America didn't cave. Hollywood didn't cave. Capitalism caved.

[phantom power]

....But in truth, neither "America" nor "Hollywood" caved to the terrorist threat. Capitalism did. Sony is a Japanese-owned multinational corporation. Its decision to cancel the opening of the film was precipitated not by Hollywood studios, but by the defensive decision of a bunch of corporate conglomerate theater chains with only tenuous connections to the star-studded production companies in Tinseltown.

An organization made a threat to a corporation and its customers if it released a certain product. Distributors of said product decided not to risk carrying that product, as a market decision. The corporation decided to pull the product from shelves--for market reasons.

That's capitalism. Capitalism doesn't care about standing for the principle of free speech, or for patriotism, or for standing up to bullies. It cares about money. Theater chains don't make money if they lose customers too afraid to show up to the movie theaters. Production companies don't make money if not enough theaters show their movie. It's just business.

If conservatives want to see a little more backbone in standing up to international bullies looking to squash free speech, they might want to start by looking in the mirror at their ideological elevation of profit over principle.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/america-didnt-cave-hollywood-didnt-cave.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. And if theaters knew of a threat and continued showing the film...

people would claim the theaters put "profits over people's safety".

[steve2470]

8. +1 nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. I suspect, for Sony to drop ...

multi-million dollars in sunk costs ... there was far more going on here, than we will ever know.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. What the hell was the idea behind doing this movie in the first place?

All this stuff about clearing the plot with the gov't, the sheer outrageousness of making a comedy of the assassination of a foreign leader--I think there was some spooky black game & not just financial profit behind all this. This is so like the CIA's Twitter & Facebook schemes trying to destabilize shit-listed regimes.

The question now is whether the operation is still going according to plan or if the threat--and Sony's response to it--caught them in a surprise checkmate.

[closeupready]

9. In hindsight, it DOES seem like it could have been propaganda

intended to destabilize them.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Planting the meme, making the unthinkable thinkable--

Priming some random potential assassin to take action…Who knows how these spooks think?

[Glassunion]

13. Or maybe, just maybe. Dear Leader is nothing more than a doodie head.

And it's fun to make jokes about him.

[Jackpine Radical]

17. Well, there

IS that…

Hell, I dunno; just speculating aloud to see what others think.

[cheyanne]

12. Same movie; American ally nation?

I take it that the movie is a comedy? Even then, if the country was England or France, it would never be made. True, North Korea could request that the movie not be shown, or could issue a rebuke to US or request apology from US. But what did the makers think that North Korea would do? Laugh it off?

[closeupready]

3. Disagree. Hollywood caved here, no wiggle room, sorry.

They all like to talk tough, but they obviously aren't.

[steve2470]

4. if a terror attack happens at a theater showing that film....

the lawyers will get rich and the victims' families will get some recompense, all while losing their family members or seeing their family members get horribly injured. Granted, the chances are very low, but still... I can see why the chains cancelled. The chains could have amped up security to 11 but that might have been too expensive and might have turned off some audience members to not going. It sucks, all the way around. If people want to see the film, fine with me. NK is just a rogue state at this point.

[BKH70041]

5. I'm betting someone has dirt on some Sony execs and they don't want it out.

No way that is filed under "profit over people."

Unless we can know for sure why they did it, it's all speculation. In that case, my speculation is as good as theirs.

But Hollywood is all about free speech and money. So as long as we're speculating, it could be some Sony execs trying to avoid jail time. If that's the case, then "pull(ing) the product from shelves--for market reasons" goes out the window. They're trying to save their ass.

[HappyMe]

7. It's interesting.

They obviously think that eating the cost of this movie is far less damaging to them than having more of their dirty laundry aired.

It has to be some super filthy laundry.

[JI7]

11. I still think this may be more about threats to release more

Emails and other things which make some in top positions look bad.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. That's a twee way of looking at it, but what is the reality at play? Well, theater chains did not

want to screen a product that came with extra cost or expense to themselves when the profit is all on Sony's side. Theaters have other films screening, films from which parents would keep their kids even if there was no real risk. And how are the theater chains going to make any reasoned assessment of the actual risk? By trusting Sony?
And for all this high blown talk of capitalism, the author of this piece is suggesting that low wage movie theater employees should be required to make some 'stand for free speech' which the author would not be taking, which Sony would not be taking, but some 8 dollar an hour popcorn kid would be taking.
I can see why multiplex chains would not want to screen the thing at Christmas. If anything did happen, it would not be Sony employee harmed. It would be the popcorn kid, who really should not even have to think about some threat or free fucking speech for to make his money.
The author here seems to think that the Big Corp should be able to use smaller companies and their employees as some front line defense of bad choices made by really rich people. I'm not exactly sure how sound that is in terms of being for the workers and all that anti capitalist stuff. 'Those kids should have risked it all for Amy Pascal!!!'

[Maedhros]

15. America. Home of the Brave.

[egduj]

16. I think the bigger concern is why do companies on U.S. soil feel unsafe

in conducting normal business because of a threat from an outside party.