By Tristan King
Contributing writer
“The Interview” is a movie that recently flooded media outlets due to its controversial content. Sony produced the movie, they anticipated a Christmas Day release date.
The movie centers on the fake assassination of North Korean Dictator, Kim Jung-un.
James Franco plays Dave Skylark alongside producer Aaron Rappaport (Seth Rogen), who with the help of the CIA go on an adventure to kill the communist nation’s leader. From a non-American standpoint one can see how it can be perceived as a political agenda to potentially make fun of another leader. But the movie is a just-for-fun film.
With two likeable leads, Franco and Rogen, the movie was bound to be a comedic hit. The two run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show, “Skylark Tonight.” After being ridiculed for not being a real anchor, Rogen’s character begins to question his life choices until the duo discovers that Kim Jong-un is a fan of the show.
Skylark and Rappaport land an interview with the North Korean strongman in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists and to gain his trust. The journalists prepare to travel to North Korea, but once they arrive, a rift develops between the two friends as Skylark is swayed by Kim’s antics and childish charm, backing out of the plot to kill his new drinking buddy and leaving both him and Rappaport in jeopardy.
North Korean threatened Sony and the United States that there would be serious repercussions should the movie be released into theaters.
The release of the trailer for “The Interview” caused cybercriminals to hack into Sony’s computer systems, which paralyzed their operations, and tapped into internal information. The attack, which leaked top employees’ salaries, nasty banter between Hollywood celebrities, and illicit movie downloads trickled into news reports and file-sharing sites for the rest of the month.
Officials speculated and made allegations that North Korean hackers caused the leak. The attack started a national discussion on whether America has proper cyber security.
The controversy caused Sony to initially cancel any release of the movie in theaters nationwide. However, due to the influence of the US Government, which said the US should not back down against the aggressive attacks, Sony left the decision to individual movie theaters. Sony also released the movie online.
