“The Interview”, a movie starring Seth Rogan and James Franco has been yanked from theatres. Why? Because of hack attacks and threats from North Korea and their rotund dictator Kim Jong-un. To compound the issue, theatres who were going to show Paramount’s 2004 movie “Team America” in its place have been told to back off, and the Steve Carrell’s movie set in North Korea (but not filmed there) has been canceled.

Lets think about this for a minute. North Korea, one of the most closed-off countries well known for starving their own people to death, throws a screaming hissy fit about a movie that makes fun of North Korea and we give in to their threats?! C’mon guys, North Korea is a country who keeps trying to throw nukes around, a country whose people don’t have a clue about the outside world and are doing everything they can to survive the rule of one of the most horrendous dictators in the world.

Evidently short and stout dictator Kim Jong-un has no sense of humor and has lost whatever is left of his tiny little mind. But you see, that’s not the worst part of this. It really isn’t.  As Matilda Battersby of The Independent rightly points out:

While this debate rages commentators have been pointing out that puerile American comedies from Zoolander to Team America: World Police have been treading the same dangerous international path as The Interview – and got away without engendering threats of violence.

In fact, you could argue that Hollywood is notoriously insensitive about cultural tropes with racial stereotypes, misogyny and ignorance pervading some of the industry’s biggest films every year – and nobody gets so upset that they get cancelled; or you might accuse the wider world of having a sense of humour failure.

Whatever the truth of the matter – or the box office takings –what is clear is that filmmakers have been imagining the assassinations of world leaders for decades.

Matilda then lists several movies that explore the same topic.  That list includes “The Day of the Jackal,” “The Manchurian Candidate,” and “The Naked Gun.”  I don’t know about you, but none of those movies made a country so mad that they demanded it be yanked or suffer the consequences.  So what makes “The Interview” so different?  I have NO IDEA.  Ok wait, I have one idea and it involves a short rotund little dictator with his shorts in a knot.

You want to know what the worst part about all this mess is? That our country, the studios, and even Japan caved to a dictator. Yes, I mean that in all seriousness. The fact that our freedom-loving republic caved to a dictator and the criminal hackers is incredibly repugnant to me. There are many others who feel the same way. As they rightly point out, our 1st Amendment gives us the ability and the venues to offer our opinions in a variety of ways.  And that includes movies, even stupid movies like “The Interview.”

Reactions to the our country’s decision to cave have been unsupportive and scathing. Here’s a sampling:

Saw @Sethrogen at JFK. Both of us have never seen or heard of anything like this. Hollywood has done Neville Chamberlain proud today.

— Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) December 17, 2014

Paramount Cancels Team America Screenings Because Everyone in Hollywood Is A Coward http://t.co/sTLpBv4tT1

— Brad Thor (@BradThor) December 18, 2014

. @JuddApatow I agree wholeheartedly. An un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent.

— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) December 17, 2014

There are many other stars and leaders from all across the spectrum who agree that caving into hackers and dictators sets a very bad precedent for this country. This Republic, for all its flaws, operates on the premise of freedom. And that includes freedom of speech, even if its stupid humor speech encased in a movie that was likely going to tank like a flattened whoopee cushion at the box office. Sony, Japan, and the United States caved to a country run by a dictator. Paramount wimped out as well when they refused to let the Alamo Drafthouse movie chain show “Team America” in place of “The Interview.”

Here’s a question. If our country gives into a dictator’s demands regarding a movie, what will he or any other country demand next and what will our response be? I can tell you what the response to this kerfuffle should’ve been.  It should’ve involved laughter, lots of sarcasm, and a VERY healthy dose of HELL NO.  Instead we give in to a dictator and his hacker minions, thus slicing a major hole into our Freedom of Speech.  End result:  North Korea = 1   Freedom of Speech = 0