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Ellison's Must Read of the Day

My must read of the day is "James Franco Discusses ‘The Interview’ Hysteria and Calls Out Right-Wingers, Mitt Romney," in the Daily Beast:

"It’s a weird experience," James Franco said of the hysteria surrounding The Interview. […]

Franco found it odd how the film was used as a political tool for "right-wingers," many of whom, despite harboring resentment towards liberal Hollywood, championed seeing the movie in the name of the U-S-A, the First Amendment, and as a gut-punch to North Korea—including possible 2016 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

"It’s funny to see all the different reactions, and the way they also changed," Franco told The Daily Beast. "At first, it was as if all of Hollywood was under attack and we’re representing Hollywood, and then you have these right-wingers coming out and saying, ‘Go see this movie!’ Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are saying, ‘Go see this movie!’ without having even seen it themselves, just because."

James Franco finds it "odd" that conservatives would support an American production after it was attacked by a foreign government—really?

He goes to school all the time. He likes to remind us of it all the time, while also emphasizing that he’s super intellectual and artsy. He directs, paints, writes poems, and he is a really big movie star.

Given this background, I find it disconcerting that Franco seemingly lacks the cognitive ability to realize many people are perspicacious and able to see what we call "the big picture."

Just to clarify, James Franco, zero percent of the people urging Sony to release The Interview did so because they were dying to see the film, and they certainly didn’t do it because they saw it and thought, "wow, I must help more people see this art." None of the support was part of an effort to bolster "liberal Hollywood." It was about the principle of free speech.

Free speech is kind of an American staple. People on the left and right can be hypocritical about it from time to time, but in general most Americans will get out the pitchfork when it’s time to protect free speech—especially if they feel like it’s being threatened by outsiders.

Why is it weird to James Franco that conservatives would support free speech? My guess is that he’s probably a pretentious asshole who knows much less about the world than he would have us believe.