'The Interview' Shines A Light On North Korean Regime
"The Interview", a Sony film, pushes boundaries of the North Korean regime. The movie shows off how weak of a country the North Koreans actually are by showing the peoples poverty and belief in their leader. Many political relationships between North Korea and other countries are put on the line due to "The Interview" shining a light onto North Korea's regime.
"The Interview" entails a U.S. celebrity interviewer invited to interview North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, and in the process the United States FBI plots to assassinate Kim Jong Un with the help of the celebrity interviewer. It opens up topics for the celebrity interviewer to possibly ask Kim Jung Un such as, why does North Korea spend billions of dollars on their nuclear weapons program but needs a hand out of $100 million from the UN to feed their people. Such things as famine, brainwashing propaganda, and censorship show how much the regime controls its people. This movie has the power to challenge the North Korean regime and authority. It also shows other countries like America that despite all of North Korea's missiles and nuclear threats, North Korea is a repressed country. According to the Washington Post,
"That is why the North Koreans have reacted so aggressively. Because if this movie is seen by audiences around the world, and if copies are pirated in to North Korea, it is a very real challenge to the ruling regime's legitimacy."
Being that "The Interview" is a Sony Pictures film, and Sony is a Japanese company that has since expanded into America, there were some concerns that it was possible that the movie would destroy the negations and relationship between North Korea and Japan. This movie has the potential to distance and ruin the relationship the Japanese is trying to build with North Korea. In the past there has been abductions in Japan and test missiles that have launched towards Japan. The Wrap reports,
"A New York Times exposé published Dec. 14 suggested that Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai intervened in creative decisions for “The Interview” to avoid provoking Pyongyang: “While many Americans seem to see North Korea as too distant to keep them awake at night, many Japanese see it as a very visible threat. Until three decades ago, North Korean agents occasionally snatched people off beaches in neighboring Japan to serve as Japanese-language teachers, and long-range North Korean rockets on test runs still fly ominously over Japan’s main islands.”
Could a movie starring comedians James Franco and Seth Rogan have so much power as to destroy the bonds and agreements made by North Korea and Japan? According to a NewYorkTimes.com article,
"North Korea fired three short-range projectiles off its east coast on Thursday, a day after it warned of retaliation against the release of an American comedy film involving a plot to kill its leader, Kim Jong-un."
It remains unclear if the act was in retaliation of the movie "The Interview", or not.
North Korea has said that they view "The Interview" as "an act of war". Time will tell if these wounds can heal between the countries.
