So, North Korea is all pissed off again - this time because of Seth Gordon & James Franco's film, "The Interview." I suppose their complaints are valid. The upcoming movie pokes fun at Kim Jung Un's assassination, and considering that a London hairdresser almost triggered an incident by displaying a "Bad Hair Day" sign featuring KJU's face, one can only just imagine Dear Leader's stink over this. At risk of making a fat joke, Pyonyang doesn't like it when we diss their sacred cows.
The Korean Flowbee. Personally, I can't wait to see the movie - especially after watching its hysterical YouTube trailer. North Korea is a humanitarian catastrophe, and I totally support any effort - even funny ones - to call people's attention to its dangerously unstable regime. NK has death camps on the scale of the NAZIs. It's citizens live a life as bleak as a George Orwell novel, where conformity outweighs happiness. Considering that most Americans know more about Kim Kardashian's ass than they do about Shin Dong-hyuk's horrific escape from Camp 14, Gordon's/James' movie might actually raise awareness about the plight of the North Korean people. Hell, it may even raise the North Koreans' awareness about themselves when it's eventually smuggled back into their country alongside South Korean soap operas.
"MUCH better harvest than last year, comrade!" Aside from two thumbs down on The Interview, the other big news from Pyonyang this week is that the country is fighting a drought...again. State media acknowledged that the rain has stopped, the rivers are drying, and the army has been deployed to help water the rice crops. The last time this happened was in the 1990s. Over one million people died from the famine that followed...and many North Koreans lost faith in leadership. The disaster caused the collapse of the government's food distribution system - which led to the rise of the country's black market (and, inadvertently, a small taste of freedom). In addition to food, the black market brought news of the outside world - and for the first time since the Kims took power, the illusion of the DPRK being a "social paradise" was shattered in the biggest way possible. And that's when mass defections started.
I bring this all up because it's entirely possible that this year's drought/famine might finally be the catalyst that destabilizes the Kim regime. It's no secret the world's been waiting for such a moment, and a few months back, it was publicly acknowledged that China, the US, Japan, and South Korea all have contingency plans to handle refugees (and secure nuclear weapons) when the North Korean government collapses. It's more a matter of "when" than 'if," and in addition to daily news stories (and smuggled YouTube videos), NK's decline has been chronicled in recent books, including Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee--A Look Inside North Korea by Jang Jin-sung, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, and North Korea: State of Paranoia: A Modern History by Paul French. Like a lone 1950s-homestead surrounded by modern/encroaching buildings, the North Korean people can no longer ignore the twinkling lights of progress in every direction around them. And at risk of making a fat joke, when one's children are undernourished while one's Great Leader is over-nourished, an "il" timed famine can bring more drama than KBS's Good Doctor.
I bring this all up because it's entirely possible that this year's drought/famine might finally be the catalyst that destabilizes the Kim regime. It's no secret the world's been waiting for such a moment, and a few months back, it was publicly acknowledged that China, the US, Japan, and South Korea all have contingency plans to handle refugees (and secure nuclear weapons) when the North Korean government collapses. It's more a matter of "when" than 'if," and in addition to daily news stories (and smuggled YouTube videos), NK's decline has been chronicled in recent books, including Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee--A Look Inside North Korea by Jang Jin-sung, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, and North Korea: State of Paranoia: A Modern History by Paul French. Like a lone 1950s-homestead surrounded by modern/encroaching buildings, the North Korean people can no longer ignore the twinkling lights of progress in every direction around them. And at risk of making a fat joke, when one's children are undernourished while one's Great Leader is over-nourished, an "il" timed famine can bring more drama than KBS's Good Doctor.
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This morning brought news that North Korea considers The Interview an "act of war." They went on to say that if the US government doesn't stop the movie, it will face both "stern" and "merciless" retaliation (which means that it must be a Wednesday). While reading their reaction, I couldn't help but think of that silly propaganda short a few years back, depicting a NK spaceship nuking the United States - with "We Are The World" playing on MUZAK. Perhaps Pyonyang is pissed at Franco & Rogan because their movie - despite being a comedy - has better special effects & score than NK's attempt at Independence Day on a MacBook.
And what a slam to Kim Jung Un, especially considering that his Father - literally - wrote the book on Korean cinema (AND abducted famed South Korean producer Shin Sang-ok in 1978, forcing him to make films for the regime). With a background like that, no wonder KJU is so upset between the film & famine that he can't seem to stop eating. And when your people are starving, the last thing you want to do is to start looking like a Mao Michael Moore. Err, again, at risk of making a fat joke...
And what a slam to Kim Jung Un, especially considering that his Father - literally - wrote the book on Korean cinema (AND abducted famed South Korean producer Shin Sang-ok in 1978, forcing him to make films for the regime). With a background like that, no wonder KJU is so upset between the film & famine that he can't seem to stop eating. And when your people are starving, the last thing you want to do is to start looking like a Mao Michael Moore. Err, again, at risk of making a fat joke...
Anyway - all snark aside - I really do hope that Seth Rogan & James Franco's The Interview is a success, and brings more awareness to the plight of the North Korean people. Perhaps an ironic comedy will open the door to the kinds of WWII documentaries so popular on the History Channel. We all know the story of the Third Reich...now it's time for us to learn about the three Reichs of Kim. Even if Greg Kinnear has to reprise his Bob Crane role, for an Interview follow-up: Hoag-UN's Heroes.
What's happening in North Korea right now is far worse than Russia's invasion of the Ukraine, and has gone on 50 years longer than ISIS's actions within Iraq.
And sometimes it takes a little comedy to make us understand a situation's true severity.
What's happening in North Korea right now is far worse than Russia's invasion of the Ukraine, and has gone on 50 years longer than ISIS's actions within Iraq.
And sometimes it takes a little comedy to make us understand a situation's true severity.