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Major Theaters Flush Artistic Freedom by Suppressing "The Interview"
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David wrote: "Major US theater companies fearful of some sort of attack by North Korean Hackers have refused the show Seth Rogen's "The Interview" They have done a horrible disservice to the American people and ..."I don't agree. There were also other movies coming out at the same time effected by this. As well as people all over the net tweeting, and Facebooking their plans not to go anywhere near a theater because of this latest threat. A lot of people weren't trying to die in the name of some bad movie. Plus it's easy for me to judge a business for distancing themselves from something controversial, when my livelihood isn't affected either way. Do we boycott advertisers for not wanting to support TV shows with offensive material? No. We are all washing our clothes and bodies with P&G products everyday. Same difference to me.
You are right insofar as, yes, a Steve Corell movie "PyongYang" that was still in development was scrapped too, but you miss the point. My point is that NO movies should have been effected by this. It is total BS that some third world dictator can threaten to blow up American Theaters because he was offended about how he was portrayed and we just meekly say "Oh... Right... Sorry... Didn't mean to offend" and toss it in the trash. What if it was a movie about ISIS and THEY got offended. Shall we never again publish anything critical of this brutal terror group because we're afraid they might hurt us? That is the first step toward slavery.
David wrote: "You are right insofar as, yes, a Steve Corell movie "PyongYang" that was still in development was scrapped too, but you miss the point. My point is that NO movies should have been effected by this...."I'm not even talking about the movies in Develoment, but the bigger movies coming out this weekend playing at those same theaters.
1. In The Woods
2. Unbroken
3. Annie
Just to name a few. The studios, and the theaters are banking on the Christmas blockbusters to help their bottom lines for the fiscal year.
They could have stood there ground, risked empty theaters, and face firing people because of the shortfall. Let's not forget someone way less than a dictator blew up the twin towers, and the Pentagon. And how long after was the airline industry affected by the people's fear of flying? The same post 9/11 world that makes people blindly go along with the government listening to our phone calls, drone spy planes "accidentally" blowing up wrong targets occasionally, effects the mundane too. You can't have it both ways: don't be scared of vague threats, but report anything on the train because it's a bomb.
And not for nothing, this is Sony's mess. They should be the one's to eat it, not every other studio, and theater owner.
North Koreans don’t get satire.I agree with Pagan. This is Sony’s mess. If you want to produce a script that makes a joke about assassinating a foreign leader, you should expect the reaction from that leader/country to be according to THEIR point of view, not America’s (or Sony’s). What would they expect from a regime that’s been rogue for decades?
I love Seth Rogan, but I think this script was a little tone deaf to the political reaction.
What do you think the reaction of the FBI would be if someone produced a movie in which killing the President was a theme?
As for the notion that “we shouldn’t cave to terrorists,” that’s right and all, but the movie theater chains are the ones who’ll face the prospect of bankrupting class action lawsuits if even one of these threats came to be executed.
In this case, it’s convenient for “us” to criticize “them” for putting the safety of their customers foremost in their thinking. I know if my livelihood and future depended on the correctness of my response, I’d err on the side of caution.
Pete wrote: "What do you think the reaction of the FBI would be if someone produced a movie in which killing the President was a theme?..."
Actually somebody did: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0853096/
Actually somebody did: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0853096/
Oh that’s interesting, Ken! So history repeats itself:
" Gretchen Esell of the Texas Republican Party described the subject matter saying, "I find this shocking, I find it disturbing. I don't know if there are many people in America who would want to watch something like that."[7] Hillary Clinton, then junior United States Senator from New York, told The Journal News of Rockland, Westchester, and Putnam counties at the annual New Castle Community Day in Chappaqua that, "I think it's despicable. I think it's absolutely outrageous. That anyone would even attempt to profit on such a horrible scenario makes me sick."[8]
Simon Finch, the co-screenwriter, replied saying that Clinton had not seen the film when she commented.[9] The Bush administration did not comment about the film; as White House spokesperson Emily Lawrimore remarked, "We are not commenting because it doesn't dignify a response."[10] Two U.S. cinema chains, Regal and Cinemark, refused to screen Death of a President,[11][12] which was distributed by Newmarket Films in the United States. CNN and NPR also refused to broadcast advertisements for the film.[13]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of...
@Pete Morin -- Do you not see the obvious difference between a movie about killing our own President, and one about killing a terrorist-supporting commie tyrant??? There can be NO comparison between the two!
And yes, David is right on -- the Norks are deliberately trying to attack our very freedom! Which is why it's high time we put a firewall around all our networks to block ALL online traffic originating from North Korea, so they can never do this again!
Pete wrote: "Looks like George Clooney agrees with you, Ken.
http://deadline.com/2014/12/george-cl..."
Agrees with me? I didn't say anything. I just provided a link in response to your FBI question.
http://deadline.com/2014/12/george-cl..."
Agrees with me? I didn't say anything. I just provided a link in response to your FBI question.
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Whats your take?