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Sony Issues Sharp Statement Defending ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Torture Scenes: ‘To Not Include…Would Have Been Irresponsible and Inaccurate’

Jan. 12, 2013 1:39pm
Sony Defends Zero Dark Thirty Torture Scenes

This undated publicity film image shows elite Navy SEALs raiding Osama Bin Laden’s compound in the dark night in the gripping new thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty.” (AP)

Sony Pictures Entertainment issued a blunt statement on Friday defending the Osama bin Laden film “Zero Dark Thirty” from an Academy Award voter who accused the movie of promoting torture.

David Clennon, an Emmy Award-winning actor and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, announced in an op-ed for the leftist website Truthout that he would not be voting for “Zero Dark Thirty” in any Oscar categories because of its torture scenes.

“At the risk of being expelled for disclosing my intentions, I will not be voting for ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ – in any Academy Awards category,” Clennon wrote. “Torture is an appalling crime under any circumstances. ‘Zero’ never acknowledges that torture is immoral and criminal. It does portray torture as getting results.”

Sony Defends Zero Dark Thirty Torture Scenes

This undated publicity film image shows Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty.” (AP)

But Sony executive Amy Pascal pushed back against Clennon’s assertions, stating bluntly: “Zero Dark Thirty does not advocate torture. To not include that part of history would have been irresponsible and inaccurate.”

Pascal said the the studio is “outraged that any responsible member of the Academy would use their voting status in AMPAS as a platform to advance their own political agenda.”

“This film should be judged free of partisanship. To punish an Artist’s right of expression is abhorrent. This community, more than any other, should know how reprehensible that is,” she said.

Sony Defends Zero Dark Thirty Torture Scenes

“Zero Dark Thirty” filmmakers Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow and actor Chris Pratt pose for photos during the film’s premiere at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 8, 2013.

The Kathryn Bigelow-directed film, which received five Academy Award nominations, has been dogged by criticism nearly from its inception amid reports that Obama administration officials leaked or provided classified information to filmmakers.

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Comments (52)

1 2
  • scottfreedom
    Posted on January 13, 2013 at 6:54pm

    So i saw zer0 dark 30 last night and let me say thank you president george w bush for getting bin ladan. I wonder if hollywood even realized truth controlled them and they delivered a very pro bush movie…

    Report this comment

    scottfreedom  
  • flagbearer
    Posted on January 13, 2013 at 10:00am

    I much prefer the old-fashioned movies that relied upon viewers’ skills of inferencing and drawing conclusions. Hollywood is one of our main threats in America and the West. It has helped the movement that has caused a degeneration of our society. The best way to fight this problem is to stop buying/watching what they produce. We the people are the ones in control of that.

    Report this comment

    flagbearer  
    • Bluebonnet
      Posted on January 13, 2013 at 11:37am

      I stopped watching/buying this stuff long ago when it wasn’t considered a statement. Don’t like it, won’t watch it at movies or on TV. Probably why I watch Pawn Stars most of the time. It’s fun and clean.

      Report this comment

      Bluebonnet  
  • SamIamTwo
    Posted on January 13, 2013 at 8:45am

    If true then OBAMA is in deep kimchi. LOL

    Report this comment

    SamIamTwo  
  • jfreak13713
    Posted on January 13, 2013 at 8:09am

    If its to be a historical movie then show historical facts whether they are good or bad. Otherwise just make a movie based on what you think should have happened and then you can go on rewriting history to fit your liberal agenda. By the way, many of HOLLYWOODS movies are filled with violence including rape, torture, and murder but that is ok as long as the actors in the movies are making their millions and they can then write it off as JUST A MOVIE. But when a movie about a historical figure presents historical facts and those facts are disturbing then all of a sudden there is a problem. Why we continue to give these idiots our money is beyond me.

    Report this comment

    jfreak13713  
    • TonyRUS
      Posted on January 13, 2013 at 12:12pm

      Couldn’t have said it better myself–a great compliment to you. So according to Clennon, all we needed was for Jessica Chastian’s character to say “Hey, this is an appalling crime…..immoral and criminal. Now back to getting results from these flithy, child murdering rag heads” and SONY would have been okay.

