4 ms·

On one hand, it seems incredibly stupid to make a movie (comedy or no) about assassinating a sitting national leader. They didn't even use a thinly-veiled refer

On one hand, it seems incredibly stupid to make a movie (comedy or no) about assassinating a sitting national leader. They didn't even use a thinly-veiled reference. They used his actual name. Still, of course this response is unwarranted. >North Korea’s attack on SPE reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States Ah, the real meat of the issue? Has anyone else noticed the drumbeat ramping up in earnest for the next "War on fill-in-the-blank"? Sure, we all know that the threats are real, but it strikes me that we're about to spin up the full military/cyber-security complex, complete with its incessant fear-mongering, revolving private/public beneficiaries, and trillion dollar budgets. Something about repeating the same patterns ad infinitum in response to every threat or perceived threat is just a bit exhausting.

uptown 12y ago
"On one hand, it seems incredibly stupid to make a movie (comedy or no) about assassinating a sitting national leader." Quartz covered that angle: http://qz.com/315432/this-is-far-from-the-first-time-hollywood-has-killed-a-world-leader-on-screen/ http://qz.com/315432/this-is-far-from-the-first-time-hollywo...
- unclebucknasty 12y ago
  Interesting, but there don't appear to have been any movies in that group wherein the entire plot was dedicated to the assassination of a sitting leader, who is unabashedly named as such. Most seemed to be a random, satirical event within the film or non-current leaders. The Chaplin flick seems the closest, but even that's subject to debate (per the article). Not to say that any of these were especially wise either, just that the entire premise of "The Interview" seems especially stupid.
- logfromblammo 12y ago
  The Naked Gun: from the Files of Police Squad!, anyone? The plot of that movie revolved around a professional baseball player psychologically reconditioned to assassinate the Queen of Canada during a game. Oddly enough, neither the Expos nor the Blue Jays were the visiting team. Interesting that the article only gave an honorable mention for the fistfight where Lt. Drebin rubbed the birthmark off of Gorbachev's head.
fixermark 12y ago
I remember Hot Shots, where they literally drop a bomb into Saddam Hussein's lap. This isn't new, though the intimacy with which the subject matter is treated may be different.
- unclebucknasty 12y ago
  Not the same. Still, I didn't say it was new, just stupid.

uptown 12y ago

"On one hand, it seems incredibly stupid to make a movie (comedy or no) about assassinating a sitting national leader." Quartz covered that angle: http://qz.com/315432/this-is-far-from-the-first-time-hollywood-has-killed-a-world-leader-on-screen/ http://qz.com/315432/this-is-far-from-the-first-time-hollywo...

unclebucknasty 12y ago
Interesting, but there don't appear to have been any movies in that group wherein the entire plot was dedicated to the assassination of a sitting leader, who is unabashedly named as such. Most seemed to be a random, satirical event within the film or non-current leaders. The Chaplin flick seems the closest, but even that's subject to debate (per the article). Not to say that any of these were especially wise either, just that the entire premise of "The Interview" seems especially stupid.
logfromblammo 12y ago
The Naked Gun: from the Files of Police Squad!, anyone? The plot of that movie revolved around a professional baseball player psychologically reconditioned to assassinate the Queen of Canada during a game. Oddly enough, neither the Expos nor the Blue Jays were the visiting team. Interesting that the article only gave an honorable mention for the fistfight where Lt. Drebin rubbed the birthmark off of Gorbachev's head.

fixermark 12y ago

I remember Hot Shots, where they literally drop a bomb into Saddam Hussein's lap. This isn't new, though the intimacy with which the subject matter is treated may be different.

unclebucknasty 12y ago
Not the same. Still, I didn't say it was new, just stupid.