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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-- |
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By now you've heard that Sony has canceled (for the moment, anyway) the debut of a controversial "comedy" film concerning a plot to assassinate the current leader of North Korea. Given that North Korea indeed has an evil, vile government, Sony apparently thought that a vile, tasteless film was the appropriate response -- very 21st century Hollywood thinking, indeed. Sony's suspension of "The Interview" -- ostensibly in response to the mass hacking of their corporate systems and associated threats -- has already become a new talking point among proponents of controversial legislation that would almost certainly ultimately give the government vast new abilities to monitor and control privately owned networks and computer systems -- "for those private firms' own good" of course. Yeah. Of course. But who are we mere computer scientists and technologists to argue with the likes of world-renowned "cybersecurity expert" Newt Gingrich, who has already declared that the Sony hack and Sony's response means that the USA has "lost its first cyberwar." Wow, that sounds scary. And hell, if Newt proclaims something, it must be true. Or not. The very nature of this situation suggests that we will never know the real truth of the matter. But boys and girls, my gut feeling is that we're being seriously suckered. First we're told that the Sony hack was incredibly sophisticated and brilliant, of the sort that (supposedly) only a well-funded nation-state could muster. Then we start to hear from researchers who have looked at this in more detail, and we learn that the actual exploit was relatively simplistic and run-of-the-mill, rather sloppy in fact. So how could such a crude exploit do so much damage to Sony? Well, we've also now learned that -- reportedly -- Sony's computer security practices were well known within the company as being somewhere south of McMurdo Station -- that is, really abysmally sloppy and inept. So you apparently didn't need a nation-state with vast cyberwar attack resources to pull this off. Perhaps a bored 18-year-old looking for "lulz" from his parents' basement would be more than adequate to the task. Given all this, why are we seeing so much focus on North Korea? Why is the U.S. government saying that North Korea is "behind" the attacks -- or that at least some group "allied" with North Korea was responsible. Or maybe just someone who has "heard" of North Korea? Let's face it. Since this attack has been tied to a film that at the very least attempted to make sick "fun" of assassinating Kim Jong-un, one might say (if one was of a conspiratorial mindset about this) that it all almost seems "purpose built" as a mechanism to justify whatever new anti-North Korea sanctions have been simmering in the background. And as I noted earlier, it also fits in very nicely with the "government needs to be in charge of private computer security" storyline as well. However, we don't even need conspiracies to work this one out to a significant degree of confidence. These kinds of cyberattacks are notoriously difficult to source. There are so many ways to confuse and obfuscate and false flag and misdirect -- that we're unlikely to ever know with certainty who was actually behind the Sony hack itself. Yet we do know with certainty that there are commercial "cybersecurity" firms itching to leverage panic into sales, and government "cyberwar" divisions always on the prowl for excuses to further inflate their already obscenely bloated budgets. So ... which is going to play more effectively into these narratives -- the 18-year-old in the basement lounge chair with a keyboard in their lap ... or a nightmarish cyberattack conveniently pinned on the megalomaniac leader of a pariah nation? Yes, I could be wrong. Maybe we're actually getting the straight story on all this from our elected officials and their multitude of minions. Maybe this all really was a dastardly attack by North Korea on a mediocre Sony film. Then again, there's a bridge over the East River connecting with New York City that you might want to buy as well. Just sayin' ... Be seeing you. --Lauren-- |
