Once upon a time -- not so very long ago, because I can remember it quite clearly myself -- it was traditional to release films and shows for Christmas Day that celebrated the underlying message of peace and hope inherent in Christmas -- a message I believe we can all appreciate regardless of our religious affiliations, religious beliefs, or lack thereof. It's not often that I quote the New Testament or any religious works, but buried down in John 8:7 a key personage is quoted as making a rather profound statement about he who is without sin casting the first stone. And for Christmas, I would assert that this concept especially applies.

Anyone who truly believes that the celebration of a trash, adolescent "comedy" focused on assassinating the current (yes, dictatorial, murdering, evil, vile) leader of North Korea is likely to do anything other than make matters worse for the oppressed populations there -- well, you're living in the nightmare twin of Fantasyland.

And while none of us would celebrate the mess that the Sony hack has created for their innocent employees and ex-employees, it is also a fact that Sony's longstanding abysmal computer security practices left them wide open for such an attack -- regardless of whoever actually launched it (and a wide variety of technical observers, including myself, are highly skeptical that it was actually North Korea, despite convenient U.S. federal government claims).

So I for one am unwilling to reward Sony for an awful film concept -- I'd categorize any film that tried to make light of killing an actual, living human being that way (no matter how awful that person might be).

It is also the case that documents revealed in that hack -- there's no way to ignore them or get them back into the bottle -- have revealed Sony's complicity in an underground effort to effectively seize control of Internet freedom of communications, in furtherance of protecting their own perceived intellectual property rights -- collateral damage to everyone else be damned! Yet another reason not to reward or celebrate Sony.

So I have a modest suggestion. Instead of paying to see The Interview when Sony launches its limited debut on Christmas Day, head over to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AFfPsvbyvs

There you will find (at least for now) the entire, uncut, wonderful 1962 presentation of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. I've discussed this marvel in other venues in the past, but for now I'll simply note that this adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol still rates among the most popular versions, all these decades later. The songs being written by the Broadway team of Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, who shortly thereafter collaborated on Funny Girl -- are no small part of its magic.

My original more extended comments about this program are at this 2011 G+ posting (the video clip linked to that posting appears to no longer be fully intact):

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LaurenWeinstein/posts/C3DJ5sAY21k

So please. We all know that North Korea is probably the most horrible place to live on Planet Earth. But don't reward Sony for this awful mess that they themselves enabled through their own unforced errors.

I fully support those theaters and online venues that have chosen to make this movie available in the interests of free speech. But that doesn't mean you're required to watch it. A film like this is unlikely in the extreme to bring about positive change in a horrible place like North Korea. If anything, it could drive their insane leadership to even further internal repression.

So my personal recommendation is to ignore this film. Instead, fire up the Chromecast, or the Google TV box, or the Roku, or the Amazon Fire, or the smart TV, and watch Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol on the big screen, from a beautiful print that TV viewers couldn't imagine ever seeing back in 1962!

Peace to you all for Christmas and this holiday season.

Take care, everyone.

--Lauren--
I am a consultant to Google. I speak only for myself, not for them.