As many know, the recently released comedy “The Interview” starring Seth Rogen and James Franco was cause for an uproar in North Korea December of 2014. The film follows the journey of two men on a mission to assassinate North Korea’s current dictator Kim Jong-un for his leadership styles and the threat he poses on the United States.
Like many comedies, this movie pulls much of its humor from exaggerating real-world beliefs and stereotypes. The Interview narrows in on Kim Jong-un’s reputation in our country in a way that has made the film controversial and for the dictator himself, highly offensive. The reaction from North Korea was unexpected and frightening, as Kim Jung-un personally threatened not only Sony Productions, but the stars of the film themselves and the United States as a whole. Shortly after hearing about the film’s plot, the dictator put blame on our country for a recent internet shut-down in North Korea. Following this, Kim Jun-un made word that President Obama was responsible for the “agitating terrorist” incident and went as far as referring to him as a “monkey in a tropical forest going reckless in words and deeds” according to BBC News.
By November, Sony Productions had a hacking incident which was confirmed as an attack made by North Korea later on. However, this incident was nothing compared to the threat of a “9/11-type act” mentioned in December that was enough to scare leading cinema groups into cancelling the film’s Christmas day release date.
By December 23, it was decided by Sony bosses that they would go on with their plan to release the movie Christmas day in both US theatres and online. Since the release, no further threats have been made by North Korea or Kim Jung-un himself.
Here are some GIFs that pretty much sum up the portrayal of the North Korean dictator in the film:
While Amy Poehler and Tina Fey had no problem cracking jokes about the controversial incident at the Golden Globes, it was clear from the audience’s reaction (a mix of unsure laughter and nervous smiling) that this is still an uncomfortable subject. Was it too much of a risk worth taking releasing this comedy? It may be hilarious and while none of the threats have been followed by harmful action, there’s no doubt we hit a nerve with North Korea and their dictator.
We all love a good James Franco-Seth Rogen comedy… but maybe next time they should stick with their music video parody-making!