Sony Kowtowing to North Korea
Discussion
Sadly I've been banned from the Cringe thread in The Lounge so would someone else be so kind as to do the honours? 
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
unrepentant said:
Yeah, nobody thought they were capable of this hack either. Sony are scared and I'd imagine they have good reason. There were reports here yesterday that individual executives had been personally contacted by the group. I would think they are even more jittery in Japan.
They can't be that bothered as they are looking for other ways to release the film.Deleted as the words might be seen to be offensive.
Damn. The Above words should be ignored as they may be offensive.
Damn damn, also ignore the above sentence as it might contain words deemed to offensive.
Drat a damn. Ignore the above as it might be offensive, avert your eyes before reading them.
Damn. The Above words should be ignored as they may be offensive.
Damn damn, also ignore the above sentence as it might contain words deemed to offensive.
Drat a damn. Ignore the above as it might be offensive, avert your eyes before reading them.
whoami said:
unrepentant said:
Yeah, nobody thought they were capable of this hack either. Sony are scared and I'd imagine they have good reason. There were reports here yesterday that individual executives had been personally contacted by the group. I would think they are even more jittery in Japan.
They can't be that bothered as they are looking for other ways to release the film.jmorgan said:
Deleted as the words might be seen to be offensive.
Damn. The Above words should be ignored as they may be offensive.
Damn damn, also ignore the above sentence as it might contain words deemed to offensive.
Drat a damn. Ignore the above as it might be offensive, avert your eyes before reading them.
I like a bit of satire, but that's just drivel. Primary school playground stuff.Damn. The Above words should be ignored as they may be offensive.
Damn damn, also ignore the above sentence as it might contain words deemed to offensive.
Drat a damn. Ignore the above as it might be offensive, avert your eyes before reading them.
The back half of this thread is like a pack of hyenas tearing up the carcass of a wildebeest in a Wetherspoons pub.
'iphonedyou' is hiding behind the slot machines thinking you've forgotten about him.
unrepentant said:
whoami said:
unrepentant said:
Yeah, nobody thought they were capable of this hack either. Sony are scared and I'd imagine they have good reason. There were reports here yesterday that individual executives had been personally contacted by the group. I would think they are even more jittery in Japan.
They can't be that bothered as they are looking for other ways to release the film.PZR said:
I like a bit of satire, but that's just drivel. Primary school playground stuff.
The back half of this thread is like a pack of hyenas tearing up the carcass of a wildebeest in a Wetherspoons pub.
'iphonedyou' is hiding behind the slot machines thinking you've forgotten about him.
Best drivel I have. Worked all of 30 seconds on it.The back half of this thread is like a pack of hyenas tearing up the carcass of a wildebeest in a Wetherspoons pub.
'iphonedyou' is hiding behind the slot machines thinking you've forgotten about him.
It wouldn't surprise me if Sony were in on it after getting their dirty laundry aired (or did they mastermind thing whole thing and everyone is in on it??). I've been privy to a number of engineered situations in regards to marketing, some have worked brilliantly, some haven't. The ones that worked well were printing money. I think Sony are foaming at the mouth waiting to push the button and release this to clean up.
On a relatively small ($40m?) budget and without showing the film they've managed to:
- Make virtually the entire planet aware of an unreleased film spending £0 in the process
- Have the U.S President making global news by commenting on the situation
- Keep this in rolling 24hr news for over a week
- Drive demand for a film to where people who wouldn't have seen it will actively go out to watch it
Yes, I like a good conspiracy theory.
On a relatively small ($40m?) budget and without showing the film they've managed to:
- Make virtually the entire planet aware of an unreleased film spending £0 in the process
- Have the U.S President making global news by commenting on the situation
- Keep this in rolling 24hr news for over a week
- Drive demand for a film to where people who wouldn't have seen it will actively go out to watch it
Yes, I like a good conspiracy theory.
whoami said:
unrepentant said:
whoami said:
unrepentant said:
Yeah, nobody thought they were capable of this hack either. Sony are scared and I'd imagine they have good reason. There were reports here yesterday that individual executives had been personally contacted by the group. I would think they are even more jittery in Japan.
They can't be that bothered as they are looking for other ways to release the film.Justices said:
It wouldn't surprise me if Sony were in on it after getting their dirty laundry aired (or did they mastermind thing whole thing and everyone is in on it??). I've been privy to a number of engineered situations in regards to marketing, some have worked brilliantly, some haven't. The ones that worked well were printing money. I think Sony are foaming at the mouth waiting to push the button and release this to clean up.
On a relatively small ($40m?) budget and without showing the film they've managed to:
- Make virtually the entire planet aware of an unreleased film spending £0 in the process
- Have the U.S President making global news by commenting on the situation
- Keep this in rolling 24hr news for over a week
- Drive demand for a film to where people who wouldn't have seen it will actively go out to watch it
Yes, I like a good conspiracy theory.
yarp.On a relatively small ($40m?) budget and without showing the film they've managed to:
- Make virtually the entire planet aware of an unreleased film spending £0 in the process
- Have the U.S President making global news by commenting on the situation
- Keep this in rolling 24hr news for over a week
- Drive demand for a film to where people who wouldn't have seen it will actively go out to watch it
Yes, I like a good conspiracy theory.
