"The Sister" is Getting a Movie 🇰🇵

 

(This is the cover of The Sister, the unauthorized biography of Kim Yo-jong, written by North Korea expert 🇰🇵, Sung-Yoon Lee.)

I just watched a livestream interview from World Affairs Council of Connecticut of Sung-Yoon Lee, the writer of the popular nonfiction book 📖, The Sister: North Korea 🇰🇵's Kim Yo-Jong, the Most Dangerous Woman ♀︎ in the World, and I learned something quite shocking. Apparently, Scott Steindorff, the producer of film, The Lincoln Lawyer (which in and of itself was based on a book 📖) purchased the film rights to The Sister, which of course means that it'll likely be turned into a movie in the near future.

The reason why this shocked me is because this book 📖 is about North Korea 🇰🇵, more specifically, it's about one of its leaders. I never thought that Hollywood would ever touch a film that anything to do with North Korea 🇰🇵 and its leadership ever again after the fiasco with Seth Rogen's The Interview. 

 

 

(This is the original poster for The Interview, the satirical action comedy film directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. I call it an "action comedy" mostly because of the climax of the film, where it just decides to stop being a comedy, and just becomes an action movie in the last third. The heroes try to stop Kim Jong-un from nuking the United States 🇺🇸 ☢️ after they humiliated him in a televised interview with James Franco's character that they did to try to demystify him, and show the North Korean people 🇰🇵 that he isn't a god. 

 

And it's just this bloody extravaganza 🩸 where everyone's just shooting guns, and killing each other. Blood squibs 🩸 going off all over the place, Seth Rogen and James Franco drive a tank at one point. And it all ends with Kim Jong-un getting blown up by a tank shell that Seth Rogen and James Franco shoot down his helicopter with, and it's all set to a cover of Katy Perry's song, "Firework." Yes, the movie really is that silly. It just went full Quentin Tarantino at the end, even if Tarantino doesn't actually own a monopoly on bloody movie violence 🩸 like some film enthusiasts seem to think. It goes from being just a typical Seth Rogen comedy but with North Koreans 🇰🇵  to being Inglourious Basterds but with North Koreans 🇰🇵 instead of Germans. 

 

I remember this movie was a huge deal when it came on. If you weren't alive when this movie came out, or if you were too young, you can't really imagine how much of a stir this movie caused. As I said in the main text, this movie made a lot of filmmakers afraid to do movies about North Korea 🇰🇵 for a while because before this movie was released, a North Korean-affiliated terrorist organization 🇰🇵 that called itself the "Guardians of Peace" threatened to bomb any movie theater that showed the movie. 

 

This is the reason why the movie's theatrical release was canceled, and was released straight to Netflix; making it the first mainstream feature film to have its theatrical release canceled and released straight to streaming. People think this sort of thing started with the pandemic 😷🦠, but no, it was already done 6 years before that with this movie. The commotion surrounding this movie got so out of hand that people were saying it might cause World War III. And so many filmmakers were deterred from ever making any movies about North Korea 🇰🇵 or about Kim Jong-un or anyone else who's apart of the Kim family, or the Paektu bloodline 🩸 as Sung-Yoon termed it in his book 📖. 

 

They were afraid that if they did, then something similar happen to their movie. They didn't want to have their movie provoke North Korea 🇰🇵's regime, and provoke terrorist threats, and or be accused of almost starting World War III. But, the controversy surrounding The Interview is way more interesting than the movie itself. The movie itself is just a typical Seth Rogen stoner comedy, only it's set primarily in North Korea 🇰🇵, and doesn't actually involve any weed. It's also a bit more bloody 🩸 and has a bit more action than a typical Seth Rogen movie, but most of the action is at the end of the film. It mostly pokes fun at celebrities as well as poking fun at Kim Jong-un and North Korea 🇰🇵. Like, of one the most well-known jokes from the movie is the one about Eminem secretly being gay 🏳️‍🌈 and having blonde hair or something like that. And this is also the movie where the term, "honeydicking" comes from.)

There was a time after The Interview was released, where everyone was kind of afraid to do movies about North Korea 🇰🇵 and about Kim Jong-un or anyone apart of or associated with the Kim family. They were afraid that they would upset the North Korean regime 🇰🇵 by not portraying them the way that they want to be portrayed, and provoke them into retaliating against the United States 🇺🇸 with nuclear weapons ☢️, the main fear everyone has about North Korea 🇰🇵.

That, or they're afraid of a terrorist organization associated with the North Korean regime 🇰🇵 threatening to blow up movie theaters that show their movie, as was the case with The Interview. Or, they're afraid that the North Korean regime 🇰🇵 would send someone over to the US 🇺🇸 to assassinate them just like Kim Jong-un did with his brother, Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia 🇲🇾. Considering that India 🇮🇳 is currently in hot water ♨️ for allegedly plotting to do the same thing to a Sikh-American 🪯🇺🇸 who advocates for the creation of Khalistan, such a thing would be considered inexcusable by the US government 🇺🇸.

