Posted on 12/19/2014 8:43:21 AM PST by Dave346
The Daily Beast has unearthed several emails that reveal at least two U.S. government officials screened a rough cut of the Kim Jong-Un assassination comedy The Interview in late June and gave the film—including a final scene that sees the dictator’s head explode—their blessing.
The claim that the State Department played an active role in the decision to include the film’s gruesome death scene is likely to cause fury in Pyongyang. Emails between the Sony Entertainment CEO and a security consultant even appear to suggest the U.S. government may support the notion that The Interview would be useful propaganda against the North Korean regime.
Back on June 20, the first threat lobbed by North Korean officials against the holiday blockbuster seemed as empty as a North Korean villager’s lunch box.
The Seth Rogen/James Franco-starrer, which centers on a TV host and his producer being tasked by the CIA with assassinating North Korean despot Kim Jong-Un, was branded “an act of war.” Studio executives at distributor Sony Pictures and the general public mostly laughed it off as yet another example of muscle-flexing by the rotund ruler.
But now, the controversy surrounding the political satire has gotten serious.
In late November, a group that calls itself the Guardians of Peace breached Sony’s company servers, and leaked several large caches of private internal data online, including the emails of several top Sony executives, Social Security numbers and private info of employees, screeners of upcoming feature films, and more. Some believe it to be the work of North Korean hackers as payback for The Interview, and while a spokesman for North Korea claimed ignorance, he added that the hack “might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers with the DPRK in response to its appeal” against the film.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
“two U.S. government officials screened a rough cut of the Kim Jong-Un assassination comedy The Interview in late June and gave the film—including a final scene that sees the dictator’s head explode—their blessing”
Censorship.
Right there.
So if the two bureaucrats had given the movie the thumbs down, the movie would have been pulled?
Which 0bama bureaucrats do you trust to have veto power over the content of political speech?
Why are they running anything past the gov’t?
I understand that Sony submitted it voluntarily, not that the DOS demanded that they do so.
Had either of the two above occurred, that would be censorship, wouldn't it?
I would bet that they didn't let U.S. government officials screen Death of a President before release in 2006.
Exactly.
The correct response of the government should have been:
“We do not involve ourselves in the free speech rights of corporations. We therefore regretfully decline your request for a review.”
Only the presumptuousness of a natural censor would have them even show up for a screening.
“their blessing”
Which could have been withheld had the content offended Big Brother.
Something smells bad here. Its looking like another crisis that can only be solved by the Emperor’s pen.
Did anyone run the Bush assassination movies past the gobmint?
http://nypost.com/2014/12/18/sharpton-to-have-say-over-how-sony-makes-movies/
Sony has already lost money on this thing, so release it on the internet. Lots to be made there.
Well, after what happened after the widespread viewing of that YouTube video that sparked the spontaneous Benghazi protests, you can’t be too careful...
</sarc> (just in case you missed it)
I skimmed the title of the thread and wondered what an unassassination was.
North Korea holds Seoul hostage for everything they do. The thought of having artillery raining down on a city of millions just isn’t a threat. They are crazy enough to do it.
It’s fiction, it’s a comedy, it’s not reality.
I doubt they would have submitted it to the State Department if a Rep had been in the WH.
Agree on that!
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