Sums it up quite well I think.
PZR said:
Colonial said:
So it's racistperhaps unwise to use it in this context because it's a worddeeply loaded concept of Chinese origin being used in the context of 2 different Asian countries which both understand its connotations far better than someone from the west midlands?
There, how's that? Are you open to the idea of being steered in the right direction?You're just making up reasons to be offended for others.
PZR said:
Having to spell it out to you, then: Try to imagine what it might mean to the (Japanese/Korean/Chinese) people concerned in the context of SPE Inc. and Sony Corp. vs PRK.
The fact that you and many others on this thread claim to be unoffended by it means very little. All the more so since you don't seem to be able to imagine what it might signify to the people to whom it is being applied.
We had the same thing here a few months ago with regard to the term 'Jap'. Most of the people involved in the thread had no clue that the abbreviation was seen by some as disrespectful at the least, and that it is offensive to the majority of Japanese people. Would those people call a Japanese person a "Jap" to their face? Maybe they would be gauche enough to do it when at home (they are certainly gauche enough to use the term with glee on this forum) but how about in Japan?
As I've written (and has been ignored), I am not offended by the term because it is not being applied to me and means little to me culturally. I'm just interested in the choice to use it in this context (with a Japanese-owned multinational corporation and a despotic and much lampooned regime as the two protagonists), and wondered what was behind it. I think we've cleared that up now, but some of the usual suspects are whining about the question being asked.
Do you really expect this to be explained with a - presumably English language - Google link, FFS?
People like you seem to have no concept of what this whole Sony Pictures hacking thing might mean to Japan and the Japanese. It's a very small part of a much wider problem and a much bigger threat than you appear to understand. You might not feel very threatened by PRK, but take a look at a map and remind yourself how close Japan is to ROK and PRK. The downfall of the PRK's ruling regime and a re-united Korea might sound like a good thing in theory but may lead to far bigger trouble in the region. Especially with a newly ambitious PRC flexing its muscles on the sidelines.
I was in Japan just last week. Believe me, this is a daily news topic.
Well an English link would be good as its an English word, but Japanese or Madarin will also be fine (other than the fact kowtow won't directly translate).The fact that you and many others on this thread claim to be unoffended by it means very little. All the more so since you don't seem to be able to imagine what it might signify to the people to whom it is being applied.
We had the same thing here a few months ago with regard to the term 'Jap'. Most of the people involved in the thread had no clue that the abbreviation was seen by some as disrespectful at the least, and that it is offensive to the majority of Japanese people. Would those people call a Japanese person a "Jap" to their face? Maybe they would be gauche enough to do it when at home (they are certainly gauche enough to use the term with glee on this forum) but how about in Japan?
As I've written (and has been ignored), I am not offended by the term because it is not being applied to me and means little to me culturally. I'm just interested in the choice to use it in this context (with a Japanese-owned multinational corporation and a despotic and much lampooned regime as the two protagonists), and wondered what was behind it. I think we've cleared that up now, but some of the usual suspects are whining about the question being asked.
Do you really expect this to be explained with a - presumably English language - Google link, FFS?
People like you seem to have no concept of what this whole Sony Pictures hacking thing might mean to Japan and the Japanese. It's a very small part of a much wider problem and a much bigger threat than you appear to understand. You might not feel very threatened by PRK, but take a look at a map and remind yourself how close Japan is to ROK and PRK. The downfall of the PRK's ruling regime and a re-united Korea might sound like a good thing in theory but may lead to far bigger trouble in the region. Especially with a newly ambitious PRC flexing its muscles on the sidelines.
I was in Japan just last week. Believe me, this is a daily news topic.
PZR said:
Having to spell it out to you, then: Try to imagine what it might mean to the (Japanese/Korean/Chinese) people concerned in the context of SPE Inc. and Sony Corp. vs PRK.
The fact that you and many others on this thread claim to be unoffended by it means very little. All the more so since you don't seem to be able to imagine what it might signify to the people to whom it is being applied.
We had the same thing here a few months ago with regard to the term 'Jap'. Most of the people involved in the thread had no clue that the abbreviation was seen by some as disrespectful at the least, and that it is offensive to the majority of Japanese people. Would those people call a Japanese person a "Jap" to their face? Maybe they would be gauche enough to do it when at home (they are certainly gauche enough to use the term with glee on this forum) but how about in Japan?
As I've written (and has been ignored), I am not offended by the term because it is not being applied to me and means little to me culturally. I'm just interested in the choice to use it in this context (with a Japanese-owned multinational corporation and a despotic and much lampooned regime as the two protagonists), and wondered what was behind it. I think we've cleared that up now, but some of the usual suspects are whining about the question being asked.
