While December movies usually bring holiday cheer, “The Interview” could bring WW3.
“The Interview,” starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, follows the story of news anchor Dave Skylark (Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Rogen) as they attempt to legitimize their TV show-Skylark Tonight. Their story takes an abrupt turn when the government finds out that the two are going after their biggest story-interviewing Kim Jung Un. The CIA asks the pair to assassinate the dictator, which seems to have angered the actual North Korean leader.
With a pair like Rogen and Franco, this movie lives up to its potential to have the audience laughing and in stitches. But the most talked about part of this comedy is not the movie itself, but its impact on international affairs. While the movie may just seem like fun and games to Americans, not everyone sees it the same way.
“The production and distribution of such a film on the assassination of an incumbent head of a sovereign state should be regarded as the most undisguised sponsoring of terrorism as well as an act of war,” said North Korean UN Ambassador, Ja Song Nam in a report featured on CNN.
As of December 1, a North Korean agency hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment, threatening to leak information if The Interview is fully released. Already, Sony reports a few of their movies have already been released into illegal sites, including the WWII movie Fury and the musical Annie. Another North Korean agency was also to blame last year for the hacking of South Korean government and bank systems last year on the anniversary of the Korean War.
Following these two events, The Wall Street Journal reported that The Interview would not be shown in South Korea to avoid further straining tensions over the DMZ (the Demilitarized Zone-the border between North and South).
WS students had a different view on the matter though.
“No movie could cause any serious international issues,” said junior Kevin Seaward. “It’s all just fun. Calling it ‘terrorism’ and an ’act of war’ is just the national representatives blowing up over nothing.”
One thing’s for sure, if this movie does affect international relations, it’ll be the topic of discussion for a long time. That fact in itself may be why Rogen and Franco came up with the idea in the first place.
“If [The Interview] is going to cause all these issues, all I can say is that I hope it’s a funny movie,” said junior Jacob Levine.