SACHA BARON COHEN: FROM BORAT TO ABBIE HOFFMAN
Apparently Bruno the fashionista is on the back burner for Sacha Baron Cohen now that he’s signed to play counter-culture activist Abbie Hoffman in Steven Spielberg’s “The Trial of the Chicago Seven.” The Borat creator actually has a lot in common with Hoffman. Abbie was known for his “guerilla theater” tactics in which he drummed up publicity for his causes by being funny – not violent. He knew how to use the media – once he got publicity for bursting into the headquarters of Con Edison, throwing soot in the air and on employees clothing. He said it was more effective than signing petitions for cleaner air. Abbie insisted that laughter is a better learning tool than serious speeches and from what we saw of Borat – Cohen agrees. By the way, Sacha will be taking home a six million dollar paycheck. Hooray for capitalism.