History YMMV / TheInterview

* AcceptableTargets: North Korea, being an enemy of the United States and the poster child of a dictatorship, is often seen as this for many who support the movie.

** Most of the HoYay between Skylark and Dave become this considering following the controversies surrounding Creator/JamesFranco, Creator/SethRogen would distance himself from him and even publicly end their partnership and friendship, something Franco would address afterwards and admit he respected his decision.

* NeverLiveItDown: Sony temporarily pulling the movie without the advice of President Obama was seen as cowardly and was one of the reasons CEO Amy Pascal was KickedUpstairs.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The plot to have Dave Skylark kill Kim Jong-un with ricin absorbed through the skin is rather less funny after the 2017 assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the dictator's brother, by VX nerve agent administered to his skin.
** Most of the HoYay between Skylark and Dave become this considering following the controversies surrounding Creator/JamesFranco, Creator/SethRogen would distance himself from him and even publicly end their partnership and friendship, something Franco would address afterwards and admit he respected his decision.

** Most of the HoYay between Skylark and Dave become this considering following the controversies surrounding Creator/JamesFranco, Creator/SethRogen would distance himself from him and even publicly end their partner and friendship, something Franco would address afterwards and admit he respected his decision.

** Most of the HoYay between Skylark and Dave become this considering following the controversies surrounding Creator/JamesFranco, Creator/SethRogan would distance himself from him and even publicly end their partner and friendship, something Franco would address afterwards and admit he respected his decision.

* JerkassWoobie: Kim Jong-un in the film is a boorish dictator who oppresses his people and orders murders on a whim. But he's also given an endearing side, and the movie implies that anyone raised in his position of pampering would inevitably become a tyrant like him.

** "They hate us 'cause they anus!", a popular {{Mondegreen}} of Skylark's catchphrase. [[https://twitter.com/sethrogen/status/549329558936096768 Even Seth Rogen himself admitted]] he thought that's what James Franco was saying.

** There's also the argument whether or not this hack was started by North Korea [[{{Imageboards}} at all]]. And is the U.S. Government's response to them justified.

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Zig-zagged. On one hand, the film got its premiere and its theater run initially cancelled and then severely scaled back to a limited theatrical/VOD release, and the controversy brought considerable damage to Creator/SonyPictures. On the other hand, it's gotten ''WAY'' more press than it would have if North Korea hadn't objected so loudly about it, and its release has sparked the interest of many people who had previously not considered seeing it. Ultimately, the film made a fraction of its originally predicted total. Back in November, prior to the Sony hack, [=BoxOfficeMojo=] [[http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3940&p=.htm predicted]] a total domestic gross of about $90 million, and the international success of Rogen's previous film ''[[Film/{{Neighbors2014}} Neighbors]]'' indicated strong overseas prospects for the film. The cancellation of wide release crippled the film, and the film's VOD sales, which total [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2899810/Sony-says-31million-online-demand-release-controversial-movie-Interview.html around $31 million]] and are quickly waning, are strong, but have little chance of fully recouping Sony's losses and will certainly not reach $90 million. While the publicity helped ''The Interview'' save some face, it ultimately would have been much better off if it had simply been a standard release.
* OlderThanTheyThink: Some may find the controversy this caused overblown since this is not the first film to mock the life and death of a living and in power head of state. ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' was made while Saddam Hussein was in office. In the film, Saddam got killed by a wild boar, went to Hell, became Satan's abusive gay boyfriend, is treated as the greater evil compared to the devil and gets killed again by Satan. Some could say, compared to this that, ''The Interview'' is rather tame. There's also the previously mentioned ''Team America: World Police'' which mocked Kim Jong-un's father, and some could arguably say Kim Jong-il took it better than his son did. As [[WebVideo/CinematicExcrement the Smeghead]] pointed out, both ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' and [[Film/RedDawn2012 the Red Dawn remake]] had the North Koreans as villains as well, yet both were able to get in theaters[[note]]in the case of the former, Kim Jong-il, a big Bond fan, apparently saw it and hated it[[/note]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: As mentioned above, the film is less about calling out North Korea's dictatorship as much as it is just doing the typical buddy comedy schtick in a particularly unusual setting. However, it's clear that the writers and filmmakers were at least a little informed about the country's hardships and its leader's controversial tactics, and some have complained that, had they found away to bring more real-life facts into the film (not to mention make better jokes about them), this could have been an excellent BlackComedy.

* AmericansHateTingle: The studio (as well as various foreign distributors) felt that Creator/SethRogen has limited appeal outside the U.S., and that as a result, very few foreign markets would be interested in even screening the movie. Even North Koreans who have defected to South Korea, United States and China have said that the movie exaggerates and gets wrong several things about Kim Jong-Un and the way the country is run.
* AssPull: {{Parodied|Trope}} with [[spoiler:Dave surviving being shot by Kim due to his wearing a bulletproof vest. The film Lampshades this by having Agent Lacy remark that she has no idea where he got that vest, but that she's glad he has it.]]

