Capitalism at Work- Thoughts on Sony Pulling "The Interview"

I do find it amusing that the most animating political issue of the Christmas Season in 2014 is the release of a movie, or not, but the Sony decision to not release "The Interview" does have some broader societal impact on American life and commerce. It's important that we get the proper context here on what amounts to parallel stories from the same starting point. Where they come back together is in the final decision itself.

First off, it appears that North Korean hackers got into Sony's system and took a lot of information. Why did they do that? Because Sony was going to release Seth Rogen and James Franco's movie "The Interview" on Christmas Day in America. Why did North Korea care? Because the movie depicted a CIA plot to kill Kim Jong-un, their dictator. They hacked Sony as retaliation, then issued escalating threats, demanding the movie not be released. Their threats started with the release of Sony information to the press and public, then escalated to violence against movie theaters who showed the movie. They followed through on the first threats, and the second threats caused multiple theater chains to pull out of showing the movie, ultimately resulting in Sony pulling the movie's release.

The first story within the story is in the release of Sony documents, many of which were embarrassing. There were emails from executives making fun of President Obama and others, which made them look petty. There were Social Security numbers and health information for employees and executives. There were salary records showing a wage gap between the sexes. There was a lot of embarrassing information that was casting Sony in a negative light, and continues to since it's public now.

The second story is about the movie itself, a movie that was cast as a comedy, but apparently touched real nerves in North Korea. Apparently the State Department did sign off on the movie (though i'm not sure formally why), though i'm sure it annoyed them. If you think about it logically, while i'm sure the movie is funny, I do get why North Korea didn't like it (imagine this scenario in reverse). Even so, the movie should have been released, because that is how our society operates. Then the hackers threatened violence in America, against movie-goers who watched the movie. Ultimately, and officially (if only officially), the theater chains started to pull out on the movie, and Sony then decided to pull out because of that.

Let's first understand here that SONY MADE THIS DECISION. This is NOT a decision made by the government, President Obama, or any other "over-lord" of our government. A private company made a private decision about their intellectual property. This is not about American weakness, or anything else of the sort. No American authority made the decision. Sony did.

The theaters who pulled out of showing the movie made a business decision. They decided that the combination of effects if there was one attack on a theater, plus the potential for the threats alone to keep people out of theaters that show the movie, was bad for business. They made a purely business decision that was well within their rights.

Sony made a business and PR decision. They want the leaked documents story to go away, and that will only happen when this story is no longer interesting. They wanted to speed up that process. Secondly, they probably thought the threats would kill the profit anyway. Mostly though, I think this is about PR right now, and profits later. I do think they will release the movie somehow, after the New Year. It will sell really well. They want the hack story over, and the movie to be profitable. So, Sony made a decision in their best interests.

NOTE: While I won't personally show the ending of the movie, because I decided I don't want to, here's a link to where you can see it.