Obama: Sony 'Made A Mistake' By Canceling The Release Of 'The Interview'

[Ykcutnek]

During a year-end press conference, Obama said Sony made a mistake by canceling the premiere of the film "The Interview," a comedy about an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco.

"I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced," Obama said. "Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake."

"We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States," Obama said. "If somebody's able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary they don't like, or news reports they don't like. Or even worse, imagine if producers and distributors and others start engaging in self-censorship because they don't want to offend the sensibilities of someone whose sensibilities probably need to be offended."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/19/obama-sony_n_6354836.html

[HappyMe]

1. I agree with everything he said there.

[NuclearDem]

2. This part especially:

offend the sensibilities of someone whose sensibilities probably need to be offended."

That describes the Kim line to a tee.

[PoliticAverse]

3. Sony made the decision though after theater chains indicated they woudn't be showing the film.

Top Five Theater Circuits Drop 'The Interview'...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/source-top-five-theater-circuits-758843

[Logical]

8. Here is how it WOULD of went down if Sony was not fucking idiots......

The remaining theaters would of shown the movie and no terror attacks would of happened.

The fucking stupid 5 theater groups would of added the movie back the next week.

Problem solved.

[Sunlei]

4. #SONYWEAKBOSTONSTRONG

I love our President

[Logical]

10. Well, Boston did shut down a whole city for two young men. nt

[nichomachus]

12. No, Boston did not

The feds did. They had to catch the brothers before anyone else could and find out who was really running the operation.

Remember, every terrorist "plot" that has been thwarted in the US has been a sting operation set up by the feds.

[Sunlei]

14. marathons = movie theaters

I think that's what they meant

[nichomachus]

5. When Dark Knight opened, 12 people were killed and 30 wounded

And they left the movie in the theaters.

[Logical]

9. +1000 nt

[AuntPatsy]

6. Agree, so it leaves me to believe the one with the power to cancel film personally feared the

Threat of being exposed publicly

[BadgerKid]

7. I call. Please disclose the TPP terms.

TIA, Mr. President.

[Cosmic Kitten]

11. Don't be suprised when you start seeing CISPA cybersecurity legislation

[B2G]

13. Yet his administration denounced that stupid little muslim film

Guy ended up in jail. Go figure.

[cstanleytech]

16. There is a world of difference in denouncing something and blackmailing someone and

N Korea could have just denounced the film but they choose to go the route of blackmail instead.

[B2G]

17. Actually he tried to get the video off Youtube

That, IMO, was wrong. It smacks of the censorship he was railing against today.

He's right here, but he was wrong about that.

[cstanleytech]

22. From what I read they only asked youtube to review it and remove it only if it violated

youtubes ToS , they didnt hack into youtube, steal thousands of documents and emails and then blackmail them into remove the video.

[B2G]

23. Did I say they did?

talk about a straw man.

They 'only asked youtube to review it and remove it only if it violated youtubes ToS' because they wanted it removed.

Perhaps you have another explanation for the request?

[cstanleytech]

24. Facts are not a straw man they just are..........facts.

And the fact is there is a huge difference between asking something to be removed and committing a crime and blackmailing someone to get something removed.

[B2G]

25. No shit.

And I'm not accusing Obama of the latter.

[CJCRANE]

18. IIRC the director broke the terms of his probation.

He was a fraudster who wasn't allowed to do anything online.

[B2G]

19. That doesn't address why Obama tried to get it pulled from Youtube nt

[CJCRANE]

20. Fair enough. Good point. nt

[PoliticAverse]

15. If they see "news reports they don't like" they might go after and jail the whistleblower... n/t

[cbdo2007]

21. Sony absolutely made the right call - It is theater workers lives who were getting threatened....

and the public. That's much more important than making a stand about terrorism with a mediocre movie.

American soldiers volunteer to put their lives on the lines....most theater workers in the US are high school kids just trying to scrape together some cash to buy christmas presents or pay for college. It would be unfair to force them to put their lives on the line, which is why the theater owners made the right call to not show the movie.

Seth Rogan and James Franco are pissants who love publicity. They made a movie knowing they were possibly starting an international incident and they hide behind their big body-guards so nobody can get near them and their millions of $$$.

Spare the kid making $8 an hour a break and let him enjoy his christmas at work without having to worry about getting blown up.

[Fred Sanders]

28. Theaters threatened? N.Koreas has threatened entire nations, including America, many times..with mor

than computer crime, are the folks supposed to tremble in fear and capitulate because this time it is a fucking movie production company attacked by 1's and 0's?

Once again the President is right?

What do you think the hackers found, what else besides racist against Obama emails that they have begged the hackers not to release?

They are afraid of that, I bet my cyber life on it.

[moondust]

29. Yes,

I agree Sony did the right thing for a first-time threat of unknown credibility. You can't really place people's lives potentially at risk unless you're absolutely certain it's a bogus threat.

Once the government has time to investigate the matter and the entertainment industry gets a policy in place for how they want to deal with these kinds of things, I have little doubt the film will be shown with no harm done and life will go on.

Maybe Hollywood can come up with some slightly less belligerent plot lines than assassinating foreign heads of state.

[Kingofalldems]

26. He just threw a wrench into what would have been

the Fox news meme, "Why did Obama surrender to North Korea?"

[still_one]

27. If they would have released it I have no doubt that they would have a good showing

With all the publicity

They still might when it gets released

[PoliticAverse]

30. Sony Pictures CEO says they did contact the White House...

http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/19/7423601/sony-pictures-ceo-we-have-every-desire-to-release-the-interview