Osama bin Laden in popular culture
Encyclopedia
Osama bin Laden
has been depicted and parodied in several films and TV shows. Notable examples include:
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
has been depicted and parodied in several films and TV shows. Notable examples include:
- Bin Laden: The Early Years - a 2001 TV documentary. Director: Jon Blair. Production Company: 3BM Television.
- Bin Laden: The Failings of a Manhunt - a documentary filmDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
alleging that French soldiersFrench ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
could have killed Osama bin Laden twice but didn't because no orders came from US commanders. - Devil's AdvocateDevil's Advocate (TV series)Devil's Advocate is a Dutch reality television series produced by AVRO, an Amsterdam-based production company, and shown on Nederland 2, a public broadcaster...
- a Dutch reality televisionReality televisionReality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show where the world's worst criminals are "tried." The April 8, 2009 show featured bin Laden and created controversy when the "jury" acquitted him. - Dispatches: Bin Laden's Plan Of Terror - a 2001 TV documentary. Director: Eamonn Matthews. Production Company: MBC Midlands.
- The Chaser's War on EverythingThe Chaser's War on EverythingThe Chaser's War on Everything is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television station ABC1. It has won an AFI Award. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts...
- earlier episodes of this Australian comedy series parody Osama bin Laden's videos with altered, humorous subtitles. - Dispatches: The Saudi Tapes - a 1997 TV documentary that features an interview with Bin Laden. Director: Gwynne Roberts. Production Company: Roberts and Wykeham Films.
- Meeting Osama Bin Laden - a 2004 documentary.
- Osama Bin Laden: Behind the Madness - a 2002 comedy.
- "Osama bin Laden Has Farty PantsOsama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants"Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 74th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 7, 2001; and is notable as the first episode to air after the...
" - episode 74 of the Comedy CentralComedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
series South ParkSouth ParkSouth Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
. It originally aired November 7, 2001. It is the first episode to air after 9/11September 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, as well as the American invasion of AfghanistanWar in Afghanistan (2001–present)The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
; it dealt with the latter and only tangentially made mention of the former. It has been nominated for an EmmyEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. Bin Laden also returns in subsequent South Park episodes "Cartoon Wars Part IICartoon Wars Part II"Cartoon Wars Part II" is the fourth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 142nd episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 12, 2006...
" (live action), "200200 (South Park)"200" is the fifth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 200th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 14, 2010...
", and "It's a Jersey ThingIt's a Jersey Thing"It's a Jersey Thing" is the ninth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 204th episode of the series overall. It premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on October 13, 2010. In the episode, New Jersey is rapidly taking over the...
". - Panorama: The Hunt For Bin Laden - a 2002 TV documentary. Producer: Aidan Laverty. Production Company: BBC TV.
- PostalPostal (film)Postal is a 2007 Canadian-American-German black comedy action film co-written and directed by Uwe Boll.Like the majority of Boll's previous films, Postal is a film adaptation of a video game, in this case, Postal, though this film draws more heavily from that video game's sequel, Postal 2.-Plot:The...
- a 2007 comedy film based on the 2003 video gamePostal 2Postal 2 is a first-person shooter video game by Running with Scissors, and it is the sequel to the 1997 game Postal. Both are intentionally highly controversial due to high levels of violence and stereotyping. Unlike its predecessor, Postal 2 is played completely in first-person based on the...
. In the film, bin Laden (played by SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
s Larry Thomas), who inexplicably speaks with an American accent, is portrayed as a priss who has been hiding out in Arizona since 2001, and has become tiresome with his anti-American threats, feeling that "nobody's listening anymore". He is also played as being a close friend and possible lover of George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, who has been helping him stay hidden. The final shot of the film features bin Laden and Bush skipping hand-in-hand in a field while dozens of nuclear bombs go off in the distance. - Grindhouse, the 2007 film's feature segment Planet TerrorPlanet TerrorPlanet Terror is a 2007 American action horror film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, about a group of people attempting to survive an onslaught of zombie-like creatures as they feud with a military unit, including a go-go dancer searching for a way to use her "useless talents." The film, a...
, features a scene where antagonist Lt. Muldoon (Bruce WillisBruce WillisWalter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
) reveals the origin of a mutation that has affected he and his renegade squad. Muldoon and his men were infected by a deadly biochemical agent being harbored by bin Laden, who Muldoon admits to executing. - Targeted: Osama Bin Laden - a 2004 documentary.
- Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? is a 2008 documentary film, conceived by Adam Dell and co-written, produced, directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker....
- a 2008 documentary. - The World's Most Wanted Man - a 2001 British documentary. Director: Rob Carey. Production Company: Uden Associates.
- The American TV show Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
has shown bin Laden several times. In uncensored versions of "Road to Rhode IslandRoad to Rhode Island"Road to Rhode Island" is the thirteenth episode from the second season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 30, 2000. In the episode, Brian volunteers to bring Stewie home from his grandparents' house in California, but the...
", bin Laden is seen attempting to evade airport security by singing a show tune, as Stewie has just successfully done. In "PTVPTV (Family Guy)"PTV" is the fourteenth episode of season four of the FOX animated series Family Guy. The episode sees the FCC censor the shows on television after a controversial wardrobe malfunction at the Emmy Awards. Peter starts to create his own TV network which he calls PTV, broadcasting classic shows...
", bin Laden is seen cracking up whilst attempting to record a threatening video message to the USA. After considerable dialogue and banter amongst the co-conspirators, Stewie is revealed to be present and he proceeds successfully to attack all the al-Qaeda operatives, including bin Laden. Osama bin Laden is also briefly referenced in "Peter's DaughterPeter's Daughter"Peter's Daughter" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of Family Guy and originally aired November 25, 2007 and ended the first half of the season. When a flood hits Quahog, Meg winds up in the hospital in a coma, and an over-protective Peter vows he will take extra care of her from then on...
" when a suicide bomber arrives in Paradise to discover the 72 virgins awaiting him are all male nerds and geeks. He yells "Osama" as he realises he has been tricked. "The Big Bang Theory" briefly references his deathDeath of Osama bin LadenOsama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
. - Tere Bin LadenTere Bin LadenTere Bin Laden is a 2010 Bollywood satire film produced by Walkwater Media and written and directed by Abhishek Sharma. The film stars Pakistani pop singer Ali Zafar in the lead role as an ambitious young reporter, who, in his desperation to migrate to the U.S., makes a fake Osama bin Laden video...
(English: without you, Laden) - 2010 Bollywood comedy film - Holy Terror An upcoming graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
by Frank MillerFrank Miller (comics)Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
. - In the American Dad episode Bush Comes To Dinner, Steve and Roger try to coax the truth from George W. Bush as to Osama bin Laden's whereabouts, but their scheme ends in failure when they get him drunk. At the end of the episode, he is seen in an office building.