Ex-Panamanian dictator Noriega sues over video game portrayal
Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is joining the league of world leaders and governments upset over their portrayals in movies and video games: He's suing the company behind the game 鈥�Call of Duty: Black Ops 滨滨.鈥�
Mr. Noriega is suing Activision Blizzard Inc. for using his name and depiction without permission. The Los Angeles Times reported that on Tuesday alleges he is portrayed as 鈥渁 kidnapper, murderer and enemy of the state,鈥� adding to 鈥渉eightened sales鈥� for Activision.听The lawsuit seeks damages and lost profits.
Noriega held power from 1983 to 1989, before a US invasion removed him. He was imprisoned in the US on drug smuggling and racketeering charges and only returned to Panama in 2011.听
Lampooning dictators and particularly colorful world leaders is regular fare for movies and video games. North Korea's Kim Jong-un declared 鈥渁ll-out war鈥�聽against the US聽in June over the upcoming James Franco and Seth Rogen film, "The Interview." In the film, Mr. Kim is the target of a CIA assassination attempt.听
Kim鈥檚 ire over the film didn鈥檛 stop with the threat. North Korea鈥檚 ambassador to the United Nations, Ja Song-nam, without mentioning the name of the movie:
鈥淭o allow the production and distribution of such a film on the assassination of an incumbent head of a sovereign state should be regarded as the most undisguised sponsoring of terrorism as well as an act of war.鈥�
The ruling family of the Hermit Kingdom has engendered its fair share of controversial portrayals. Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, was depicted as a wooden puppet in the 2004 film Team America: World Police, allegedly upsetting the leader, although he never commented on it. North Korean embassy officials in the Czech Republic tried unsuccessfully there.
Moving west to Malaysia, the 2001 comedy Zoolander featured a plotline to assassinate the prime minister. That was too much for the Malaysian government, which called it 聽(Zoolander star Owen Wilson 补肠迟耻补濒濒测听 of Malaysia Najib Razak in 2012.)
Middle Eastern leaders haven鈥檛 been spared, either. Saddam Hussein was depicted in the 1993 "Hot Shots! Part Deux" film, playing a large role in the movie with memorable lines including, "Now I will kill you until you die from it!"聽The film wasn鈥檛 banned in Iraq.听
It was an event in Ukraine in 2004 that spawned a popular online game. Then-presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych was pelted by an egg, and his reaction made it appear that he had been shot. The video聽 and was followed by the game.
So Noreiga can rest assured that he has company, and more surely to join soon.
