Tensions reached unusually high levels when Sony Pictures pulled their Christmas Day release of “The Interview” after exhaustive cyber attacks and threats that promised deadly, physical attacks against movie theaters that aired the movie.
This movie, although full of dumb humor, is an important work that portrays the problems in North Korea and, through the ridiculous satire, reveals to the global audience important issues regarding North Korea. However, the American people failed to address the serious threats and massive human suffering that the film revealed that still takes place on our watch. The United States failed to use the events that transpired as a call to action to challenge the North Korean’s atrocious actions and demand a solution to the Korean question.
Over the past few months, Americans demanded the release of “The Interview” because of a fierce belief in not giving in to terrorism and always encouraging free speech. “It doesn’t work very well with our general values system, that we’re not going to let the terrorists win,” said Kevin Sauter, Media Professor at the University of Saint Thomas in a USA Today interview. Therefore, Americans applauded the release of the movie as winning the battle against the North Korean regime.
However, although the release of the movie is considered a “victory” over the North Koreans, we have lost sight of the significant message this movie portrays and the real battle that still continues today.
“The Interview” needed to be released because it challenges an oppressive government and identifies very real issues that must be addressed. Although scenes in the movie are humorous, like when Dave Skylark, one of the protagonists in the movie, has a lavish party with Kim Jong-Un or has an emotional breakdown when he discovers a fake supermarket, they represent real issues that plague North Korea today, such as famine and a greedy and corrupt government.
What is laughingly portrayed in the movie is real: North Korea continues to use force against the United States and South Korea in hopes of reuniting the Korean Peninsula and will continue to commit massive atrocities against their own people. Therefore, releasing this movie is a testament to the fact that the United States is staunchly opposed to the North Korean government’s action.
However the American people failed to realize this significance. Through the realization of North Korea’s atrocities, Americans must fight back and contribute to dismantling the North Korean regime.
It is critical for the American people to continue to pressure the North Korean government to cease hostilities against other nations and truly free their oppressed people. Instead of isolating North Korea, we should open their country to the world, so the people can understand the regime’s oppression and fight against it. As Georgetown University’s Professor Victor Cha stated, not cutting off North Korea, but rather flooding the country with information and information technology is essential to break the government’s hold on information that they keep from their people.
Americans must open their eyes to the realities of the North Korean threat and seek change in this oppressive regime. But how does this change come about? Simple: open the doors of the Hermit Kingdom to knowledge and give the North Korean people the power to change.
