Sony had a tough decision to make after the infamous hackers demanded they bury the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy The Interview as deep into their archives as they could: either release the film and potentially risk the safety of many, or cancel its release until further measures are taken. As we all know, the studio went with the latter, and at least some Americans agreed with the choice.
In a recent poll conducted by CNN and ORC from December 18 to 21, only 36% of Americans surveyed thought Sony made the right decision in pulling The Interview from theaters. That pales in comparison to the 62% who thought the studio completely overreacted; that amounts to roughly six out of 10 Americans, with men more likely to call it such.
It should come as no surprise that President Barack Obama is one of the people who falls into the latter category. A few days ago, he addressed the public, saying he wished Sony had spoken with him before making such an action. As quoted by Forbes, he exclaimed:
We can’t have a society where some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship in the United States ... imagine what they will do when they see a documentary they don’t like, or a news report."
Even before then, though, the Internet was ablaze with frustration and outrage from moviegoers, who threw around words like "freedom of speech" and "patriotism." Since then, Sony made a statement claiming that they didn't back down (though they kinda did) and still have plans to release The Interview on some format or another.
According to CNN, a petition called "We the undersigned support Sony" launched on Change.org and pledges to support the studio in the event they decide to give it its due in theaters. But these backers are certainly not the only ones who are trying to get The Interview into the hands of the public.
As we reported earlier, a small theater in New York City claims to have received a copy of the film's early draft and is planning to host a live reading on Saturday. A number of figures, like George R.R. Martin, for instance, are also coming out to say that they'd happily screen the movie if given the opportunity.
Ultimately, this whole situation has turned into a circus, and over a movie that many critics have said isn’t actually that great. The ongoing back-and-forth between the US and the accused Sony hackers, North Korea, does not quench the flood of commenters, but the frustration felt is certainly warranted. Can someone please call Chris Hemsworth already and tell him to don his Blackhat? Or perhaps Olivia Pope? She’s great at fixing up scandals. Oh wait! According to USA Today, the real-life Pope is already "handling" this situation. Phew!
