Introduction

This chapter examines the challenges as well as the complex strategies that have been used to sidestep them. It provides a new framework through which to analyse these questions. With his alleged cannibalism, frenetic sex-life, mad violence, and semi-literate rants, Amin rapidly became a popular topic for the Western media. The chapter focuses on three films about Idi Amin: General Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait by Franco-Swiss documentarist Barbet Schroeder, the British drama The Last King of Scotland by Kevin MacDonald, and the exploitation' film Amin: The Rise and Fall by Kenyan director Sharad Patel. The analysis of these films provides further evidence that a focus on the question of stereotypes and cliches cannot be effective if it relies on an opposition between political or ethical judgment on the one hand, and aesthetics on the other hand. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.