North Korea Wins Again

[MarkWill]

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/s ... ml?hp=l2_4

North Korea's only legitimate weapon: threats.

[CanadianEh]

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/sony-north-korea-the-interview-113655.html?hp=l2_4

North Korea's only legitimate weapon: threats.

They have canceled many showings in Canada too.

[Amazeroth]

It's still hard to believe the cowardice of Sony/the cinemas that decided not to show it. What did they think the hackers would be able to do to them?

[soysauce]

I think Sony are the people that won here, by all accounts this was a fairly shit comedy film anyway, because of this they have got a lot more publicity and when they do eventually release it everyone will want it simply because it's the film that North Korea wanted banned.

But for North Korea this film is potentially damaging. American and European films and TV shows over there are about as common as weed on the streets of london, this film would be no exception, people who watched it would probably have some questions and as ever questions in North Korea aren't good. The chances are that Pyongyang would aggressively surpress the film which would cause chaos within the relatively powerful middle class, they're already having to buy in computers and TVs from the west to keep these guys happy so killing some of them for owning the wrong DVD might bring things to a head.

[MarkWill]

I've never really thought about the film being shown in North Korea because I'm not certain how such things could ever enter the country in the first place, but in this case, regardless of whether it was North Korea who committed the act, they're getting the attention they so desire.

I agree that they should've shown the film regardless. These are merely threats.

[PaleRider]

It's still hard to believe the cowardice of Sony/the cinemas that decided not to show it. What did they think the hackers would be able to do to them?

They really had no choice since all the major theatre chains pulled out of showing it. However the moment it comes out I'm going to see it just to stick it to NK.

[CanadianEh]

I've never really thought about the film being shown in North Korea because I'm not certain how such things could ever enter the country in the first place, but in this case, regardless of whether it was North Korea who committed the act, they're getting the attention they so desire.

I agree that they should've shown the film regardless. These are merely threats.

Yes I agree, I'm pretty sure no North Korea would be able to watch the movie.

[Afrocentric]

[Amazeroth]

It's still hard to believe the cowardice of Sony/the cinemas that decided not to show it. What did they think the hackers would be able to do to them?

They really had no choice since all the major theatre chains pulled out of showing it. However the moment it comes out I'm going to see it just to stick it to NK.

I've heard that too, but in this cause the major chains are the cowards. Even more than Sony - Sony could actually suffer from hacker attacks, but major theatre chains would have a lot less to fear.

I think Sony are the people that won here, by all accounts this was a fairly shit comedy film anyway, because of this they have got a lot more publicity and when they do eventually release it everyone will want it simply because it's the film that North Korea wanted banned.

But for North Korea this film is potentially damaging. American and European films and TV shows over there are about as common as weed on the streets of london, this film would be no exception, people who watched it would probably have some questions and as ever questions in North Korea aren't good. The chances are that Pyongyang would aggressively surpress the film which would cause chaos within the relatively powerful middle class, they're already having to buy in computers and TVs from the west to keep these guys happy so killing some of them for owning the wrong DVD might bring things to a head.

I'd really be surprised if anyone in North Korea would have been able to watch the film. I've never heard that there was any kind of successful smuggling of Western goods into NK, so I'd be genuinely interested where you got that from.

[Siggon Kristov]

I'd really be surprised if anyone in North Korea would have been able to watch the film. I've never heard that there was any kind of successful smuggling of Western goods into NK, so I'd be genuinely interested where you got that from.

I have actually heard of such a story by a defector who is now in South Korea (he wants to return, but he did admit the bad stuff).
Successful smuggling can happen through China.

Still, I really don't like the idea of The Interview.
It's not like a film that targets a generic "President of the USA" that has a different name in the film than in real life, and it's not like a film that is about a President who was actually assassinated already. It's a film about the assassination of a specific and real individual. I don't think any leader (or person) would be comfortable having such a film about them, unless it glorified them in some way. If we made a film about assassinating Obama, we would probably end up as the subjects of investigation.