-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- Subj: econews: Boycott "The Beach" (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) Date: 00-02-21 15:29:20 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kristin Anderson) Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kristin Anderson) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Please forward this on to your friends!) I urge all of you to boycott "The Beach", starring Leonardo DiCaprio and produced by 20th Century Fox, because filming the movie destroyed the habitat of a pristine beach (in a national park!) in Thailand. To get better shots, the moviemakers bulldozed the beach to make it wider and flatter. They also bulldozed and removed native vegetation, and planted non-native vegetation. Additionally, the extensive erosion caused by the bulldozing and native plant removal is expected to damage the ecosystem of the surrounding coral reefs and inundate them with loose sand. 20th Century Fox is being sued by environmental activists, but I expect any amount awarded will pale in comparison to the profits Fox will make from the movie. Tell 20th Century Fox that bulldozing national parks and destroying ecosystems will hurt them at the box office. Please boycott "The Beach." MORE INFORMATION: Below is an Associated Press article printed in The Register Guard on Feb. 10, 2000, page 11 A. FILM CREW ACCUSED OF RUINING THAI BEACH * Environment: Movie makers' efforts to improve the view were destructive, activists say. By Thaksina Khaikaew The Associated Press MAYA BAY, Thailand -- "The Beach," which opened in London on Wednesday starring Leonardo DiCaprio, tells the story of an amoral backpacker whose quest for the perfect tropcial beach leads him to a secret commune on a remote Thai island. But utopia isn't quite what it seems and paradise turns into bloody savagery. Likewise, the image of sunny, sandy perfection achieved in making the 20th Centruy Fox film has destroyed the once-pristine beach where it was shot, environmentalists say. Maya Bay, a strip of sand and vegetation backed by dramatic cliffs, is located on Phi Leh island, part of a national park about 350 miles south of Bangkok. Many of its islands have been blighted by developers who bribed corrupt officials to look the other way while bungalows and hotels sprang up in theoretically protected areas. Phi Leh and the beach at Maya Bay were largely spared, providing a setting worthy of Alex Garland's best-selling novel. But for filmmakers, led by director Danny Boyle and producer Andrew Macdonald, who earned fame with "Shallow Grave" and "Trainspotting," it wasn't quite perfect enough. After obtaining permits from the Forestry Department and paying a $110,000 damage depost, the filmmakers brought in bulldozers to widen and flatten the beach and strip away native grasses, scrub and other vegetation. They also removed a lot of garbage that had washed ashore. Seizing on the film's high profile, activists who had for years unsuccessfully campaigned against the environmental damage to Thailand's parks joined with local residents in a series of demonstrations. They suceeded in getting the number of coconut trees--a nonindigenous species--planted by the filmmakers reduced from about 100 to 60, but they lost court challenges to impose a restraining order on filming. The filmmakers pledged to restore the beach to its original state and set stakes in the sand to prevent erosion. But by the time the monsoon season ended in November, it became clear the stakes didn't work nearly as well as native vegetation. More sand than anyone could remember was washed away by the annual storms. Nevertheless, Thai tourism officials, eager to cash in on publicity from the film, have offered travel agents free trips to Thailand for so-called "DiCaprio Tours"--further angering activists, who have brought a $2.6 million lawsuit against Fox, the Forestry Department and the Agriculture Ministry for damage to Maya Bay. "Their campaign is about greed, not reality," said Prasertpongse Sornuwat, a local council member. "There is no beautiful beach anymore. They just want to cash in on the movie, with no concern about the environmental impact." Some tourists agree. "The beach looks awful," said Alastair Short, 40, a tourist from Worcester, England, visiting the island with friends. "We decided to come by and see with our own eyes what had happened. It's just a shame." "I've gotten close to 30 signatures a day from tourists who promise they won't patronzie the movie, because it was made by damaging the environment of the island," Prasertpongse said. Still, Thai theater owners say they are not worried and have plastered cinemas with posters of DiCaprio emerging from the sea. The film will be released in Thailand next month. It opens Friday in U.S. theaters. A lawyer for 20th Century Fox defended the filmmakers, saying they took every precaution and the erosion was caused by unusually severe storms, not the filmmakers' actions. "We only need to give the beach time to recover on its own," said the lawyer, Dusit Walee. "I'm confident the claim about the erosion is groundless." The damage to Maya Bay may not be finished yet. Ecologists fear that the loosened sand could damage fragile coral reefs on the beachfront. That could threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of boatmen who bring sunbathers ot Maya Bay. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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