Over the span of April 11-12, an individual located in Singapore leaked the highly anticipated film Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender on many platforms for open viewing.
We and many other OH students saw this mass spread of the movie, and appropriately reacted. Those reactions ranged from Paramount Studios deserving it to the leaker needing to be punished.
“From what I heard about the retaliation, it was deserved,” said OH senior and award-winning art student Lynn Ramirez. “The theater release should never have been changed without telling the staff.”
OH’s art department is filled with inspiring artists and soon-to-be animators, so when the leak happened, there were two sides: the side that believed Paramount deserved it and the side that believed the artists should never have had their work put into the world without their input.
“Their art and animation should not have been posted without them wanting it,” said OH sophomore and art show participant Brian Davis. “I want to be an animator, and I don’t like that.”
For a little bit, the intentions and reasons for this act remained unknown until the individual revealed their motive. The Singapore native who remains anonymous committed this act to retaliate against Paramount Pictures for changing the scheduled theatrical release of Oct. 8 to a Paramount+ exclusive with no prior indication of such.
”I think that’s beyond serious and frustrating,” said OH senior William Wilkins Jones.
The suspect is facing potential legal repercussions, including a sentence of seven years in prison and a hefty fine of $50,000. The unauthorized release is considered under the charge of unauthorized access to computer material, and the leaker may also be facing business defamation, which could result in a higher fine and time in prison.
The leak affected the security of pre-release content in the entertainment sector and may affect the film’s official release performance. Therefore, Paramount is responding accordingly.
“This punishment is deserved,” OH student Ramirez said. “Hundreds of animators work on these projects, and they don’t get the credit they deserve in general, so for someone to leak their work for the world to see before the release is awful. This doesn’t excuse Paramount for what they did, though; they deserve repercussions.”
The topic of sticking it to the man and rebelling against big corporations has always been divided, while some do it in a passive way, others decide the most destructive way possible is what is needed; either way, there will always be casualties.
When it comes to art, specifically animation, this gets even more subjective, as for OH, though the art department is very divided.
Hello my name is Jydun Browder I am a senior at Oswego high school. This will be my first year on the 42fifty staff. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
Hi! My name is Anthony Martel, I am a Senior at Oswego High School and this is my first year being apart of the 42Fifty staff. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
