esrosedotblog

Today, a movie that caused international incidents.

Or something.

A lot of turmoil over some politically incorrect shit no one cares about.

I suppose you could gripe about the stereotyping of Asians but in this case it is North Koreans. Ripe for the pickings.

The hue and cry about this film is amusing. And very suspect.

The Interview (2014)

in which James Franco and Seth Rogen seek, and happily get, an interview with the dictator killer eternal ruler of North Korea.

I don't think they even changed the guy's name.

I remember when it was OK to poke fun at totalitarian regimes.

Spike Jones had a hit during WWII called "In the Fuehrer's Face".

It was mean and nasty and very funny.

Satire about leaders everywhere has gone on for years.

But here, Rogen, the writer, hits a raw nerve I think.

A bit of fear that this fucking vulture Kim Il whatever his name is would be hurt and insulted. Would he rain down bombs on us because he was made fun of?

Let me say that the guy who plays Kim Il, a superb Randall Park, is just another guy. A straight dude worrying about being perceived as gay, addicted to ass kissing, and willing to party at the drop of a hat.

Is this disrespectful? And why would we be worried about how the NKs would feel about this? I do not know.

It seems to me that Rogen hit a nerve that needed to be hit. His movie got pulled from theaters and we got to see big time how corporate interest trumps artistic expression. Is this high art? Shit no. It is crude and, at times, stupid. But I have to say that I laughed more than I would normally for a comedy. I was with them and having a good time throughout.

Some people had trouble with the ending which I will not reveal. It is harsh and, in a comedy, very brutal. But then, that is the job of this kind of work. To reveal and shock most of all the viewer who smugly thinks he is unshakable or above the kind of thing evoked here.

That is my opinion and I am sticking to it.

I would not go out of my way to see this film again. Partly because all the jokes are now known. But I would not mind sitting and watching it again. That makes it a 4 out of Netflix5. And it pisses me off that the film lost its audience because of a bunch of number crunching cowards who over-reacted to it.

Labels: films