President Obama’s decision to act as movie critic in chief, using his bully pulpit to address a never-released Hollywood comedy, showcases how unsettled his administration has become about losing a cultural fight to North Korea.
Obama surely never imagined that his final press conference of 2014 would center on a Hollywood satire about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Yet, in likely his final, major moment of 2014, Obama found himself talking about Seth Rogen and James “Flacco” — he meant Franco — calling Sony Pictures’ decision to scrap “The Interview” a “mistake.”
That was no accident, say Obama aides, who calculated that the president had to make a stronger statement on an issue that has epitomized a new era in cyberwarfare.
“He wanted to draw a line in the sand, make sure there would be no precedent here,” explained one senior administration official. “This most certainly required his attention. This is a battle over our ideals.”
The episode demonstrated the modern challenges of White House messaging, in which a president’s agenda can instantly become overshadowed by an incident seemingly outside of his purview.
The president knew that on a day when he would devote roughly an hour to discussing a landmark deal with Cuba, his agenda for 2015 and his handling of the deadly Ebola crisis — not to mention race relations in America, an immigration overhaul and countering Russian President Vladimir Putin — his comments on a satirical movie would get the most attention.
“It’s gotten a little out of hand,” said Stephen Hess, a former adviser to Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. “But that’s par for the course. The president is opinionator in chief. The media demands it from him. If he didn’t say anything, he’d only get more questions.”
For days, Obama refrained from criticizing Sony, choosing to downplay the terrorist threat but not get involved in the decision-making process of a private company.
When the FBI finally announced Friday that the North Korean government was behind the hacking of the entertainment giant, releasing embarrassing emails of studio executives and threatening a Sept. 11-style attack against movie theaters, Obama decided to change course.
“I wish they had spoken to me first,” Obama said of Sony. “We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States.”
Those remarks set off a rare spat between the White House and a Hollywood bigwig, with Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton firing back that Obama was “mistaken” about the studio’s actions.
According to Lynton, Sony had “no choice” but to cancel the Christmas Day release when movie theaters refused to show it.
Obama’s remarks came on the heels of a number of Hollywood heavy hitters bemoaning Sony’s choice, such as A-list actor George Clooney.
“We cannot be told we can’t see something by Kim Jong Un, of all f—–g people,” Clooney said in an interview with Deadline.
Obama’s position seems to have the backing of most of the movie industry, as well as the public, leaving little risk of political blowback, his aides said.
“Wow. Everyone caved. The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow,” tweeted actor Rob Lowe, who made an appearance in the movie.
And Lynton hinted that Sony could still release the movie in some form, which is ultimately what Obama wants.
The president declined to indulge reporters on whether he would actually watch the comedy but said giving filmgoers that option would send a clear signal to Pyongyang.
“I love Seth [Rogen] and I love James [Franco],” he quipped, “but the notion that that was a threat to [North Korea] I think gives you some sense of the kind of regime we’re talking about here.”