      Report this comment

      TonyRUS  
  • betterpart
    Posted on January 13, 2013 at 4:35am

    Those Hollywood lowlies aren’t bright enough to issue any statements regarding any matter.

    Report this comment

    betterpart  
  • waspanglosaxon
    Posted on January 13, 2013 at 1:15am

    Any film purporting to show the supposed ‘killing’ of Osama bin Laden should get an Oscar for Best ‘Fiction’ Film of the year. Anyone who believes that bin Laden was slain by ZOG’s navy seals probably also believes in the tooth fairy.

    Report this comment

    waspanglosaxon  
  • Wolf
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:51pm

    I spoke my mind and you Blaze PC police decided I am irrelevant because I say what I think. Do you First Amendment deniers know what KMA means?

    Do it.

    Report this comment

    Wolf  
    • waspanglosaxon
      Posted on January 13, 2013 at 1:13am

      Right on! It’s also very difficult to know whether one is “signed in” or not. Many times I’ve written comments and tried to post, only to get a “Sorry – you must be signed in to post” message – this is AFTER I’ve formally signed in!

      Report this comment

      waspanglosaxon  
  • Spitfire1938
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 7:26pm

    I’M no military expert, but I just read a blog by a Special OPPs Officer of significant experience who states that the Films TITLE is not “pronounced” “ZERO DARK THIRTY”! In The REAL world It’s pronounced “O (pronounced{ Oh }) Dark Thirty”!

    SHOOT, they couldn’t even get the TITLE of their filthy propaganda crapola and PIG COMMUNIST History re-write correct!!!!!

    Report this comment

    Spitfire1938  
  • Tom70
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 6:30pm

    who cares anyway this is just another praise Obama propaganda theater as usual. I do not want to take anything away from the brave men who carried this mission off but to glorify Obama,s part in it sickening. The man is a fraud and a lier. His regime only capitalizes on what they can get away with.

    Report this comment

    Tom70  
  • BlasberryStrat
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 4:12pm

    Hollywood walks on glass because the Government owns them. Oh, it’s “heroic” to show the Seal Team getting the ‘bad guys’. “But for God sakes we cannot show what “real war” is all about”.

    Hey Hollywood, if you’re going to make billions about shows of the “truth”, then show how our convoy drivers ARE ORDERED to RUN OVER the babies being placed in front of their vehicle – and keep moving. We (somewhere in NE) have at least one (that I know because I’ve seen him) ‘scrambled’ kid because he was ordered to do just that. He said he can’t count how many babies “he” crushed, because if “he” stopped the convoy, the Taliban would rush the vehicles and kill every U.S. soldier they could. Notice how he states “HE” – not “the convoy” or “the Army”.

    Brava Hollywood. Only show the “sugar” side of ANYTHING. “Americans simply cannot handle the truth of what REALLY goes on in war”. Boy, they CAN’T whisper “waterboarding”, but it’s 100% “OK” to have show after show of “teen mothers”, “baby daddy”, “16 and pregnant”. Brava Hollywood. Oh…and to add, it’s “OK” for NICK to grind up children – make them ‘super teen stars’ – only to toss their herion addict butts in the street the second they turn eighteen.

    But let’s not portray “war torture”…that’s just as bad as condoning the Tea Party….
    Wonder what McCain feels like when Hollywood “chooses” to leave torture out of their “true event” movies, “because America just can’t dea

    Report this comment

     
  • ExLawman
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 3:41pm

    I’ve had it with Hollywood. I canceled Comcrap because of their purchase of MSNBS and their continued salary payments to Chris Mathesws. One way that We the People can hurt the liberal elite is to stop gong to the theaters, stop renting their DVDs and stop subscribing to HBO, etc.

    Kiss my @zz Maher!

    History always repeated itself. I’m just glad that the sheeple who are liberals have pretty much disarmed themselves. Good luck with that!

