Mitt Romney Just Told Sony Exactly How To Handle ‘The Interview’ Release: ‘Don’t Cave, Fight’
Mitt Romney has emerged as the voice of reason in the ongoing Sony hack scandal. On Wednesday night, Sony Pictures Entertainment made it official and declared that they would not release The Interview to theaters on Christmas Day, or anytime.
(It remains to be seen whether the studio will try out other venues such as DVD or digital.)
With major theater chains deciding to pull support for the film, Sony Pictures Entertainment was left with few options and released a statement announcing its controversial decision to abandon ship.
While a slew of tweets and opinions followed from Hollywood celebrities urging Sony to reconsider, it was the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, who had the best idea.
.@SonyPictures don’t cave, fight: release @TheInterview free online globally. Ask viewers for voluntary $5 contribution to fight #Ebola.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) December 18, 2014
On the surface, the Ebola reference might seem a little out there, but you don’t have to peel back too many layers to see the subtle brilliance of such a maneuver.
North Korean hackers, believed to be responsible for the Sony leaks, are representative of a lone wolf dictatorship that many in the world would love to see toppled.
The more allies in the effort to unseat Kim Jong Un and establish a government that is more human rights-focused, the better.
Ebola remains a crisis in various parts of the world and the outbreak has put many European and African countries at risk. By building a global initiative around The Interview and tying it to Ebola, Sony can essentially ingratiate itself to a cause of global concern while turning up the heat on Pyongyang.
Doing this globally would increase exposure of the cyber attack and heighten awareness as to the threat North Korea presents to free speech for all countries. After all, if they can do this to Sony, who can’t they do it to?
What the Sony hack orchestrators did was reach across the world and impose censorship on U.S. soil. Sony could use the suggestion of Mitt Romney to send a powerful message and maybe reverse some of the PR damage that came with pulling the film from theaters in the first place.
But what do you think, readers? Should Sony retaliate by releasing The Interview globally, and do you think that Mitt Romney has the right idea about how a company should respond to cyber attacks that would attempt to limit free speech? Be sure to sound off in our comments section below.
[Image via Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com]
