By Brenda Flanagan
Correspondent
“It’s freedom of speech. We were attacked,” said moviegoer John O’Hara.
For O’Hara, coming together with other moviegoers at Hudson Cinema to see “The Interview” felt like striking back against oppression.
If watching the movie was an act of patriotism, O’Hara said, “I think so. We’re living our rights. We’re living our rights, right now.”
“As an American, freedom of speech, freedom to do whatever you choose to do — no one should stop that or take that away from you. No one,” said Adrain Wiley.
The controversial comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, jokes about assassinating North Korea’s president-for-life Kim Jong-Un.
“Take him out. You want us to kill the leader of North Korea? Yes. Whaaaaaaa,” is said within the movie trailer.
The film morphed into a cause celebre — after hackers ID’d by the FBI as North Korean broke into Sony’s corporate database, publishing embarrassing emails and threatening violence on the scale of 9/11 if Sony dared to release the movie. At first, Sony apparently caved to what looked like pressure from Kim and that made Henry Harsche utterly determined to see “The Interview.”
“It’s kinda like a slap in the face to him,” said Harsche. “As an American, I feel offended that somebody, especially a dictator should try to impose his will on this country.”
A Jersey City Police squad car actually waited quietly at the theater’s mall entrance – officers told me – to make sure the screening here went smoothly. Five other New Jersey independent theaters joined several hundred others around the country to show the film, after big movie houses refused to release it, according to Sony’s CEO.
“We have not caved, we have not given in, we have persevered and we have not backed down. We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie,” said Sony CEO Michael Lynton.
Sony blamed the major theaters — but faced scathing criticism from all quarters — including President Barack Obama.
“There were threats vs its employees, I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced, having said all that — yes, I think they made a mistake,” said Obama.
“I think there were a lot of mistakes made. I think Sony made a mistake by backing off, and I think quite frankly the president made a mistake by not being assertive,” said Gov. Chris Christie.
While “The Interview” hack attack prompted some cyber-forensics experts to express doubt about North Korea’s level of involvement, Sony arranged for the film’s distribution via video-on-demand starting yesterday. But fans still came out to see the film in theaters.
“I’m not afraid of anything — I’m gonna see it — I’m gonna check it out. Cause I really enjoy going to the movies and seeing what’s out there. Hopefully it’s gonna be a lot of fun,” said Fausto Carneiro.
If watching the movie was like a protest, Stan Montalvo said, “A little bit, just a little form of protest. I’m a big movie fan. So
it’s an easy protest for me.”
Of course, the Sony hack remains under investigation. As for some moviegoers — buying a ticket felt patriotic — almost like ringing the Liberty Bell. It was the ringing of cash registers that gave a holiday boost to independent movie theaters.