What a strange week it\u2019s been in Hollywood. Tuesday night we actually had a thunderstorm. For those who don\u2019t know Southern California, that\u2019s like saying House Republicans think our country might have a race problem. Or Woody Allen is considering property in Malibu. Or the new Missal really seems to be catching on. (\u201cUnder our roof,\u201d\u009d translators? \u201cUnder our roof\u201d\u009d?)<\/p>\n
There was even lightning, for God\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n
Then yesterday, hack-beleaguered Sony Pictures actually stopped distribution of major motion picture \u201cThe Interview,\u201d\u009d maybe forever, after the United States\u2019 five major theater chains refused to show it for fear of a 9\/11-style attack on any theater that did.<\/p>\n
To say the Internet was not happy with this series of events would be an understatement. Hollywood writer\/director\/producer Judd Apatow called the chains\u2019 decision \u201cdisgraceful\u201d\u009d and wondered, along with many others, what\u2019s next: \u201cWill they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?\u201d\u009d Many called it a sad day for creative expression, and feared that this forebodes a dangerous new self-censorship. Rob Lowe compared Hollywood to Neville Chamberlain (to which the nation of Czechoslovakia replied, \u201cMmm, Rob, I think not\u201d\u009d). Newt Gingrich went so far as to call the hackers\u2019 threat an \u201cact of war,\u201d\u009d forgoing the need for an act of war to involve an actual act. Forget the pesky details, there\u2019s really never a bad time for a little preemption.<\/p>\n