So, a lot has been written about the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy, The Interview, it's aborted release and Sony Entertainment's decision to go ahead and release the film both theatrically and online. The phrase "Free Speech" has been attached to this amusing controversy. It's one that I don't think applies and here's why.
First, you have to pay to watch this movie, there's nothing free about it. It's not like Sony had planned to show this in every town square across America for free, in hopes of sparking a debate about global politics and tyrannical dictators.
Second, the real issue here, at least for me, was about caving in to a so-called terrorist group that threatened to blow up theaters showing what I'm sure will become a classic comedy for the ages. For years, we've been beating our chests and yelling "These colors don't run" and "We don't cut and run" and the classic, "If we give in, the terrorists win."
And that's exactly what happened.
In this case, the terrorists, at least temporarily, did win. The way Sony chose to handle this situation perfectly highlighted just how much of a pussy nation we've really become. Eventually, Sony changed it's mind (big surprise), with company CEO Michael Lynton going so far as saying "While we hope this is only the first step of the film's release, we are proud to make it available to the public and to have stood up to those who attempted to suppress free speech."
Hmm, . . . proud to make it available and to have stood up to those who attempted to suppress free speech. Yeah, nice try, Lynton, but your company didn't stand up at all. In fact, it kinda bent over like a little prison bitch at the first sign of trouble.
