(Source TheNextWeb.com)

Seth Rogen & James Franco’s The Interview, a comedy about a journalist (Franco) and his producer (Rogen) who get the opportunity to interview North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, and the C.I.A. tells them to “take him out”.

And believe it or not, the North Koreans didn’t think it was funny. In fact, the last month, a hacker group, calling themselves the Guardians Of Peace, have been hacking and leaking Sony information online and the latest act by the group were bomb threats to theaters playing the film. It got to the point that all cinema chains across Canada and the United States have pulled the movie entirely and refuse to show it, due to security reasons.

Now, there hasn’t been an official statement by the North Koreans or even the American government about who’s responsible for the hacking and the threats, but it’s believed that North Koreans are behind it. Obviously, Kim Jong-Un takes the movie as an offense to himself and his country, and might not see it as the satire it is.

Now, to be fair, North Korea is a pretty unstable bear to be poking fun at, so James Franco & Seth Rogen’s attempt to make a comedy out of the assassination of the North Korean dictator was a mistake. Celebrities are commenting online, saying that the comedy should be released, because it’s protected under free speech, but how ignorant are you to make a joke about a dictator that doesn’t take jokes from anyone? The movie has a premise that is questionably bad taste, and of course, with today’s technology, and capabilities, you can see why this went wrong so fast.

People are saying Sony’s refusal to release the movie is cowardly, and that Charlie Chaplin didn’t get scared when he made The Great Dictator, which mocked Adolf Hitler, but there was no internet back then, there was no high-speed communication and there was no way that you could threaten multiple theaters for showing the movie. Back then, once the movie had already been through theaters and was out, it would have become public knowledge globally that Chaplin mocked Hitler, but not today.

It’s a serious threat when you have a country as unstable as North Korea threaten theaters that screen the movie that “The world will be full of fear” and to “remember the 11th of September 2001.”

Now, while the movie has been stated that it will not be released due to the threats, there are still advertisements running for The Interview with the tagline:

“In Franco & Rogen We Trust”

And to make things better, the official scene depicted in The Interview that shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s death by missile with in a helicopter.

Should James Franco & Seth Rogen even have made The Interview? Does a movie about assassinating a dictator really fall under the freedom of speech? Any thoughts on the cancellation of the film’s release?

Let us know below!

12/19/2014 – 5:53 pm

by James