People, I have seen it! "The Interview" - the film that North Korea tried to stop! The film that caused Sony to defy the nation's constitutional right to freedom of speech! The film that...is just another Seth Rogen vehicle: puerile, childish and scatalogical. I can't believe that Pyongyang was so offended by this pile of weak-assed frat-boy gags that it supposedly resorted to cyberwarfare against Sony to try to stop its release. This film is as subversive as having afternoon tea at Fortnum's. I really am bemused if such tecnological expertise was employed to counter such a dud, unless the Supreme Leader really does have so fragile an ego that he would be offended by his portrayal as a bit of a brat and a bully (albeit with nuclear weapons at his disposal).
The current hit musical in the West End, The Book of Mormon, offers better gags great songs, better acting AND a good bit of fun-poking at the Mormon religion. What was the response of the Church of the Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ? They took out advertising space in the programme for the production. They also ran ads on the side of London buses when the production opened. They understood that by flapping their arms and gnashing their teeth and trying to ban the production, it would merely serve to heighten the digs that were made in the musical. Instead, they used the energy generated by the show to their advantage and rode on its coattails for a while. By pompously threatening retaliation on the nation that spawned 'The Interview' if it was shown in cinemas, North Korea have played up to the stereotype of humourless Stalinists and confirmed the impression that virtually every American citizen holds about that country.
In fact, the more I think about it, the more I smell the nasty odour of PR: Seth takes the completed film to Sony who take one look and are appalled - not by the potential for upsetting Pyongyang but because, in keeping with the Thanksgiving release date planned, it is a turkey of gigantic proportions! How to salvage something from this vanity project gone wrong? Make it the film that 'they' don't want you to see. Play up the image of North Korea as the bogeyman, claim there have been worrying threats and pull the film from its initial release date. Then, when there has been sufficient time for sympathetic journalists to help fan the flames and the film has become a cause celebre, the forbidden fruit the consumer craves, offer a limited release in a few cinemas and online. Et voila! - suckers like me want to see what all the hype is about and find that it is...the emperor's new clothes, but big style!
I wanted it to be something worth getting worked up about. I guess the words 'Seth' and 'Rogen' on the poster should have told me that that was never going to happen....
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