Okay. Let's play hard ball.
You know, when I first heard this news, I was pissed off, but my first reaction was to make a joke review. I was going to review the movie anyway, a movie that I had never seen, and say how absolutely amazing it was. I would have made huge digs at North Korea and say that it was the best movie of the year hands down. I even had a whole little sequence planned where I talk about how Kim Jong Un's death was the greatest thing I'd ever seen, with the dictator turning into a giant Godzilla/Gundham hybrid that could only be stopped by James Franco and Seth Rogen using the Dragon Balls to make them into giants and wrestle with the him. It was going to be silly, stupid fun to poke at this situation.
That was supposed to be the plan. But then I thought about it. This movie will never see the light of day. Yes there are still tentative plans for the movie to be released in Europe, but let's be honest here, what will stop North Korea from doing the same fear tactics it has used over the past month to not attack other countries? As it stands right now, this movie will be a movie that I will never see. I'll never be able to watch this movie unless by some miracle, Sony actually decides to release it in some way.
Do you know what that means? That means that all of this time and effort that went into making the film, all of the artistic and creative elements, have been for nothing. This is a slap to the face against free speech. The decision to pull this movie is equivalent to Sony getting down on its knees, crying and kissing the feet of the North Korean government for daring, DARING, to release a movie to criticize their nation. Hollywood has shown that it has no power or and integrity when it comes to release its movies.
You know, I just can't stop thinking of how many controversial movies were released in the past that were still released despite how controversial they are. Passion of the Christ's brutal depiction of Jesus that riled up ever Christian known to man. Or what about I Spit On Your Grave, a movie where we watch a woman get raped for several minutes. Then there's Cannibal Holocaust, a movie so brutal that people were certain that the director actually killed their actors just for a movie. These are the all time controversial movies, and now we have The Interview, a stupid comedy where Seth Rogen gets chased by a tiger and James Franco smokes pot with Kim Jong Un.
The key difference though is that all of those movies were released. I'm not going to lie, I'm pissed off that this had to happen. Sony was scared into pulling the movie from ever being released, and not we're left with a giant stain on Hollywood. Hollywood lost it's freedom of speech. Hollywood lost its balls. What more needs to be said?
What is creative freedom? In my eyes, creative freedom is being able to create whatever I want to match my vision. I have an idea and I want to see it realized. It's my right as an American citizen to have freedom of speech, the freedom to say and say whatever I want. If I want to create a movie that may offend some people, then I'm aware of the risks. I will still create what I want to create because it is my dream. I want my dream to become a reality, and I will fight my hardest to make it so. I will put my own heart and soul to create what I want to create, say what I want to say, and film what I want to film. That is my right as an American citizen and a lover of film, acting, theatre, and any other creative or expressive arts.
Unless my vision offends one specific faction of people. A group of people that have constantly been negative and hate all creativity and expressive arts. Then screw my dreams and ideas.
And look, I don't live in a vacuum. I understand the political ramifications that the movie may hold and I understand that the movie I'm fighting for may not even be a good movie. Just by the looks of it, it may just be a fairly decent movie. But it's still a movie. It is still art. It deserves to exist in the same way that every other movie deserves to exist.
Sony, I have no idea if you would ever read this blog. Hell, sometimes I'm not even sure if anyone reads these reviews. But if you're reading this, let me make this perfectly clear to you.
Release the movie. Take a stand. If you don't want to release it in theatres, I can understand that. You don't want blood on your hands if something horrible does happen. I understand that. Despite those trepidations, release the movie digitally. When you do that, who can North Korea attack. You? We know that they're behind it. They're flat out admitting it now. The US government is on your side and are willing to protect you. If you release the movie digitally, who can they attack? Will they attack every single American that watches the movie? Yeah, try and do that, see what happens. It's a lose lose situation for North Korea if they do. Not only that but if you don't, I personally will never see a single Sony produced movie until The Interview is released. I know that may seem small, but if you have no faith in your movie, then I have no faith in you as a company. You know what's right for the medium Sony. Do what's right not only for you, but for the arts. Think of what it would be like to have put some much effort and money into something, only to have it fade away forever because a bully made threats at you. Do you remember what we do to bullies. We stand up against them. We don't fight them, but we stand and show that we will not be afraid of them and we will not tolerate them. If we fight as one, then we will win as one. You just need to take the step forward, and I'll be there at your side, paying to watch The Interview and encouraging everyone to do so. So stand up to the bully. Stand up for what's right.
As Charlie Chaplin stood up against the Nazi Party and Germany, let The Interview stand up against the North Korean government and Kim Jong Un.
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