The Interview: Cinematic Masterpiece in Disguise

Lisa Hertz
Last Saturday night, I was mentally and physically drained from the natural stresses of the week.
I wanted to zone out to a brainless movie, so when my fiance suggested we watched The Interview, I
was less than enthusiastic. With all the political hype surrounding this film, I had elevated it to such
categories as The Artist (2012) or Amelie (2001). Good, but not what I was in the mood for when my
tired mind was half asleep.
Less than five minutes in to the film, I realized I was very mistaken. As many people have, going
by the reviews in the internet world, angrily realized, The Interview is far more along the likes of, say,
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) than A Beautiful Mind (2001).
But it is still a finely crafted work of cinematic art. So carefully constructed that the film has
managed to supersede the screen and entertain us right where we actually live: on Facebook, Twitter,
and, for the lucky few of us, right in our very own living rooms and kitchens and dining room dinner
discussions.
In my high school English class, I frequently begin units with brainstorming activities. I might
have students write everything down about a certain topic before we begin reading and writing about it.
Themes of early 20th century films? Disillusionment. T.S. Elliot. Trench warfare. Isolationism. You get
the idea. 21st century America film? Hot sexy foreign chick. Two idiot guys. Stuff blown up in a fiery
explosion. Homophobic references. Face-to-face with scary animal. Slyly tricking your enemy. Fight
scenes that are supposed to be hilarious in the presentation of their goriness and usually involve tearing
off limbs and/or fingers. Sound familiar? The Interview is a collaboration of everything that is pop
culture American films. The Interview is what makes Americans go to the movies.
If you care to analyze this even deeper, the film probes into the subconscious of the American
psyche by going after our collective fears. Creating mass hysteria in its marketing technique, a la Ebola,
H1N1, Salem witch trials. Poking fun at a reasonable threat, in a manner reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin
in The Great Dictator (1940), allowing the English speaking world to laugh at Hitler.
Yes, everyone had a good laugh at Hitler. In 1940. Perhaps the way those of us with a sense of
humor are having a good laugh at Kim Jong-Il. In 2015.