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I'm sure you all have your thoughts about this whole farce. Here's the blog entry I wrote on the subject, but I'll try to summarize my thoughts here.

1. Amy Pascal is so fucking fired. She's done such an impossibly bad job at preserving the company's integrity and reputation that there's no chance that Sony will recover until she and several other Sony execs are gone.

2. Heads need to roll at the theater chains as well. Any company that would rather lose money by refusing to show a movie than by investing in better security for its customers and employees is a company that needs a change in management.

3. This was the very first international cyber war in America's history, and we lost it before we could even have a chance at retaliation. All because the private sector decided that they wanted to surrender.

4. All these media conglomerates have no problem dispensing jingoistic rhetoric and putting out stories that show how great America is. But when the time comes to actually do something about defending our freedom of speech -- the very same freedom of speech that these companies couldn't possibly exist without -- they turn tail and run.

5. I can understand the risk to theatergoers, because even one theater getting attacked is one too many. But the individual theater owners and their customers should have the choice whether to take precautions and go ahead or play it safe and do without. That choice was denied to everyone by a handful of corporate overlords, and that's just wrong.

6. At this point, all the tanks and jets we've bought are a waste of taxpayer dollars. It's more important now than ever to revitalize our infrastructure to make sure that America can keep up with our online security.

7. To those companies like Fox and Paramount, who were in no way connected to the hack or threatened by the hackers and still pulled their North Korea-related projects anyway, there is no excuse. They are cowards, plain and simple.

What are your thoughts?

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This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

I think this whole incident has reflected poorly on everyone. The hackers by being hackers; Sorkin, Rudin, Pascal and co. for being racist, sexist and downright myopic about these issues; the press for publishing private materials, not that they don't have a right to discuss what was found, but I think actually publishing these materials in details wasn't right, especially the downright gossipy stuff which strikes me as a waste in light of more fruitful discussions that could be had; people in the industry fighting against each other over this, seriously, Twitter is a hellhole that has made me disappointed in a lot of people I'm a fan of and respect, I guess nobody's perfect, though.

Now, it has all culminated with this, with now the theater chains acting poorly, the government as well for not offering any extra assurance or cooperation (although I guess Sony would have to ask), and now all the studios following suit. You could say they were caught with their pants down, but I think they still would've taken similar actions. I'm similarly disappointed that they decided to cancel the international release. I wasn't looking forward to this movie in particular, but now, if it's ever released, I will pay for it and watch it. I think that's the best way to talk against an act of censorship like this. I live in a country where journalists are killed by the state and organized crime, but it also happens to be a country where cinema can stick it to the man. I want that freedom of speech and art to be greater, where no one has to get killed for reporting the news and where no movie has to be banned.

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My unofficial and offical work-> http://www.youtube.com/movieboyandco

i just hope they get the vod release with the original death scene intact

i want to see grorious reader's head 'splode

The thought occurs to me that Sony might just be taking this opportunity to stall for time. I've been hearing whispers that some Sony execs didn't think the movie was very good, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the film was going through another round of edits behind closed doors right now.

Not to make the film less offensive toward North Korea, understand, but to make the film funnier and/or more palatable for American audiences. Or what they think we want, at least.

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This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

It is possible that they could use this as an opportunity to retool the movie, but I think that above all, they're more concerned about when and how to release it. Of course, both could be related.

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My unofficial and offical work-> http://www.youtube.com/movieboyandco

I think we're pointing fingers at the wrong people here for making poor decisions.

1. The Media. The hack becomes worthless is they do not publish leaked material. Without the unscrupulous media, the leaks mean virtually nothing. Yellow journalism and making mountains out of molehills have become the marching orders of a majority of the press, and that played a huge part in this issue. Theater chains as well as Sony and scared more of the Media than North Korea. They know that if one person so much gets punched in the face at an Interview showing the media will amplify that incident and start crucifying the theater chain and Sony for releasing the film. Their in the business of making money, and they do not want to risk that.

2. Pascal et. al. This is another instance of media/public crucifixions. I don't care what these people said in these emails, they were private and not meant for public consumption. If you had recordings of my friends and I, it would be easy for you to take small snippets, twist our meanings, and paint us as a racist, misogynist, homophobe whatever you wanted to. Outsiders would never be able to truly interpret the variety of private jokes that my friends and I have together. To an outsider, what we say - on the surface - would seem insensitive, but to us, we're being silly, gross, etc. to get a laugh. Remember when Alec Baldwin used the word "faggot?" Whether it is PC or not, I'm sure many of us have used the word "faggot" or "gay" in a casual statement to one of our friends. Saying that word does not make someone a homophobe. The media does not give one damn about context.

3. Money. It all comes down to money. Show the movie/cancel the movie? In the long term, what do we think we make us/save us the most money? Corporations do not care about values, morals, patriotism, etc. They care about money. Theater chains had said, "we don't care about people not going to see the Interview - we care about them staying away from The Hobbit, and other films because they do not feel safe." Look at that statement. It's not about keeping moviegoers safe, it's about making sure the box office numbers do not dip. Money.

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Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music - George Carlin

I think we agree to an extent. I don't know if it's so much the media or even money (although they certainly play a big part), but the lawsuit-happy society that the US is. I think that's part of what these theater chains and Sony were scared of, and you can look at the aftermath of the Aurora Shooting. I think they were trying to prevent something like that, both in terms of the incident and to the lawsuits that came against Cinemark.

It's true that these e-mails were private, but they were also corporate work e-mails. If we want to have a discussion of the sexism and racism that exists in Hollywood, I don't think we need these e-mails to have them. But also, a lot of these were just harsh and stupid, and didn't exactly strike me as friendly banter. But again, I think that matters of sexism and racism in Hollywood are more important than anything that's come to our knowledge because of the hacking, but also, I repeat: We don't need them to have that discussion. I take bigger issue with the aftermath in that they let Sorkin belt out BS, while they cancel Kevin Hart's press conferences. That's sort of telling. But I give credit to Pascal for apologizing and deciding to work in diversity initiatives. She may still be a problematic person to work with, but that's better than nothing.

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My unofficial and offical work-> http://www.youtube.com/movieboyandco