Do you really expect this to be explained with a - presumably English language - Google link, FFS?
People like you seem to have no concept of what this whole Sony Pictures hacking thing might mean to Japan and the Japanese. It's a very small part of a much wider problem and a much bigger threat than you appear to understand. You might not feel very threatened by PRK, but take a look at a map and remind yourself how close Japan is to ROK and PRK. The downfall of the PRK's ruling regime and a re-united Korea might sound like a good thing in theory but may lead to far bigger trouble in the region. Especially with a newly ambitious PRC flexing its muscles on the sidelines.
I was in Japan just last week. Believe me, this is a daily news topic.
Serious question for you PZR.The fact that you and many others on this thread claim to be unoffended by it means very little. All the more so since you don't seem to be able to imagine what it might signify to the people to whom it is being applied.
We had the same thing here a few months ago with regard to the term 'Jap'. Most of the people involved in the thread had no clue that the abbreviation was seen by some as disrespectful at the least, and that it is offensive to the majority of Japanese people. Would those people call a Japanese person a "Jap" to their face? Maybe they would be gauche enough to do it when at home (they are certainly gauche enough to use the term with glee on this forum) but how about in Japan?
As I've written (and has been ignored), I am not offended by the term because it is not being applied to me and means little to me culturally. I'm just interested in the choice to use it in this context (with a Japanese-owned multinational corporation and a despotic and much lampooned regime as the two protagonists), and wondered what was behind it. I think we've cleared that up now, but some of the usual suspects are whining about the question being asked.
Do you really expect this to be explained with a - presumably English language - Google link, FFS?
People like you seem to have no concept of what this whole Sony Pictures hacking thing might mean to Japan and the Japanese. It's a very small part of a much wider problem and a much bigger threat than you appear to understand. You might not feel very threatened by PRK, but take a look at a map and remind yourself how close Japan is to ROK and PRK. The downfall of the PRK's ruling regime and a re-united Korea might sound like a good thing in theory but may lead to far bigger trouble in the region. Especially with a newly ambitious PRC flexing its muscles on the sidelines.
I was in Japan just last week. Believe me, this is a daily news topic.
Why do you feel the need to be offended by a universally accepted term in the English language on behalf of another culture or cultures on the other side of the world? I doubt very much whether the Japanese/Chinese/Korean cultures would be as sensitive to this as yourself, after all it's only a gaijin expression.
smegmore said:
Serious question for you PZR.
Why do you feel the need to be offended by a universally accepted term in the English language on behalf of another culture or cultures on the other side of the world? I doubt very much whether the Japanese/Chinese/Korean cultures would be as sensitive to this as yourself, after all it's only a gaijin expression.
First of all I don't "feel the need". It just comes naturally. Instinctively. I'm not making it happen. And I'm not offended by the term itself (it means nothing more than its dictionary definition to most westerners) but rather by the choice to use it in this particular context (Sony are not - and will not be - 'kowtowing' to the hackers/PRK) and more so the very vocal - and very aggressive - knee-jerk defence of its use here. Like: Why do you feel the need to be offended by a universally accepted term in the English language on behalf of another culture or cultures on the other side of the world? I doubt very much whether the Japanese/Chinese/Korean cultures would be as sensitive to this as yourself, after all it's only a gaijin expression.
dudleybloke said:
The 2 posters who are offended by the term please explain why its offensive or shut the f
k up!
k up!But secondly,
Perhaps because I have family in Japan.
Because I have Japanese family here in London with me.
Because I have friends in Japan.
Because I have work colleagues in Japan.
Because they - and I - know that all of this is far bigger than that damned film.
Because the people here (on PH, as well as in the UK and Europe in general) don't seem to understand who is on 'our' side and who is not, let alone right from wrong.
It may be an expression that has been coined in English, but the concept is still very real in the far east. If you don't understand - or believe - that the term has a lot of baggage in the far east and that such matters are very real and very volatile at the moment in that part of the world, then you need to get better informed.
All I wanted to say is that it might be a good idea to be careful about using terms like this (obviously because they mean a whole lot more to the people they are being applied to) and in response I get a virtual assassination.
I've taken my best shot at a sincere answer to your direct question, so here's a serious question for you smegmore: Are you comfortable with the thinly-disguised sentiments clearly evident in the margins of this thread?
Tidybeard said:
Why the surprise? I thought it was common knowledge that the Japanese are normally best at kowtowing?
oh, very apt! kowtow is not in any way offensive.
it is no more offensive than saying "Sony defer to the hackers".
The simple explanations are usually the best, and in this case it seems obvious that the 'offended' here assumed (without knowing really what it meant) that kowtow sounded a bit asian (like kowloon perhaps), and jumped to the conclusion it was therefore probably offensive. They'd already fired up the outrage bus and steamed into top gear before realising it wasn't actually offensive at all. Rather than pull over and say oopps, my bad, they continue to press on (whilst eventually admitted there is acctual no case for offense) in one of the internets most cringe inducing 'fails' I've seen unravel.
Spectacular!
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