YMMV / General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Was Idi Amin a sociopath who just took power for his own selfish gain, or was he a Well-Intentioned Extremist whose efforts to help Uganda grow were well-meaning, but warped and eventually completely negated by his own personal inexperience and madness?
  • Then there's the question of his eccentricity. Was he genuinely that odd, or was he just clowning around to distract foreign governments and media outlets from his human rights abuses? Or was it some combination of both?^note Many Ugandan exiles criticized global media for sensationalism over actually reporting Amin's human rights abuses.
  • One scene shows Amin initially trying to comfort one of his daughters when she starts crying, only to give up and walk off. Was this proof that he didn't care about anyone, including his own children? Or did he genuinely want to help her, but had no idea how?
  • What about his telegram to Julius Nyerere, where he says he'd be willing to marry him if he were a woman? Was it just another bit of weirdness? A bizarre but genuine display of respect? An attempt at manipulating him? Something else entirely?
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Towards the end of the film, the scene suddenly switches to a play being put on in an auditorium, depicting some sort of conflict between two tribes. Idi Amin does not appear in the play or appear to be watching it, the narrator doesn't clue the viewer in as to what the play's about, and there is no translation upon the screen. The play goes on for about a minute, consisting of a brief comedy set and a scene where the white tribe (Ugandan actors in white-face) are chased off by the black tribe. The film then immediately cuts back to Idi Amin and continues like nothing happened.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Since this is a film that satirizes a murderous dictator, there are more than a few moments like this:
  • Amin being an insane antisemite who admires Hitler? Horrible. Amin having "invasion plans" for the Golan Heights? Absurdly hilarious.
• Cry for the Devil: Assuming his story is true (and there's every reason to suspect it might not be), Amin's tale of his harsh childhood growing up poor might lead some viewers to do this.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: During Amin's address to his Cabinet, one of the ministers is seen picking his nose with a pencil. Almost every review of the movie seems to list this individual as one of the best providers of unintentional comedy for the film.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • One of the comments Amin makes is that Palestinian terrorists who hijack planes will be welcome to land in Uganda. Two years later, they would do just that and lead up to the Raid of Entebbe.
  • Idi Amin sending a flowery telegram to Kurt Waldheim gushing over the murder of Jews would become this when in the 1980s, Waldheim was revealed to have been a participant in Nazi war crimes.
• Ho Yay: Amin's telegram to Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere remarks that Amin loves the man so much that he would marry him if he had been a woman. When asked about this telegram, Amin simply laughs and doesn't bring it up again.
• Moral Event Horizon: Idi Amin crossed it long before the film starts, as his reign has led to the deaths of thousands, many of them executed under his orders.
• One-Scene Wonder: The crocodile on the Nile that ignores Idi Amin's commands for him to move. As sad as it sounds, the crocodile is the only one in the film that doesn't let Amin's power influence his decisions.
• Paranoia Fuel: Just the idea that a man as nutty and murderous as Idi Amin can rise into power and kill thousands of people is scary enough. But it's even worse when you consider the fact that Idi Amin (at least within the film) comes off as a friendly personality. It makes you wonder how many other people in power are out there, hiding their malicious intent under a false veneer of friendliness...

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