More than 6-in-10 Americans believe that Sony Pictures’ decision to cancel the release of “The Interview” was an overreaction, according to a CNN/ORC poll released on Tuesday.
But the U.S. public does think that the incidents which led to that decision were acts of terrorism on the part of North Korea and nearly three-quarters of all Americans say that North Korea is a serious threat to the U.S.
That puts North Korea at the very top of the public’s threat list — only Iran comes close. And Kim Jong Un is the most unpopular world leader tested in the poll. Eighty-four percent of all Americans have an unfavorable view of Kim; only 1% say they have a positive view of him. That ranks Kim higher (or lower, depending on your point of view) than Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin, and the leaders of Iran, Syria and China.
Three-quarters of the public call for increased economic sanctions against North Korea. Roughly as many say that country is a very serious or moderately serious threat to the U.S.
Nonetheless, only 36% of those polled say that pulling the film from theaters was the right decision; 62% believe that Sony overreacted. Men are less likely to endorse that decision, but women approached that issue more cautiously and were closely divided.
The CNN/ORC poll is based on interviews with 1,011 American adults and was conducted December 18-21, 2014.
