Hackers invoke 9/11 and threaten movie theaters that plan on showing "The Interview". CNN Money

Via IMBD. 

A hacker group known as the Guardians of Peace have invoked the 9/11 attacks and have threatened all movie goers that go to see the new Seth Rogen comedy "The Interview". CNN Money. The group has carried out on their threats before and have released thousands of hacked files and entire unreleased movies from Sony Pictures, who are releasing the movie. Since the movie is a fictional account of an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, it is suspected that the North Koreans are behind the Guardians of Peace. Sony Pictures have not pulled the movie as of yet, but they have told theater owners that they can pull the movie if they so desire. Although the FBI has not discovered an active plot, Sony canceled the premier of the film and canceled the promotional tour for the stars of the film. 

My Comment:

Man, the North Koreans can not take a joke. I understand why they are upset, they don't have free speech over there and anyone living in North Korea who would so much as joke about Kim Jong Un would be sent to a camp, along with their family. When the film eventually gets smuggled into North Korea the leadership there will have to paint a picture for their people. If word gets out that the United States (i know Sony Pictures isn't the United States, but the North Koreans wouldn't understand the difference) made a film that made fun of their leader and the North Koreans did nothing about it then the government would lose face. By punishing Sony Pictures and threatening violence they are saying to their people that NOBODY, not even the United States, can get away with making fun of Kim Jong Un.

This whole debacle is terrible for film though. It is going to cost Sony Pictures millions of dollars and has aired a lot of Hollywood's dirty laundry. Whatever the film makes it won't be enough to cover the money they have already lost. Not only is that bad for Sony it is bad for film in general. The studios are already terrified of taking risks with movies and the losses Sony is taking here will make them even more skittish. They already tip toe around China due to their huge film market, so films will now probably aim to not offend North Korea as well. Which means that there will be no more films with Asian villains in them.

Of course the fact that Sony is even allowing theaters to pull the film is disheartening. I hate censorship of any form and that includes self censorship. If you have to account for the sensibilities for everyone in the world then you can't do art anymore. I have no idea what the merits of "The Interview" as a film is but it absolutely should be released. Even if the North Koreans make good on their threats. The whole situation reminds me of the South Park episode "201" which was made after Islamic extremists threatened the creators for their depiction of Muhammad. The episode contained a speech that applies here.  

That speech of course, was censored completely when it was released. And just like Comedy Central did, Sony Pictures is on the verge of proving the point again. Threatening violence always works... 

As for the film itself, if it does stay in theaters I might go see it. I'm not a big fan of Seth Rogan or comedies in general, but I'm also not a fan of small groups of people that want to impose their will on others.