erran Morad later interviewed Larry Pratt, the director of Gun Owners of America, on the 

same topic. He automatically created a relaxed and comfortable environment by bouncing off of 

Pratt’s ideas and expressing his own passionate agreement: “We actually found out that in schools, it’s 

not only important to arm the teachers, but it’s important to arm certain gifted children.” By using his 

enthusiastic tone of voice to demonstrate his appreciation, he manipulated Larry Pratt into feeling 

more open and willing to express his true colors. This created a conversation that caused Pratt to jump 

in and add his own appalling beliefs. For example, near the middle of the interview, Moran stated, 

“The only​ thing that can stop a bad man with a gun is a good boy with a gun.” Pratt then energetically 

added, “Yeah, even a good toddler!” Near the end of the interview, Baron-Cohen was comfortable 

enough to use an extreme juxtaposition with fervent approval from Pratt: “Great. Let’s see if we can 

stop these anti-gun people from getting everyone killed.”  

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“Yep,” Pratt nodded. “Yep, they’ve got blood on their hands.” According to the American 

Journal of Medicine, the higher number of guns per-capita correlates with a greater number of gun 

deaths. Despite this, Baron-Cohen contrasted death by gun and being anti-gun, highlighting the 

shocking and illogical beliefs held by men currently in positions of power in the United States. 

Baron-Cohen completed the episode by appealing to Ethos, sharing clips of various 

Congressmen supporting the Kinder-Guardians program. Larry Pratt was one of those men, and read 

some “scientifically-proven” statistics on the brains of children in his final segment: “At age four, a 

child processes images 80% faster than an adult, meaning that essentially, like owls, they can see in slow 

motion. Children under five also have elevated levels of a pheromone blink-182 produced by the part 

of the liver known as the Rita Ora. This allows nerve reflexes to travel along the Cardi B neural 

pathway to the Wiz Khalifa 40% faster, saving time and saving lives.” Simply by reading this, it is 

evident that it was written as a complete joke, yet Pratt still willingly read the statistics on television 

without question. By automatically endorsing a fabricated program with no reliable scientific 

evidence, all of his credibility as a lobbyist and member of the Virginia House of Delegates 

immediately vanished. Not only did this reveal the lack of education in powerful government 

positions, but it also informed the audience on the importance of understanding before agreeing, and 

why reliable news sources are so significant in this day and age. 

Overall, W
​ ho is America? ​presents an insightful look into the beliefs of powerful lawmakers, 

opening our eyes to what America’s core values consist of. Through his meticulously crafted 

interviews, Baron-Cohen educates us on how the consequences that come with the second 

amendment are being carelessly overlooked because of the lack of awareness that lies in positions of 
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power. Baron-Cohen has pushed the right-wing beliefs to their limit, publicly showcasing our nation’s 

flaws and highlighting our nation’s intensifying need for drastic change.  

Video Link: h
​ ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ytogXJVM70&t=289s​(18:30 - 27:55) 

   
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Works Cited 

Bangalore, Sripal, and Franz H Messerli. “Gun Ownership and Firearm-Related Deaths.” T
​ he 

American Journal of Medicine​, 10 Oct. 2013, 

www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343%2813%2900444-0/pdf, 9 Nov. 2019.