No, free people do not have a responsibility to not offend psychopathic dictators who are normally in the business of executing their fellow citizens when offended. We are not subject to Dear Leader’s censorship rules unless we voluntarily submit ourselves, which is what all these companies have done by refusing to release “The Interview.”
This argument is similar to the one I was surprised to see Greta van Susteren make last night, which I disagreed to on Twitter and John McCormack addressed on air:
Completely disagree. RT @greta: anyone who has been to NK knows how dangerous it is and would not have been so stupid to make that movie;
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) December 17, 2014
.@McCormackJohn: I don’t think we can self-censor just because Kim Jong-Un is a “totalitarian psychopath” #PoliticalPanel @FoxNews
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) December 18, 2014
Sharon Waxman, a journalist who has worked for the Washington Post and founded The Wrap asks, “What is the thought process behind making a movie in which we decide to depict, for our amusement, the assassination of a living foreign leader?” The same thought process behind “Team America” and “Naked Gun” and a thousand other films both serious and funny which depict the deaths of living foreign leaders because we are a free people who can make art and social commentary on any number of things and people who are dangerous. The notable exception of late has been, of course, Islam. Now we’ve added the vanity of psychopaths. Neither is healthy. She then likened this goofy comedy to yelling “Fire” in a crowded theater.
I put up a petition to have “The Interview” released, which I’ve never done before, but I found this episode especially, intensely disturbing. I was trying to get to the bottom of why and this is what I came up with. It’s that it seemed like an easy win. Like, sure, maybe the majority of Americans aren’t deeply engaged on foreign policy matters and don’t contemplate or really feel the consequences of various appeasements on the world stage. But surely this American culture would at least stand tall for a dumb, stoner comedy and the promise of future dumb, stoner comedies. And, yet even on this…crumble and fold. Yikes. The addition of the cave on “Team America” has just added to my despair.
Sign or share if you want. It makes me feel better to know that there are others who are dismayed.
I probably shouldn’t be surprised there are a fair number of people who think mere offense is a reason to get rid of speech and artistic expression. It’s the core of what pretty much everyone learns in college these days. As illustrated by this liberal intellectual who calls “The Interview” white privilege or something:
Good Lordy. RT @jamilahlemieux: You can't defend a buddy comedy about a dictator. That's not how you show that you care about his victims.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) December 18, 2014
Uh huh. RT @jamilahlemieux: It's not about his dictatorship, it's about ethics in letting dudebros do whatever they want. Good night.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) December 18, 2014
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