Thursday, December 25, 2014

The Interview - Movie Review

This evening we ventured very far, from Oakland to Pittsburg, a lot further than we normally would to see this years most controversial movie, "The Interview" , starring Seth Rogan and James Franco TV.

"The Interview" , is about a news anchor and his producer who get a chance to interview Kim Jong Un of North Korea while the U.S. Government asks them to assassinate him.

The hype of this movie is unexaggerated, many National movie chains decided to forego any screenings after an, "anonymous hacker group warned it intended to target cinemas showing the movie"  . (DW)  North Korea denied any involvement in the hack. (CNN)  

I can see why the North Korean government could view this movie as an act of war, this movie basically lampoons our entire relationship with the North Korea government and their dictator.  But .... the question everyones been asking themselves is whose infringing on who?

Before I get to the movie review, lets take a quick look at some other countries and their rules on free speech.

Jonathan Swift, who is considered the father of modern day sarcasm, famously wrote, "A Modest Proposal" , which is basically a satirical prose about how the Irish should eat their babies to avoid famine.  This piece was written in 1729.  So what I find strange about how satire was invented in the UK but there is a National law that no one can make fun of the Royal family.  WTF ????

In Canada, "The Criminal Code prohibits, 'hate propaganda' ,The Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination on various grounds, and forbids the posting of hateful or contemptuous messages on the Internet"  . (wikipedia)

In grade school I was taught that the Russian dictatorship of Joseph Stalin was never made to make fun of by their own citizens because reverency was one of their highest morals.  And those dissidents who spoke up were killed off. 

I can think of one country, not going to say who (Tunisia) where four people were killed over the youtube movie, "Innocence of Muslims" .

And thats when America was founded.  Our Bill of Rights pretty much guarantee our basic civil rights to free speech along with many other liberties, even if it comes at the expense of others.  Our U.S. Democratic government is based on checks & balances, our free speech is protected so that no other group or person could ever monopolize our views and opinions. (this is why other countries either love us or hate us)

Our American laws were also created so other regimes could never use fear to intimidate us, even if those bullys would come from our own country, which they have.

Getting back to the question at hand, did, "The Interview" , infringe upon North Korea's political & moral ideals, duh.  But this movie was made in our country, for our citizens, to be viewed and enjoyed in our country.  If other countries don't like the content, they have the option not to show it.

Do we need some kind of world resolution where other countries should be more tolerant and sensitive to other countries moral and political agenda's, yes.

But first, lets make a world resolution for all of those other countries and have them stop committing human rights violations against their own people.

And by the way, the movie was okay if you like dick jokes.

If you guys really want to go see a funny movie, go see, "Dumb & Dumber 2" .

xoxo




Work Cited:
http://www.dw.de/sony-cancels-the-interview-opening-after-threats-from-guardians-of-peace/a-18137436
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/21/world/asia/north-korea-us-sony/
http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_Canada

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