By paying the closest attention to the news, turning on the TV, or just listening to recent chatter this past month, the topic of The Interview, a movie produced by Sony starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, has probably been heard. The Interview is a story with a basic foundation of the assassination of Kim Jun Lee, North Korea’s supreme leader, and focuses on making fun of him and his country in general. The movie is filled with racy jokes skewed throughout the storyline as two Americans attempt to infiltrate, kill, and embarrass Kim Jung. Weeks before it was hoped to be released, Sony was hacked and threatened by North Korea, in an attempt to halt the release of the movie and send a message to the satirical producers to not mess with the country. Sony stood up to the bully and released the movie anyways. Now with this incident and the recent Paris shooting, the question arises, how satirical can satirical writing be, without crossing the line?
The freedom of expression is engraved in the foundation of this country and morals, and while it’s anybody’s legal right to produce any sort of literature/art/etc. they please to, these writers must look at the possible dangers it will produce.
“I don’t think it’s right for North Korea to hack Sony, but Sony needs to realize what they’re getting into. Insulting a country’s leader will obviously offend others, but we can’t strip Constitutional rights of our people,” said junior Katie Smith.
All rights come with boundaries, maybe not legal boundaries, but ethical ones. By yelling bomb in an airport may be a use of your First Amendment right, you’ll still get tackled to the ground or worse.
“You shouldn’t not print something because it will make them angry, but you should think of the ramifications of what you print and why you’re printing it. We shouldn’t not run an editorial because it may make someone mad, but we shouldn’t just run an editorial to make someone mad,” said journalism teacher Brenda Smith
While the United States is bounded and founded around certain rules and ethics, other countries may be different. North Korea has entirely different social structures, beliefs and laws. How can we justify what we do to North Koreans if they don’t believe in our rights and vise versa?
“The problem is that other countries don’t necessarily agree with those (freedom of speech) rights, and that’s where the conflict arises in this situation. If we do something that offends countries or organizations with different values, we have to understand that they may react in a way that’s different from how we would react,” social studies department chair Christopher Kubic said
People must understand the possible outcomes of their actions. People should be able to write satirical art, at their own risk. While the violence may be provoked, it still must be stopped and handled differently.
“I would expect North Korea to get upset about that. They consider their leader almost as god like. They need to be ready for the reaction they’re going to get. People are going to be offended sometimes. They need to get over it or deal with it in some other way than attacking or shooting people,” said English teach Dustin Zubert.
Even if one understands the possibilities of danger and violence, they should still be morally smart and treat others how they’d want to be treated. Writing can be offensive without purposefully offending others.
“Yes, (the movie should be released) unless it can be proven that there is a likelihood of ‘clear and present danger.’ …For the government to prevent its release would be contrary to our First Amendment freedoms as interpreted by the Supreme Court,” Kubic said.