I’m glad that the Sony Corporation backtracked on its decision to withdraw their film “The Interview” from general release. The film, featuring a fictional assassination of the North Korean leader, caused such offence in that country that it launched a vicious cyber-attack in the USA causing all sorts of computer chaos.

Sony’s tame response caused outrage amongst actors and politicians, including President Obama, who rightly argued that the freedom of all citizens (artists or otherwise) to express their views, without fear of censure, is a cornerstone of democracy.

However, I can’t help but suspect that most people, the President included, felt that the release of a film depicting the assassination of a foreign leader (no matter how heinous and repulsive he might be) was both crass and insensitive in the extreme. That said, there was no way that a foreign power could be allowed to dictate what movies the USA chooses to screen in its own cinemas.

North Korea has now responded with an alleged racial jibe by calling President Obama a “monkey”. So what, I doubt it’s the worst thing that Obama, or any previous president, has been called and I’m sure the President is unlikely to lose any sleep over it.

Notwithstanding any of the above, the President may well have sent a private message to Sony’s management along the lines of, “OK guys, please feel free to express yourselves however you may wish but next time, how about making a movie about a fictional country and a fictional leader even if it is obvious to all and sundry to whom and what that movie is referring?”

I suspect however that, no matter how good Hollywood may be at generating publicity and making shed loads of money, true satire is probably just a little bit beyond its capabilities.