    Ask, instead of hiring a plumber who is in a Union, hire a non-union handyman! Their cheaper, more polite and you’ll be helping a small business out. Let’s take OUR Country back every way we can.

    Report this comment

    ExLawman  
  • barber2
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 3:36pm

    This movie just reminds me of the Complete Pass the Obama Administration got for leaking ” heroic ” information about Obama to their propaganda arm, the New York Times. Remember all of the hullabaloo about the Valerie Plame / Bush Administration ? Notice how all of this Bin Ladin leaked info to the NYT was completely ignored by the Lefty Lap Dog Media ? Such blatant and irresponsible behavior by the media. But, then, we’ve known the media has been pushing the Left’s ideology for years. And I think that the radical Democrats will target conservative media after their War on Gun Ownership. Big Brother, totalitarian governments, hate religion, guns, and the free speech of their political opponents.

    Report this comment

    barber2  
  • Ohio Guy
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 3:25pm

    I watched this movie last night. I don’t see what all the buzz is about. I was interested to note that the movie did not seem to take a stand or preach at all about EI methods. But it did drag on and on during the intel gathering portion of the film. It felt like the Director took 10 years to kill Bin Laden as well!

    Report this comment

    Ohio Guy  
  • Uechi
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 3:07pm

    I trust Hollywood to portray the truth as much as I trust the Messiah and his Whitehouse thugs to give me real factual information. It isn’t going to happen. While we’re at it let’s not forget the Lame Stream Media.

    Report this comment

    Uechi  
  • Ghostzapper
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:46pm

    It is hilarious to read people bashing a movie they have not see simply because it is “Hollywood”. LOL I saw ZDT last night and the movie is amazing. If anything the movie makes Obama seem like a twerp. In obe scene they show Obama on a tv being interviewed as he is talking about how his administration will not torture. A female character turns her head from the tv with a look of disdain for Obama.

    What else is hilarious is to read people bashing The Blaze story for using the word “torture”. Again..LOL The story is about the usage of the word “torture” you geniuses. The article did not validate or criticize the use of the word “torture” because the article is not about “torture”. It is about the Sony response to what the idiotic Academy Award voter described in his op ed as “torture”.

    Please people. If need be. Read slower as to not make yourselves look ignorant. I will assume the people who did not see the movie for which they are criticizing likely did not read the article for which they are criticizing.

    Report this comment

    Ghostzapper  
    • WildschweinJager
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 3:24pm

      #1 over used word today by lay people is: “amazing”.

      Report this comment

      WildschweinJager  
    • MisterSarcastic
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 5:48pm

      Your knowledge is amazing, wild.

      Report this comment

      MisterSarcastic  
    • southernloyalty
      Posted on January 13, 2013 at 8:17am

      Actually your right. If anything they make the Obama administration look like a bunch of fools when the mock them when it comes to detainees lawyering up. Movie wasn’t bad and didn’t seem to be political at all.

      Report this comment

      southernloyalty  
  • WildschweinJager
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:41pm

    Trusting Hollywood is like trusting Bill Maher. Who is stupid enough to do that? Save your Radom Access Memory and “don’t see it”. Don’t feed the enemy of freedom (Hollywood).

    Report this comment

    WildschweinJager  
  • stopprintn
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:41pm

    The leftist loons, only believe in torture when the victom is an average Joe american.

    Report this comment

    stopprintn  
    • barber2
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 3:28pm

      STOP: especially a white conservative or a black conservative ….or, as the Far Left Democrats call and target them, a Tea-******…

      Report this comment

      barber2  
  • WildschweinJager
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:37pm

    This is a non story. Hollywood lies all the time and everytime. They have no street cred. They know it.

    Report this comment

    WildschweinJager  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:28pm

    Considering that enemy combatants are turned over to “our friends” in the mid east for questioning instead of doing it ourselves, most camel jockeys would actually prefer we still did it.

    Report this comment

    Gonzo  
  • welovetheUSA
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:16pm

    I would not go see any movie with that title……besides its a hollywood movie…and we all know what that means……

    Report this comment

    welovetheUSA  
  • truthnstuff
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:10pm

    Really? Like the movie is responsible and accurate. Another propaganda piece for the fuehrer.

