Ever since His Excellency Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen, self-styled beloved oppressor and chief ophthalmologist of the People's Republic of Wadiya, inadvertently spilled Kim Jong-il's ashes over Ryan Seacrest's tux outside the Oscars, the world has had to deal with some pretty awkward questions. The Dictator Production year: 2012 Country: USA Cert (UK): 15 Runtime: 83 mins Directors: Larry Charles Cast: Anna Faris, Fred Melamed, Jeff Grossman, John C. Reilly, Kevin Corrigan, Megan Fox, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sir Ben Kingsley More on this film What is it with our obsession with satirising dictators? Was Aristotle correct when he suggested that the right genre for dramatising bad men is comedy not tragedy, or should it be beneath us to find power-crazed nutjobs funny? Why can't Sacha Baron ... Continue reading →

How slums are seen … child actors in the film Slumdog Millionaire. Photograph: c Fox Search/Everett/Rex Features A few weeks ago, Joss Whedon scored all the smart cultural points by taking us on an abridged world tour of horror in The Cabin in the Woods. But he seemed to trip up after putting superherodom on long-haul in Avengers Assemble – the Kolkata slum scenes (where Black Widow finds Bruce Banner on an indefinite gap year) were criticised by Indian actors for dealing in stereotypes and fixating on poverty in the country. "There are two scenes about India, and they only show slums," the Bengali star Rituparna Sengupta told the Hindustan Times. "It could have been done in better taste." The Avengers [also known as Avengers ... Continue reading →