Posted on 12/18/2014 9:29:55 AM PST by OddLane
Sony’s capitulation in the face of threats by unidentified sources, who are presumed to support the odious Kim dynasty, serves to confirm what most of us have known for some time. Namely, the extent of allowable political discourse in popular culture is inextricably linked to the willingness of the objects of political criticism to violently suppress that criticism. Or, at the very least, intimate the unpleasant nature of the response in store for those willing to offer a dissenting voice.
An interview the iconic Indo-British author and apostate Salman Rushdie did with Irshad Manji several years ago is worth watching again, if only because in it Rushdie makes the ineluctable observation that with each acquiescence to the grievances of Islam-whose appetite for grievance is insatiable by its very nature-Western society weakens its resolve to stand up to less imposing gangsters and their intimations of violence. As this complete and utter surrender to a third-rate, despotic Asian reich demonstrates.
In some ways, the comparison is exceedingly apt. Even though the Kim dynasty is often described as a cult of personality, it could just as accurately be called the civic religion of North Korea.
And just as devoted Muslims view any desecration of their holy book-real or imagined-as an offense worthy of death, the penalty for not properly venerating the image of a Kim is something best not contemplated. So it’s no surprise that a film which-initially, at least-concluded with the assassination of the current ruler of the DPRK would occasion the type of response it has engendered, even if Kim Jong-un is not as beloved as the man whose legacy he hopes to emulate.
(Excerpt) Read more at american-rattlesnake.org ...
Namely, the extent of allowable political discourse in popular culture is inextricably linked to the willingness of the objects of political criticism to violently suppress that criticism.
Exactly.
Why is it ok to make fun of, persecute and otherwise harass Christians and Jews? Make “Jesus art” out of elephant dung?
Because Christians and Jews tend not to explode when angered.
That’s a completely separate despotism.
and when you say “explode” that could be both figuritively and literally....
True. I meant it literally.
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