 

 

 

(This is the flag of Khalistan, the proposed independent Sikh state 🪯 that's been at the center of an armed conflict between the Indian government 🇮🇳 and the Sikh minority 🪯 in the country. A lot of Sikhs 🪯 want to secede from India 🇮🇳 and form a new independent nation that they call Khalistan out of the Punjab state inside of India 🇮🇳 because that state has a large Sikh majority population 🪯. I believe it has the largest Sikh population 🪯 inside of India 🇮🇳. The reason why they want to break away from India 🇮🇳 they feel mistreated by the government, especially ever since it's been taken over Hindu nationalists 🕉️, namely the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Most of the Sikh resistance 🪯 against the Indian government 🇮🇳 has taken the form of terrorist attacks unfortunately. Most notably, the 1985 bombing ✈️ of Air India Flight 182, where a bunch of Sikh terrorists 🪯 bombed a Canadian airline 🇨🇦✈️ bound for India 🇮🇳. It was the deadliest terrorist attack to happen in North America until 9/11 happened. This is a very complicated conflict, one that elicits strong emotions on both sides. And I'm likely not explaining the best that I can. So, I recommend you research it more on your own because I am by no means an expert on this topic. 

 

But, Canada 🇨🇦 and the United States 🇺🇸 have found themselves caught in the middle of this messy conflict because under the Modi government, India 🇮🇳 has been targeting several pro-Khalistan Sikh leaders 🪯 for assassination. And these assassination attempts have been carried out on these two countries' soils. So far, only one of these assassinations has been successful, the one in Canada 🇨🇦 that targeted Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He was killed by someone allegedly linked to the Indian government 🇮🇳, which caused relations between Canada 🇨🇦 and India 🇮🇳 to completely break down after Canadian Prime Minister 🇨🇦, Justin Trudeau directly and openly blamed India 🇮🇳 for the assassination. 

 

Now, the Indian government 🇮🇳 hates and distrusts the Canadian government 🇨🇦, and Indian people 🇮🇳 in India 🇮🇳 and abroad hate Canada 🇨🇦 and hate Trudeau specifically. Welcome to the club. A lot of people hate Trudeau these days, especially Canadians 🇨🇦. They see him, and the Canadian government 🇨🇦 as a whole as being pro-Khalistan, and a state-sponsor of terrorism for that reason. A little bit much don't you think? I mean, there are state-sponsors of terrorism out there in the world right now, but I can assure you that Canada 🇨🇦 ain't one of them. In fact, I don't think even think most Canadian politicians 🇨🇦—Trudeau included—even know what Khalistan is, or what it means. As far as they're concerned, Khalistan is just this weird thing that their Sikh constituents 🪯 are all obsessed with. So, how can they support something that they themselves don't fully understand, let alone sponsor terrorism in its name?

 

 Now, there are concerns that the Khalistan conflict may negatively affect American and Indian relations 🇺🇸🇮🇳 since the FBI, or the CIA, or the State Department recently uncovered a plot to assassinate a Sikh-American 🇺🇸🪯 who also advocates for the creation of Khalistan named Gurpatwant Singh Pannum. Unless you're perfectly fine with a foreign government carrying out assassinations on our soil, and of one of our citizens no less, this is a huge problem. They pursued legal action, which is still on-going at the time of me writing this, and they have openly criticized India 🇮🇳 for attempting something like this on American soil 🇺🇸. So, India 🇮🇳's a little a bit on the ropes right now, and is getting upset at the US government 🇺🇸 for even raising this issue at all in the first place. I wrote a bit more about the Khalistan conflict in an article that I wrote about the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel 🇮🇱, where I compared the Khalistan conflict to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 🇮🇱🇵🇸, since like that conflict, this is primarily an ethnic and religious conflict over land. I will post that, along with my other writings about the Israel-Hamas war 🇮🇱 at a later time.)

 

If North Korea 🇰🇵 tried to assassinate American citizens 🇺🇸 on American soil 🇺🇸, and successfully did, then it could be considered an act of war, and would no doubt cause an international incident, and possible lead to tensions between the United States 🇺🇸 and North Korea 🇰🇵 increasing even further. I'm not saying it would lead to nuclear war ☢️ or anything, but it certainly raise the temperature beyond the point of bringing down. Relations between the two countries would be past the point of no return, and there would be no hope of any real diplomacy. You could forget about denuclearization 🚫☢️ by that point.

So, the fact that a Hollywood producer has decided to purchase the film rights to a book 📖 about Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong shows that some of that these fears have sort of gone away, or they're tempered down considerably since The Interview was released back in 2014. Perhaps, they might try to get around this or avoid some of these worst case scenarios by releasing the film straight-to-streaming, which would be a real bummer. The theater-going experience is struggling right now, and it can't exactly afford to have another big movie go straight-to-streaming. And make no mistake, this would be a big movie. I mean, a movie about Kim Jong-un's sister? That's a pretty big deal. 

