I bet that when the producers of the movie readily banished by Kim Jong-Un came up with the idea to advertise that their movie was "from the western capitalist pigs who brought you Neighbors and this is the End" they were having a good old time. Weed was surely enjoyed by all, though certainly no demon tobacco was allowed. It never occurred to these great media minds that while in America you still mostly can (unless you are a Republican or an active member of Judaism and Christianity) say what you want, there are other countries (that our Administration insists on trying to befriend as if they have the same sense of right and wrong we do) don't subscribe to liberty of any form. And now these dictators have access to our technological infrastructure and can reach the spoiled brats of our movie industry. People used to laugh when Kim and his late dad launched missiles that fell into the ocean. Now, that former "Mouse who Roared" has demonstrated what life will be when the American experiment fails--as it will if our citizenry does not wake up.
First came the hack that revealed Sony's Most Important Files and the true thoughts of those who publicly offer fealty to all things liberal and the level of jealousy that members of the movie industry have toward one another, and then came the threat of real physical attack on anyone who would dare to show or see the movie. While government sources weakly announced that there was "no credible threat", Sony pulled the movie before its première, and put a prohibition of any DVD release or other digital dissemination.
Still laughing at Kim? That funny little man just successfully and completely censored what used to be the most powerful nation in the world. But now that the movers and shakers of modern nation have decided that the Founders were all wet and they know better in their humanistic hubris that believes man is the measure of all things and somehow has changed from beast to god, an exceptional America is verboten. Congratulations. The fiasco with "The Interview" is one result of an unexceptional nation.
It is not about this stupid movie. I would not have had the least desire to see it had this Sturm und drang not occurred.
Are the corporate heads of Sony cowards? When America was exceptional, when our way of life was defended unto death, up until about 1968 when we lost our moral compass, yes would have been the obvious answer. But, after all, in today's world, if they had run the movie in theatres, and if someone had gotten hurt, the lawyers (my field I am often ashamed to recall) would have sued Sony for damages for the failure to protect those who freely attended to uphold the principles of their homeland. As they are now being criticized by some, including our president, who said they should have talked to him--for giving in, they would have been criticized by the very same people had they gone ahead and a terrorist attack occurred. That's what happens when we try to pretend that our values are comparable to those of North Korea, or Russia, or Iran or any such place that considers torture an entertainment activity.
As seems to happen before every world conflagration, World War I, or World War II, Americans become complacent. Now though, we seem to remain complacent when attacked--- as if somehow we can hide in our houses when they come for someone else. Surely it won't be us. Scary. I don't think we could get prepared for war if we had to as we did after Pearl Harbor.
Frankly, I am just as worried about the assaults on freedom of speech from within. Last night a friend brought up several subjects on the public radar. He told me that he is a socialist. Given the career that this man has had which he would NEVER have in a socialist (which usually becomes Communist) society, and given some comments that I simply could not remain silent over, I pushed back, ever so slightly, and to my shame, not as articulately as I would have liked. He became enraged. He said "I can't talk to you." I reminded him that he had raised a subject that I usually avoid so as not to be excoriated (I guess I am a coward too beaten verbally into submission) and that I had a right to my view. "Yes, you do," he said. But he wasn't happy about it. He apologized later in the conversation. He had other things on his mind as well.
If we citizens of the United States don't believe that America is a good place, as compared with all the others as was more poignantly said I think by Winston Churchill regarding democracy itself, then we are doomed to a loss of our freedoms, every single one, squeezed from within and without.
Just so we are clear, this is
the Supreme Leader. He may look like a petulant child, but he holds the people of North Korea hostage and has reached into the lives of the American people tyrannically.
We think we are better than our forbears, not likely to fall into the same traps. But then we do.
Kim Jong-Un just mopped the floor with the "Western capitalist pigs who brought you Neighbors and This is the End."
Maybe it is the end.
Oh, I forgot, the Administration is going to respond "proportionately" to the cyber attack and presumably to the threats of terror if the movie was shown. There is a word that begs interpretation.
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