"The Interview" Was Not A PR Stunt

Well, here we are, once again. I know I haven't posted anything in awhile (an understatement), but I feel this is important enough to talk about. Originally, I was going to make a post about how deeply troubled I was that Sony and several major movie theaters decided not to show "The Interview". I felt, though, that making a post would be pointless since so many others shared my opinions and articulated how I felt about the situation. So, I let it go (cue Elsa in the background). However, a silly rumor has popped up. A rumor that no one seems to be tackling seriously. That rumor is that the WHOLE thing, every last sordid thing to happen is the result of Sony making the mother of all PR moves. I'll get to why that's complete bullshit in just a second.

First, a little background.

About a month or so ago, Sony Pictures got hacked. Majorly. Everything from unreleased movies, to emails, passwords (which they kept, conveniently, in a folder labeled "Passwords"), Social Security numbers, the list goes on and on. Eventually, the hacker group called the Guardians Of Peace (GOP, for short), claimed that they done this because of an upcoming comedy called "The Interview". The movie is about James Franco and Seth Rogen, a TV personality and his producer, who end up scoring an interview with North Korea's leader, Kim Jung Un. The CIA gets wind of it, and they enlist the two idiots to assassinate him. Understandably, this upset some people, and thus Sony was hacked and all their information was dumped online.

With the release date of the film quickly approaching, the GOP made a threat, saying that there would be attacks on any theater that showed the film. This got a number of the big theater chains nervous, so they said they wouldn't show the film. Sony (apparently just done at this point) said that the movie would never see the light of day. 

Then, a few days before Christmas, they announced "The Interview" would receive a limited release. And then the crazies came out.

Now, keep in mind, I am a fan of scrutinizing any info that you hear. One should always check the facts and look for the logical conclusion. Does this mean that sometimes the pieces all seem to fit in a puzzle that doesn't actually exist, except within our heads? Yes, very much so. Because of this, I'm going to give my reasons why I'm pretty damn sure this isn't a PR stunt.

First, the hackers. I've heard people say, "This couldn't have been done by North Korea. They lack the...well, anything." I'm not going to argue that. The leadership there have so much trouble with simple tasks that I doubt they did it on their own. Personally, I think the GOP are either sympathizers or they were hired by the NK elite. Sure, the country as a whole is poor, but I bet the higher ups have some cash to go around.

Second, the information leak. Again, as I mentioned before, Sony had a LOT of info exposed. Aside from the movies, passwords, and Social Security numbers, I think the thing that will hurt Sony Pictures the most are the emails. Emails that talk about celebrities. Emails that talk bad about Sony Pictures from within. And emails that talk about how Sony almost made a deal with Marvel to have Spider-Man show up in Captain America. This information alone could have cost Sony the film rights to Spider-Man, since rumor has it that the big Sony bosses in Japan didn't like how the studio was handling the franchise and demanded that they make a deal with Marvel (as of this writing, this is just a rumor, but I have a feeling that there could be a lot of truth to it). This, alone, is enough to make me think that it wasn't an inside job. If it was, it would be tantamount to career suicide for the studio.

Lastly, the money. A number of people have said, "This movie wouldn't have gotten the attention it did without the 'hacks'. This is a PR dream come true." No, it isn't. While true, the hackers obviously didn't anticipate that what they were doing would drive people to want to see the film, that doesn't mean that Sony is behind it. Sure, it's more comforting to face a reality where a Machiavellian is completely successful, going off with out a hitch, but that isn't the case here. I'm not saying those kind of plots don't happen, it just didn't here. Sony is going to lose money on this picture. Even with a limited release (which is only a few theaters at the moment*), it won't make up for the marketing spent on it. And even if this was a PR stunt to raise the hype for "The Interview", does it make sense them to try and earn money out of this film while potentially severing ties with other Hollywood superstars by releasing emails that had some nasty things about them? No, it doesn't. None of that makes sense. Putting all that on the line for a silly comedy is ridiculous.

The sad truth, it would seem, is that a film company made a comedy about assassinating a real world leader. Said leader got angry and retaliated, releasing documents from Sony's "secure" servers (remember, Sony's PSN was hacked in 2011. Guess they didn't learn). Threats were made, theaters and the film company lost their nerve, and pulled movie. Then, due to pressure from Hollywood, film goers, and even The President, they decided to release it in a limited run. There you have it, not as sexy as "an inside job to get all the press", but it's, what I feel, is the most likely scenario.

I will address one more thing before going, and that's the quality of the film. A lot of people have mentioned that they don't think this matters. That all this is is just another stupid comedy that no one would watch. To that, I say that you are missing the point. Because of all this, a thriller about North Korea was canned, and that, along with forcing the movie out of theaters, bothers me greatly. What this means is Hollywood may have set an unhealthy precedent for films to come. Don't like the message a movie is selling? Just make a threat to attack any theater showing it. It doesn't matter if your threat is real or not, just as long as you make it. And that unnerves me. I fear that this could lead to a new form of self censorship. Now granted, I do also believe that Freedom of Speech is not Freedom from Consequences. If you express something, always be prepared for some sort of backlash. 

With that being said, I sincerely hope that this won't stifle the creativity of artists. I hope that one individual (such as Kim Jung Un) or a group of individuals (such as the GOP) won't steer the course of Hollywood films. If it does, if what I fear does come to pass, there is still a silver lining: the indie film scene will be there to pick up the pieces.

Till Next Time, Space Monkeys!

*Update: Not long after posting this, Sony had revealed that they were releasing the movie online as well. I still stand by my statement that this isn't a PR stunt. Sony probably will probably either make a small profit on this movie or break even. Again, even if that were the case or they were trying to collect insurance money for not releasing the movie, the shear headache that this leak has caused them wouldn't be worth it. 

Sony isn't emerging victorious here, they're just saving face after a PR disaster, not a godsend.