People Will Exercise Their Freedom to Not See ‘The Interview’
Now that a few Boston-area theaters have announced that they will, in fact, show “The Interview,” the Seth Rogen film about a plot to assassinate Kim Jong Un, movie-goers wonder if we’ve regained a freedom we thought we’d lost: to opt against seeing it.
The decision to show the film at some independent theaters comes after hackers launched a cyberattack on Sony and threatened violence against movie theaters that show the film. Major theater chains said they wouldn’t show the picture. Sony then announced it wouldn’t release the movie at all. Some, including President Obama, criticized Sony for ceding their right to free speech in the face of terrorism. “We can’t start changing our patterns of behavior any more than we stop going to a football game because there might be the possibility of a terrorist attack,” Obama said, “any more than Boston didn’t run its marathon this year because of the possibility that somebody might try to cause harm.”
Now that you can see the movie in several Boston area theaters in the coming weeks, though … we’re forced to contend with the fact that critics weren’t particularly into this movie before all the hooplah started. (It’s at 53 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.) As a New York Times editor jokes on Twitter, “Great, now we all have to go see a lousy buddy movie so the cyberterrorists don’t win.”
Great, now we all have to go see a lousy buddy movie so the cyberterrorists don’t win. http://t.co/pDQsPT4poN
— Patrick LaForge, NYT (@palafo) December 24, 2014
Or do we? This is far from consensus. The rest of Twitter is making variations on a different joke.
They are releasing The Interview! Now I don’t have to see it! — John Patrick Shanley (@JohnJpshanley) December 24, 2014
Srsly. I think it’s very important that Americans be able to see The Interview & simultaneously very important that I don’t have to.
— Emily L. Hauser (@emilylhauser) December 24, 2014
When we could not see “The Interview”, I wanted to. Now that we can, I no longer do – http://t.co/jPT0IAh6AT via @BostInno
— Jack Cahill (@jackcahill) December 24, 2014
Herein a dilemma: in some sense, we want this movie to be wildly successful, seen by many, carrying far its message that even a schlub like Seth Rogen can assassinate a dictator if he puts his mind to it … or something.
But then, if movie-making is an expression of free speech, then so is movie-going. And Sony’s exercise of its free speech rights has not taken away everyone else’s right to speak … by sitting on the couch this week. As Obama said, “We can’t start changing our patterns of behavior.” If you’re not inclined to see “The Interview,” then fine. They make Seth Rogen films for a reason. A lot of people do want to see them, and now, they can.
