Rieder: A welcome flip-flop by Sony on 'The Interview'
Sometimes a flip-flop is a good thing.
Sony Pictures Entertainment's stunning change of heart Tuesday to release The Interview, coming just days after its decision to mothball the Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy, was a development as welcome as it was unexpected.
The determination last week by big movie chains and then Sony to capitulate to terrorist threats said to emanate from North Korea represented a hideous and huge setback to freedom of expression.
The ramifications were enormous. Imagine living in a country where anyone unhappy about the expression of any point of view could shut it down with vague promises to do bad things.
What's at stake here is much more than the fate of a comedy about a plot to assassinate North Korean strongman, Kim Jong Un, one that has been eviscerated by many critics. USA TODAY's Claudia Puig declared, "Far more lame and boring than incendiary, The Interview is not very clever, funny or well-made." Newsday's Rafer Guzman dismissed it as "another dopey frat-house comedy."
But despite the movie's apparent shortcomings, Sony's latest approach, perhaps reached after listening to Mr. Lowell Fulson's Reconsider Baby, is a healthy one.
Weak though the film might be, the decision on whether to see it belongs to each and every American citizen, not cyberthugs.
While details on precisely who will be showing the movie starting on Christmas Day, the original release date, are elusive, the number of theaters is certain to be far smaller than the 2,000 to 3,000 originally expected to showcase it.
Major chains backed out on showing the film last week. It's likely that the roster of those that do show it will be long on smaller groups like the Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse chain, which expressed great enthusiasm about Sony's latest reversal. "This is the best Christmas gift anyone could give us," Tim League, the chain's founder, said.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Michael Lynton told CNN — somewhat incomprehensibly — last week, "We have not caved." Well, at least he has uncaved.
In fairness to Lynton, the exec was in uncharted waters as he dealt with a massive and damaging hack that humiliated the company, then faced an apocalyptic threat apparently at the instigation of a rogue foreign nation. It's not every day you get told that theaters will be assaulted if you show your movie,
"We have never given up on releasing The Interview and we're excited our movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day," Lynton said in a statement Tuesday. "At the same time, we are continuing our efforts to secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience."
President Obama deserves big props for helping to put an end to Sony's self-censorship. His unequivocal declaration last week that Sony had "made a mistake" in buckling, along with widespread criticism of the company's action, no doubt played a role in steeling Sony's resolve.
In a debacle short on silver linings, perhaps this one will emerge: We're not going to let bullies tell us what we can and cannot watch and read. As Obama said, "We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States."