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| “ | It is too round on the top, it needs to be pointy! Round is not scary, pointy is scary. | „ |
| ~ Aladeen to Nadal before "executing" him. |
| “ | I love it when women go to school. It's like seeing a monkey on roller skates. | „ |
| ~ Aladeen to Zoey after she said she went to Amherst. |
Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen is the titular main protagonist of the 2012 film The Dictator. He's an oppressive dictator of the fictional Republic of Wadiya who visits the United States. He took power after his father died despite it originally going to his uncle, Tamir Aladeen, the main antagonist of the movie who attempted to murder him while he visits the United States. He is disliked across the world, and protests erupt every time he makes a bad decision for personal gain. Aladeen is a parody of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.
He was portrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen, who also portrayed Borat Sagdiyev in the duology of the same name, Adolfo Pirelli in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Monsieur Thenardier in Les Miserables.
Personality[]
Aladeen is a character known for his distinct personality traits, including a penchant for malevolence, self-centeredness, and an unabashed sense of narcissism. His approach to handling deviations from his plans tends to be severe, often resorting to execution as a form of retribution. In his personal relationships, he engages in encounters with celebrities, such as Megan Fox and Kim Kardashian, on a regular basis.
His manner of interaction can be perceived as brusque, frequently crossing boundaries with rude and socially inappropriate comments. Whether it involves belittling the quality of his assassins' weapons moments before almost getting tortured or leveraging his position of power, his conduct often lacks consideration for others.
He also has a history of piling his mistakes onto his past victims, including when he raped three kids, with two of them committing suicide afterwards, but said "they knew what they were doing."
Aladeen's unintelligence can be a subject of amusement, with instances where he makes questionable observations, such as critiquing the sharpness of weapons or mistaking a homeless person for an average American shopper. Additionally, he exhibits tendencies of discrimination, sexism, and a propensity for mocking individuals from less privileged backgrounds, revealing aspects of his character that are less admirable. However, his extroverted nature is evident in his ability to engage in banter and fearlessly confront those who pose a threat.
Manipulation appears to be a decent skill that Aladeen possesses to a certain degree, as seen in instances where he chats with his dimwitted assassin so he can escape. Even when facing imminent danger, he maintains a seemingly composed composure. When he was younger he seemed to be a more nervous ruler but quickly becomes a more self-centered and foolish individual.
Aladeen's understanding of genuine friendship and love appears to be flawed, frequently finding himself in uncomfortable situations by making unwelcome advances or seeking extended intimacy for his personal gratification. While there are fleeting moments of personal growth and a marginal reduction in self-centeredness, he remains hesitant to fully embrace change, declining opportunities for genuine connection. Surprisingly, he discovers that individuals he believed to have been executed were instead relocated to New York City. He later goes on a helicopter tour with Nadal and makes plans to get back in power as long as Nadal becomes head of the weapons department again.
Through his collaboration with Zoey to secure funds, Aladeen undergoes a transformation, displaying glimpses of a softer side. Despite resorting to unethical means, such as torture and kidnapping, to improve the shop's rating, he develops genuine affection for Zoey. However, an ill-conceived impulse to dispose of two customers' newborn baby upon learning that its gender was Female in front of them is very disturbing.
In the culmination of his character arc, Aladeen embraces a more democratic approach to governance, departing from his oppressive rule. Zoey's acceptance of him symbolizes a shift in their relationship dynamics. Though the legitimacy of his rise to power may be questionable, he assumes the title of "President Prime Minister" as a symbolic representation of his transformation. Aladeen has a baby with Zoey but says, "It's either a boy or an abortion," showing he hasn't fully redeemed himself.
Biography[]
Past[]
Haffaz Aladeen was born to the Wadiyan dictator, Admiral-General Omar Aladeen. His mother seemingly died in childbirth (in truth was immediately murdered by Omar's men) and was spoiled by Omar until his death when Haffaz was seven years old. Upon then, Haffaz becomes the new Admiral-General, intending to carry on his father's wish of keeping Wadiya's oil from being sold as he subjects the country to harsh dictatorship for his childish antics. One of such antics was when he had multiple fourteen year olds raped. Also as a result of Aladeen's childish impulsiveness, whenever someone accidentally crosses Aladeen, he will immediately order their execution. The most recent one was with his head of his nuclear weapons programme, Nuclear Nadal, when he had a disagreement on the design of a missile for his plans to destroy Israel. A year before the film, due to his active sponsoring of terrorism, gave shelter to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the US military shot his double the previous year.
