Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19971022091701.007c79e0@hella.stm.it>
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 09:17:01 +0200
From: Fei Hong Subject: TINSELTOWN MEETS TIBETTINSELTOWN MEETS TIBET
THE CORNERS of one's mouth are likely to turn down, and one's lips to pucker into a grimace, when the glitterati of Tinseltown rally to a cause. Over the past few years, that cause has been Aids. Over the next few years, it is likely to be Tibet. No fewer than three films about that country, and its occupation by China, are shortly to hit the cinemas. All look to paint the Chinese as villains, and proclaim the Dalai Lama, a hero. Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Goldie Hawn and a large cast are backing the Dalai Lama's call for a free Tibet.
All that this fledgling movement now lacks, some would argue, is the presence of Elizabeth Taylor. So it is important to place this cynicism about the enthusiams of Hollywood, and the distortions that can arise when campaigning films address the world of politics, in its proper context. And that context is a simple one in this instance.
China's rule in Tibet is, and has been since it invaded and conquered that country in 1950, and act of cultural rape. More than a fifth of the native population of Tibet is believed to have perished. Much of the country has been occupied by Chinese settlers. Its ancient temples and monasteries have been sacked. Tibetan women have been sterilised;
others have had babies forcibly aborted. Attempts have been made to wipe out the Tibetan language itself. So for once, the simplifications of film-making are in order. This time, the superluvvies have got it right."
Source: (UK) The Daily Telegraph, October 21, 1997 No. 44,273
