| We began this journey with two simple questions. Who was Chico Mendes and why did a big budget Hollywood movie about him go belly up after such a huge investment? By this point, we realized Chico was not an ecologist in the first world sense of the word. He was a political activist whose roots were dominated by land reform and worker rights - not forest preservation. If anyone doubts this point, they only need to read the letter he wrote which is memorialized on his grave. It reads: "
"Attention Youth of the Future. The 6th of September 2120 is the 100th anniversary of the world socialist revolution that will unify everyone on the planet in a socialist unity that will put an end to the enemies of the new society. Sorry... I was dreaming when I wrote those words that I will never live to see. But atleast I had the pleasure of dreaming them" (Chico Mnedes). The fact that Chico's image was re-engineered to make him look more like an ecologist by Steve Schwartzman at the Environmental Defense Fund is well documented. We understand why this was done, but was it correct? Sometimes in our rush to do good we make mistakes. By manipulating the press, Mr. Schwartzman and company unleashed a media frenzy that attracted the powers of Hollywood to make a movie about an ecological hero. It was only after spending millions of dollars did they finally discover Chico Mendes wasn't the kind of Hero they wanted to make a movie about. Ironically, the producers behind the movie took the project to HBO where it got made as a cable TV movie. In this version, the ecological image of Chico Mendes was played down in favor of a story about a Union Leader. But the movie was blasted in Brazil for still failing to include the real political ideas of Chico Mendes. As one critique put it, "I felt like I was participating in a new murder." Be sure to look at our SPECIAL DOCUMENTS section for interesting letters and memos related to the Chico Movie . We will soon re-design this webiste so that viewers can post comments. In the meantime, please send comments & corrections to us chico@smilingzebra.com |
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