There has been relatively little written on this site, regarding the gargantuan Sony Hack. Perhaps there is little sympathy here for the outing of Hollywood executives' ridiculous and arrogant lack of discretion in their e-mails
And my GOD I couldn't agree more. I am a small player in the business world, but even I know NOT to put ANYTHING in an e-mail that I wouldn't be willing to answer to, to anyone. But then, I'm not a very arrogant person, never got the chance to try that out.
So the gossip side of this, the comments on Angela Jolie and DiCaprio, and the fact that Jennifer Lawrence was paid less than her male cohorts on a film---SHOCK, NOT---is all one thing, and interesting in the way anything salacious is.
But NOW, it's gone beyond that. Sony has withdrawn "The interview" from release, after terroristic threats from the "Guardians of Peace" acronym GOP, LOLOLOL.
The "Guardians of Peace" are promising yet more "Christmas surprises" from their hacked down load. More importantly, they are threatening "9/11" type revenge on anyone who would dare to go this movie.
Well, that's all it took. After every major movie theater chain worth mentioning had dropped "The Interview" from their Christmas day opening roster, Sony finally just withdrew the release of this film, no future date mentioned for any time it WILL be released.
So that leaves us with many questions, yes? Terrorism has risen its head in an entirely new venue, with new powers and new threats.
It is true that whoever these "GOP" hackers may be, we CAN say they are talented at hacking. And how. But that is not the same talent it takes to pull off a terrorist attack, so I think probably, and that's a BIG probably, this is just lot of bluster.
Still, no matter how unlikely we consider this group to be to carry out their threats, the fact is they have stopped a major corporation in its tracks. A movie that was on track to be a big holiday release, will not be there.
And no matter how much we may all lament that, or disagree with it, seems to me Sony had absolutely no choice in this, in the end. Fact is, there are more Americans who would not elect to put themselves at this risk, on Christmas day, under the threat of terrorism, than would make it at all profitable to release this movie as planned.
And I cannot blame one single movie chain for not wanting to take this risk. After all, they have a tough enough slog to get people to the movies these days, when they can see much at home more comfortably and for less.
This strikes this movie goer in the heart. For as much as I love the convenience of On Demand, streaming, and all other ways to stay home and see a great movie, I STILL really love GOING to the movies.
I love it from the moment we get our tickets torn, to the moment we get our popcorn, to the moment we settle into our chairs and the lights dim. I love the coming attractions, one after another, and saying to my hubby or a pal, YES!, or NO WAY, or meh.
And then there's that moment when you know you're finally at the movie at hand, and I always feel a heart skip at this time---the logo, the music, the sense that another movie is about to begin. Yes, one of many I've enjoyed in theaters my whole life, and also, funny, I never feel the same thing at home.
Because when you are in a theater, enclosed in that world and cut off from everything else---when you are about to share a movie watching experience with others, it's just a whole different thing. There really is nothing quite like going to the movies, no matter how much our technology tells us we never have to leave home to do so.
So, IMO, this is kind of a big deal. It is terrorism creeping into the most mundane of enjoyments---a night at the movies.
And yeah, chances are it's all bluster, because hackers are not necessarily great terrorists, nor is there any reason we should believe they can carry off their threats. But, SIGH, the threat is all that matters. The threat brings a new level of fear into the most mundane levels of our lives---going to the movies.
I guess what I'd say is we damn well better be a "brave new world," because we're going to need the courage. And the other thing I'd say, is it just makes me sad. For all my appreciation of the technologies that make my life so much easier, the underbelly of that is as always; progress, she giveth and she taketh.
So what say y'all on this?