Big Picture Page
It’s deja-vu all over again. History has a way of repeating itself. Take the recent case of a raving lunatic tyrant in North Korea losing it over a satirical movie, “The Interview,” with a plot of assassination. Sure, Sony could have used a fictitious character from a fictitious land, but even with their poor taste in judgement, the target of their cinematic event should maintain the sense of humor. Once, long ago, a chap named Charlie Chaplin wrote, starred in, scored produced and directed called “The Great Dictator.” Before its release and before Germany and Britain were at war, the British government prohibited the showing of the film abroad. Even the Three Stooges produced a film in 1940 called “You Nazty Spy.” A book written by Salman Rusdie and published in 1988, Satanic Verses, was prefaced by threats of death to the author and publishers by the some Ayotollah. Each parody in the past was a success. Now, it appears the Sony will release “The Interview,” a movie starring a couple of comedic actors, who probably signed to play the parts of the assassins because they thought it would be fun. There are those who would like to censor this paper. Long live freedom of expression. Oh, yeah, like the picture alludes to – don’t text while driving. The life you save just may be my own.
