You have probably already heard that Sony pulled The Interview, a buddy comedy starring Seth Rogan and James Franco as television personalities who travel to North Korea to interview and assassinate their Dear Leader, Kim Jong Un. You may not yet have heard that Paramount has now followed in Sony’s footsteps, pulling Team America out of theatrical circulation. You probably haven’t yet heard of the movie Pyongyang starring Steve Carell, but it has just been scrapped by New Regency. A movie from years back, a movie set to release this month, and a movie just heading in production, all of which will never be coming to a theater near you. What all three films have in common, of course, are unflattering depictions of North Korea, and what all three movie studios have in common is cowardice.
Think of the message this sends to the world. Americans are such shrinking violets that a group of as yet unidentified computer hackers can issue vague threats and we fold like goddamned origami masters. Neville Chamberlain is having a hearty laugh at our expense right now, because he knows what comes next. We will have to grow a national backbone sooner or later. America cannot remain the land of the free if it is no longer the home of the brave.