Present[]
Admiral-General Aladeen was introduced continuing his errands of trying to destroy Israel and shutting down any offer to sell Wadiya's oil. Eventually, the United Nations Security Council had withdrawn military efforts against Wadiya, prompting him to make a visit to New York City in order to address the council in the UN headquarters. However, his treacherous uncle Tamir Mafraad attempts to sabotage him, of whom wants to claim power for his own plans to sell the Oil of Wadiya, and nominally name Wadiya a democracy by manipulating a look-alike called Efawadh. Tamir hires an assassin called Clayton to kidnap Aladeen after his arrival to kill him, and to ensure he doesn't get caught, burn his beard first. However, this backfires and causes Clayton to burn, giving Aladeen the opportunity to escape, but without his beard, he was unable to be recognized as the actual person and was forced to wander around the city in civilian clothes.
He eventually meets a human rights activist called Zoey, who offers him employment in her socially progressive co-op, while Aladeen dons the name of "Allison Burgers". Having initially refused the offer, Aladeen goes to New York's Little Wadiya district all filled by refugees, including all the people Aladeen had ordered executed as a result of his executioner being part of the resistance. Entering the Death to Aladeen restaurant, Aladeen's futile attempts to cover up his identity leads him to being discovered as Aladeen without a beard before Nadal decides to cover up for him and save his life. Aladeen tries to make an offer to Nadal but he initially refuses. However, After realizing how low his status had become, he agrees on the condition of having to make his missile round at the top. He then eventually accepts Zoe's offers when he learned she is catering for the hotel where the signing is going to occur.
As Aladeen continues to work for Zoe's shop, he slowly develops feelings for her despite initially rejecting such feelings, leading to him to forma personality cult around her as he imposes strict schedules and torturres an inspector into giving a good review via holding his family hostage, all to turn around Zoey's struggling business. This eventually leads to Aladeen deciding to finally be honest with her and reveal his true identity, horrifying her due to him being a man brutal to his own people and thus straining their relationship. Upon infiltrating a funeral to decapitate a deceased drug dealer's head and claim his beard as his own, Aladeen psychologically tortures Nadal by using the head as a hand puppet. Aladeen ziplines to his hotel room to tell Efawadh that he is back. At the signing, Aladeen comes in to tear Tamir's document towards the entire world as he announces his refusal to ever sell Wadiya's oil and then praising the advantages of dictatorship, unintentionally drawing parallels to the current issues in the United States. But upon seeing Zoey in the room, he declares his love for her and her strongly-held views as he vows to democratize Wadiya and open its oil reserves for business in a way the general public will benefit. Tamir then tries to shoot Aladeen upon being angered he is still in power, leading to Efawadh to take the bullet and still survive and Tamir being arrested.
A year after, Wadiya holds its very first elections, rigged to Aladeen's favour as he becomes the country's first President Prime Minister. Afterwards, he marries Zoey but is then shocked to know that she is infact Jewish. Having his convoy now be that of eco-friendly cars, Aladeen visits the repromoted Nadal, who hasfinished developing a missile to annihilate Israel that is even pointy, to which Aladeen finally accepts the missile being pointy has nothing to do with how effective a missile is, much to Nadal's irritation. When Zoey announces they are expecting a child, Aladeen responds if she is having "a boy or an abortion".
Trivia[]
- According to the filmmakers, Aladeen is based on real-life dictators Muammar Gaddafi, Idi Amin, Saparmurat Niyazov, the Kim dynasty of North Korea (Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-un), Fidel Castro, and Saddam Hussein.
- Aladeen has a cadre of all-female guards who purport to be virgins, as Libyan dictator Muammar Al Gaddafi did in real life.
- Aladeen shares some characteristics with Turkmenistan dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, in that they both have unusual dictatorships.
- The always lifted point finger of Aladeen was inspired by Cuban leader Fidel Castro who frequently pointed in his speeches.
- Sacha Baron Cohen attended The 84th Annual Academy Awards (2012) in character and full costume as Aladeen, accompanied by his "virgin guards". While giving an interview on the red carpet to an unsuspecting Ryan Seacrest he brandished an urn he claimed to contain the remains of deceased North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. Cohen then spilled the ashes all over Seacrest's tuxedo. As a result, Cohen was banned from entering the auditorium or participating in the events.
- The mock-Arabic language that Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas) speak on the helicopter tour is actually Hebrew.
- Sacha Baron Cohen wanted to shoot scenes in the United Nations building, but was denied access. Baron Cohen claims the official explanation given to him was "we represent a lot of dictators, and they are going to be very angry by this portrayal of them, so you can't shoot in there." When asked about Baron Cohen's claims, a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon only responded by saying "Sacha Baron Cohen has a wonderful sense of humor."
- The producers needed a car for the film that was unique and befitting of a person with unlimited wealth. They approached Dartz Motorz who built three custom, gold plated Dartz Prombron's, Aladeen Edition. Dartz Motorz build the most expensive SUV's in the world.
- The photos of Aladeen's financially procured lovers in addition to Megan Fox include Lindsay Lohan, Halle Berry, Oprah Winfrey, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ellen DeGeneres.
Gallery[]
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en:Admirał Generał Aladeen