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The whole combination of factors (crude comedy, hot-topic politics being made fun of, actors who don't have high appeal outside of the United States, the controversy that most people now think was brain-dead absurd and made people go see the film mostly to find out what the big ruckus was about) resulted in few people seeing the film or ''enjoying'' the film. Even people at Sony (on the disclosed mails) were saying "how the ''hell'' was this even ''made''?".

* SignatureScene: [[spoiler:The death of Kim Jong-un, of course.]] It's helped by the fact that it's the only scene in the film that was released outside of trailer footage - at least until the film was actually distributed digitally. In context, it is minor compared to the rest of the film's content.

* NightmareFuel: While the movie has ''far'' from creepy or horrifying imagery, one moment still stands: During a dinner in [[spoiler: memorial to Kim's loyal guards]], Kim Jong-un begins to slowly but building tirade about how he will prove to the world that he is "worthy" of the Kim name, even if it means killing ''millions'' and [[TakingYouWithMe his own people]]. The fact he says this to his ''loyal men'' (including Dave) makes it far more creepier, so much it's where Dave [[spoiler: realizes Kim's a BitchInSheepsClothing]].

* AmericansHateTingle: The studio (as well as various foreign distributors) felt that Creator/SethRogen has limited appeal outside the U.S., and that as a result, very few foreign markets would be interested in even screening the movie. Even North Koreans who have defected to South Korea, United States and China have said that the movie exaggerates and gets wrong several things about Kim Jong-Un and the way the country is run.

** Is making a movie about a real foreign leader's assassination a topic too offensive even for a parody, or is North Korea just being crybabies after dozens of Western films about Western leader assassinations? A few years prior, the state created and supported a video of North Korea bringing about a nuclear holocaust to the United States, which comes across as hypocritical in many eyes.

* AmericansHateTingle: The studio (as well as various foreign distributors) felt that Creator/SethRogen has limited appeal outside the U.S., and that as a result, very few foreign markets would be interested in even screening the movie.

** Agent Lacy deliberately altering her appearance the next time she met the guys, considering that Creator/LizzyCaplan was ''a ShapeShifting MonsterOfTheWeek'' on ''{{Series/Smallville}}!''

** The unnamed North Korean soldier who [[spoiler: helps Skylark, Dave, and Sook escape from Kim's palace near the end of the movie. [[HeroicSacrifice He then stays behind to hold off several attacking guards while the other three make their escape.]]]] Whoever he was, that dude was a hero.

* HypeBacklash: Oh, and how. With the Sony hack and major theatre chains pulling the film, it appeared to many as though that this film was going to be some kind of revolutionary political satire. Once they saw it they were highly disappointed by it being a typical Creator/SethRogen film, except that there's more blood.

* AlasPoorVillain: Despite everything he has done (in real life, most of which is not directly acknowledged within the movie itself) [[spoiler: Kim Jong-un's death]] could be seen as this considering that the film has shown him to be little more than a spoiled and indoctrinated child given too much power, which he fully embraced in the end. See also JerkassWoobie below.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: Kim Jong-un's death. You know what he did in real life (especially that one stunt involving the controlling of the people's lives in North Korea) and it's just satisfying to see him look in terror/disbelief as flames (possibly symbolic of {{Hell}}) consume him. Best of all, he died with everyone knowing who he truly was, and the Kim line died with him.]] Heck, one could compare [[spoiler: his death]] to [[spoiler: [[Manga/DragonBall Frieza]]'s original death]].
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: The aftermath of the event described immediately above, wherein [[spoiler: North Korea starts veering towards Democracy and opening up to the world at large.]]

* OlderThanTheyThink: Some may find the controversy this caused overblown since this is not the first film to mock the life and death of a living and in power head of state. ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' was made while Saddam Hussein was in office. In the film, Saddam got killed by a wild boar, went to Hell, became Satan's abusive gay boyfriend, is treated as the greater evil compared to the devil and gets killed again by Satan. Some could say, compared to this that, ''The Interview'' is rather tame. There's also the previously mentioned ''Team America: World Police'' which mocked Kim Jong-un's father, and some could arguably say Kim Jong-il took it better than his son did.
** And as [[WebVideo/CinematicExcrement the Smeghead]] pointed out, both ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' and [[Film/RedDawn2012 the Red Dawn remake]] had the North Koreans as villains as well, yet both were able to get in theaters[[note]]in the case of the former, Kim Jong-il, a big Bond fan, apparently saw it and hated it[[/note]].