# Dictators and their movie representations?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dictators-and-their-movie-representations/667542>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 29, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dictators-and-their-movie-representations/667542 "2013-08-29T23:40:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dictators-and-their-movie-representations/667542/1 "2013-08-29T23:40:04Z")

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Inspired by this wikipedia article:

[Guerrilla War (video game) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_War_%28video_game%29) _(Fidel Castro as a playable Rambo-like character!!1!)_

And a recent viewing of Hotshots Part Deux featuring a thinly disguised Saddam Hussein _(who I imagine was probably a little less amusing in real life)_, I was wondering if there are any instances of dictators having watched movies featuring, probably quite unflattering, versions of themselves and what their recorded opinion of their depiction was?

Kim Jong-Il in Team America also counts 😃

btw I was originally thinking of movies but any media counts

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dictators-and-their-movie-representations/667542/2 "2013-08-30T00:14:33Z")

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Hitler had Charlie Chaplin on [his hit list](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-520648/Nazi-propaganda-book-reveals-Charlie-Chaplin-Hitlers-death-list.html) even before Chaplin made _The Great Dictator._ I don’t think his opinion improved.

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**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dictators-and-their-movie-representations/667542/3 "2013-08-30T01:31:00Z")

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Saddam Hussein was reportedly forced to watch “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut,” which depicted him in a homosexual relationship with Satan.

> **[Saddam Hussein Forced to Watch The South Park Movie](http://www.bermanpost.com/2009/10/saddam-hussein-forced-to-watch-south.html?m=1)**
>
> Saddam Hussein was repeatedly forced to watch The South Park Movie "South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut", while being held in captivity. W...

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dictators-and-their-movie-representations/667542/4 "2013-08-30T02:19:33Z")

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I haven’t heard reports about how Fidel Castro felt about people who portrayed him, but it’s interesting to note that people in the 1960s didn’t actually plat Castro – they played someone _like_ him, but with his distinctive army uniform, beard, and cigar. Peter Falk played such a dictator in the _Twilight Zone_ episode “The Mirror” in 1961.

John Vernon (Adolphus Raymundus Vernon Agopsowicz, better known as Dean Vernon Werner in _Animal House_) played the Castro-esque Rico Parra in Hitchcock’s 1969 film **Topaz**.

The only case I’ve seen where someone actually portrays Castro is in **Watchmen** , where John Kobylka depicts him in a line-less part (although I know there are other films with Castro, like **Che!** and the TV movie **Fidel** , but I haven’t seen them)  
I haven’t been able to find anything about how he sees these depictions of him.

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dictators-and-their-movie-representations/667542/5 "2013-08-30T02:28:50Z")

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> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> The only case I’ve seen where someone actually portrays Castro is in **Watchmen** , where John Kobylka depicts him in a line-less part (although I know there are other films with Castro, like **Che!** and the TV movie **Fidel** , but I haven’t seen them)

Actually, as a matter of fact, Fidel seems to have [quite a few named appearances](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0028277/filmogenre) in fiction, rather than just an analogue, or veiled references to “the chairman” or “the premier” or even “the [US] president,” like other world leaders often get, for some reason. I guess he just hits a blind spot in the dramatic convention.

I think the one I liked the most was his appearance in the UPN scifi action series _Seven Days_, where he was actually a major character with lines (!).

But, sadly, I don’t have any info on his reaction to said representations, if any. Though I think I heard Cuba wasn’t happy about the “assassinate Castro” mission in the Call of Duty: Black Ops game, a couple of years back.