Gawker penned a delightfully snarky missive for Sony Pictures with an offer to host a screening for The Interview with all proceeds going to charity. That’s right! The guys at Gawker have given Sony an offer they (hopefully) can’t refuse by saying that they would be willing to host a New York City screening for The Interview. Gawker’s public bid comes on the heels of the Sony Pictures announcement that they were going to cancel the release of their film, The Interview. Why was Sony willing to take what will certainly be a massive multi-million dollar hit? The devastating cyberattack from the North Korean based Guardians of Peace that saw the release of full length films and embarrassing emails which left Sony with egg on their face. It should come as no surprise that Sony not exactly rushing to risk further retribution from North Korean hackers.
In fact, Sony isn’t the only studio taking the threat of a cyber attack from North Korea this seriously. Word of Sony’s cancellation of The Interview came on the same day that it was announced that Fox and New Regency canned a thriller set in North Korea that was supposed to star Steve Carell. So why does Gawker care so much about the fate of a Seth Rogan and James Franco comedy? As Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan wrote in their open letter, “Embarrassing business stories will pass. What will live on is the fact that the world’s single worst dictatorship was able to intimidate a movie studio into getting its way. This sets a precedent. Not a good one.” Nolan then later adds, “Allow us to offer our help in the defense of freedom speech and The American Way.”
Nolan and Gawker are not the only people who view the decision scrap the screening of The Interview as a blow to the freedom of speech. In fact, many see this whole debacle as a sign that the power balance can be drastically shifted thanks to technology. Back when Team America: World Police was released in 2004, it seemed unlikely that North Korea would have had the ability to prevent the film’s release. My, how times change. Gawker sums up the public’s popular sentiment perfectly when they closed their letter with the following: “It’s understandable if you think we’re the bad guys right now. But there are real bad guys involved in this, and it’s not good for any of us to let them win. Let’s show that movie.”
Do you guys agree with Gawker that Sony’s refusal to screen The Interview is a threat to the freedom of speech? Or do you think Sony was right in backing off from such a potentially risky film release?