 

 

(This is the poster for the film adaptation of the book 📖, First They Killed My Father directed and co-written by Angelina Jolie. The book was an autobiography 📖 written by a Cambodian woman 🇰🇭♀︎ named Loung Ung, recounting her story of living under the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in the mid-to-late 1970s as a child. The title comes from the fact that her father was killed by the Khmer Rouge due to his association with the Khmer Republic military, known as the Khmer National Armed Forces, or FANK. 

 

The Khmer Rouge targeted anyone who was associated with the previous military dictatorship to ruled over Cambodia from 1970 to 1975, and had renamed the country to Khmer Republic before the Khmer Rouge came along, and renamed the country again to the Democratic Kampuchea. So, Loung's father was killed because he was an officer in the FANK, and so was her mother since she was married to him. They were sent to the Killing Fields, and were shot to death. That's why the book 📖 and the movie 🍿 are called First They Killed My Father. 

 

Now, depending on who you are, you might be surprised that Angelina Jolie directed and co-wrote this. A lot of people just think of Angelina Jolie as just an actress, but in recent years, she became a director. Her first movie was a World War II drama called Unbroken, which came out in 2014 coincidentally enough, and was about American POWs 🇺🇸 imprisoned by the Japanese 🇯🇵 during the Pacific War. And First They Killed My Father was her second major film. 

 

Why did she chose to make a movie about Cambodia 🇰🇭? Well, the only answer I've been able to find is that she just really likes Cambodia 🇰🇭, and is fascinated by it. Her adopted son is Cambodian-American 🇰🇭🇺🇸, and she's personal friends with Loung Ung. So, this was a much more personal passion project for her, even more than Unbroken was. I wrote a review of this movie awhile ago that I admittedly just used as an excuse to talk about Cambodian history 🇰🇭, and a little bit about Equatoguinean history 🇬🇶 as well that I will post on here at a later time.)

If the film adaptation of The Sister did just go straight-to-streaming, it would just fade into obscurity and be forgotten about, being lost in the sea of content of the streaming platform of their choice. Sort of like how Angelina Jolie's adaptation of First They Killed My Father was. Or if it is popular, then it would just be trendy for a while, everyone who is somebody would talk about it, and then it would just fade away, and no one would ever talk about it again, sort of like Squid Game 🦑 or Wednesday; yes, I know those are shows, but the same sort of thing applies to any popular streaming movie that comes and goes as well. So, I think releasing it in theaters would be better, it would have a lot more staying power that way.

Do I think North Korea 🇰🇵 would do anything if this movie was made, and was released in theaters? No not really. The most I think the North Korean regime 🇰🇵 would probably do is issue a few statements of condemnation. Kim Yo-jong would issue a public statement complaining about how she was portrayed, saying nothing it's accurate, and Kim Jong-un would probably do the same, coming to the defense of his sister, and maybe even saber rattle a little bit by bluffing to launch nukes ☢️ at the US 🇺🇸 or South Korea 🇰🇷 or Japan 🇯🇵.

But, it would just a bluff, they probably wouldn't do anything too crazy, and risk starting a real war, which would no doubt endanger the regime, and the regime's number one priority to maintain its power. Anything that might threaten that tighten that grip on power is not worth the risk in their eyes. I also don't think they're try to threaten the US 🇺🇸 through a proxy terrorist group like the Guardians of Peace (which was just a front for North Korea 🇰🇵) because that was a special case that happened under a special circumstance, the Sony hack, and will likely never be repeated again; unless another movie studio has another security breach in their servers.

Plus, I think everyone's wise to that sort of stuff now, would see it coming from a mile away. So, it's not worth doing for the North Koreans 🇰🇵, they would not be able to elicit the same level of surprise and terror as they did last time. So, no don't expect a film adaptation of The Sister to cause a terrorist attack or cause World War III or lead to any of the filmmakers being assassinated. I mean, Sung-Yoon Lee managed to write this book 📖 about Kim Yo-jong's life, without being targeted for assassination as far as I know.

So, if the author of the book 📖 was killed for writing an unauthorized biography of Kim Yo-jong, I doubt any of the filmmakers will be killed for adapting said book 📖 into a movie. And if it somehow does cause any of those worst case scenarios, then I'll come back and write about how wrong I was. But, I think, for the most part, the making and releasing of that movie will go much smoother than it did for The Interview.

I haven't read the book 📖. I bought at Barnes & Nobles recently, but I haven't actually read it yet. Maybe the fact that it's going to made into a movie real soon will finally make me read it. I'm just kind of wondering who they're going to get to play Kim Yo-jong in the movie. It seems like a role that would be tough to cast, without it coming across as a parody like Randall Park as Kim Jong-un was in The Interview.

—

This is the interview. Not the film, The Interview, but the Sung-Yoon Lee interview by World Affairs Council of Connecticut: