Sony criticized for wrong reason

Sony’s decision to cancel its picture, “The Interview,” a farcical plot to kill the leader of North Korea, is drawing a lot of criticism for the company’s lack of courage. The more serious problem, in my view, is Sony’s lack of responsible judgment in producing the film in the first place. While most Americans may say the film is a harmless comedy, many Koreans and others around the world view it as grossly disrespectful and arrogant, and as dangerously lending legitimacy to a possible real American assassination attempt.

Standing up for First Amendment rights is honorable and important, but we all know that shouting “fire” in a crowded theater is irresponsible and illegal. Arguing for Sony’s right to release the picture ignores actual U.S. government and CIA plots to assassinate foreign leaders and overthrow governments we didn’t like in Guatemala, the Congo, Cuba, Iraq and Iran, to name a few. Ignoring this sordid history and its consequences in terms of people’s fears, makes Sony’s decision more like shouting fire than an innocent act protected by the First Amendment.

As our country finally turns a page on five decades of ineffectual hostility toward Cuba, it would serve us well to learn the lesson that diplomacy and engagement are more morally responsible and more practically effective than boycotts and military bullying.

Ron Young

Everett