    Report this comment

    truthnstuff  
  • GoodStuff
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 1:54pm

    Why does Blaze call them “torture scenes”? Pouring water over someone’s head is not torture.

    I thought the Blaze was supposed to be different from the MSM? I thought the Blaze wasn’t going to play leftist word-games?

    Sadly, the Blaze is now part of the problem, because they are now part of the MSM.

    Guess, I’ll go back to Breitbart.

    Report this comment

    GoodStuff  
    • truthnstuff
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:06pm

      Well, it looks like The Blaze is not what Beck says he is trying to build! I also thought we were getting truth in reporting, no sensationalism, Journalistic integrity.

      Instead, headlines and spin used in the same manner as MSM to try and pander to the LOOK LOOK crowd. I am starting to smell hypocrisy.

      Report this comment

      truthnstuff  
    • spfoam1
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:16pm

      I don’t see where The Blaze called anything torture. The story quotes others who used the word torture. Don’t let the door hit you in the arse on the way out.

      Report this comment

      spfoam1  
    • myrwo6
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:45pm

      Why do you think water boarding isn’t torture? If you were being water boarded for any length of time, do you think you’d take it well? Your description of water boarding is a little too simplified also.

      Report this comment

      myrwo6  
    • WildschweinJager
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:49pm

      Go back abd don’t come back. But you will because you are really a troll. Otherwise you would not b-1-t-c-h and moan about the Blaze. Only trolls complain about the Blaze in that way.

      Report this comment

      WildschweinJager  
    • Ghostzapper
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:59pm

      Dude. The Blaze refers to them as “torture scenes” because that is the context for which Clennon based his opposition to the film.

      Seriously. Some people have to find anything to complain about.

      Report this comment

      Ghostzapper  
    • civilwarcometh
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 3:36pm

      Remember the Glenn that was on FOX? Where can i find that guy he was great…..

      Report this comment

      civilwarcometh  
    • barber2
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 3:38pm

      Both of them are full of ” stuff.” More of that radical Divide the Conservatives / Trash Beck “stuff.”

      Report this comment

      barber2  
    • American Soldier (Separated)
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 4:15pm

      Pouring water over some ones head? Are there baptism scenes in this movie? Volunteer for an hour of water boarding with no safety word or stop devices. I bet you won’t consider it just pouring water over head after just ONE session for just ONE hour.

      Ya know, even if you could take that, you know they are going to stop. You know how long it’ll last and that they won’t really hurt you or push the water boarding too far. Those under the tactic in the real world doesn’t get that benefit. Imagine feeling like your drowning for endless hours? When will it stop? When you die for real? It’s easy to make light of water boarding when it’s being done to someone thousands of miles away.

      Report this comment

      American Soldier (Separated)  
  • The-Monk
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 1:51pm

    For those having an issue being partially logged out after posting a comment;

    Hit the “back button” in your browser after posting a comment and refresh the page (F5) or change the “newest to oldest” selection.

    You’ll remain on the same story and will be fully logged back on. Hope this helps.

    Report this comment

    The-Monk  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 1:54pm

      You can also change to page 2 and back to page 1 to refresh also.

      Report this comment

      The-Monk  
  • chips1
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 1:49pm

    The war in the ME is the same as the war in Nam. The only purpose of our troops is to protect each other. There are no goals or end result. When saving the lives of your brothers, anything goes to obtain information about the enemies plans. We should not be there and our troops need to come home, NOW!!!!

    Report this comment

    chips1  
  • ares338
    Posted on January 12, 2013 at 1:49pm

    And we know that none of Hollywood’s films are ever violence oriented.

    Report this comment

    ares338  
    • HotFixIt
      Posted on January 12, 2013 at 2:21pm

      Bingo! This holier than thou attitude is insane. When he denounces the violence in all the hollywood movies… I might pay attention.

      Report this comment

      HotFixIt  
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