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Hollywood and the Dalai Lama become allies
August 8, 1996
Web posted at: 9:00 a.m. EDTFrom correspondent Ron Tank
HOLLYWOOD, California (CNN) -- The contrast was striking. Hollywood glitz and glamour alongside a robed monk.
But there the Dalai Lama was, hobnobbing with showbiz celebrities who were honoring the exiled Tibetan leader with a Beverly Hills fund-raiser.
"You know I met him, his holiness, in '81 or '82 in Daramsala, India, and as we become closer friends and had an easier dialogue, he said, 'We really need the help from you Westerners,' and they obviously did," said actor Richard Gere.
The Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in neighboring India since 1959, was the political leader of Tibet before China occupied the country in 1951. China claims its invasion liberated Tibet from religious rule and the region is better off under Chinese control.
But the Dalai Lama's continuing efforts to non-violently regain Tibet's independence won him the Nobel Peace prize in 1989 -- along with the attention of the entertainment industry.
A 1993 film by Bernardo Bertolucci, "Little Buddha," was about reincarnation but it focused attention on the plight of Tibet.
Celebrities from the music industry have also taken an interest in the Dalai Lama's cause.
Adam Youch of the Beastie Boys musical band founded a charity that last June organized the Tibetan freedom concert in San Francisco, raising $800,000.
"I started to realize that it's my responsibility as much as anyone else to make a change in what's happening there," said Youch.
Last week, the Dalai Lama thanked concert participants in a private meeting in Pasadena, California.
"The movement in this direction is not for Tibetans, but I think for the entire humanity," he said.
But Hollywood's ability to educate moviegoers about the Dalai Lama's cause may be even more important than the money celebrities have raised. The film industry plans several films about him and his efforts to regain Tibet's independence.
"I think there's something abut this story that has to be told now. More people are supposed to hear it so it is entering the media consciousness," said Gere.
Currently three films are being produced on Tibet. Actor Steven Seagal is making a movie about the Dalai Lama and the Chinese takeover.
"I've been doing alot of research and I think his holiness will be happy with the movie," said Seagal.
Director Martin Scorcese and Melissa Mathison, Harrison Ford's wife, are finishing a movie about the young Dalai Lama and Brad Pitt will star in the story of the Dalai Lama's boyhood tutor.
"Maybe Hollywood is becoming more spiritual, maybe it's like the American Indians, you know, when the Americans realized what they'd done to the American Indians," said Seagal.
Now, as Tibet's 61-year old leader criss-crosses the globe quietly urging China to leave, he has some important allies in Hollywood to help spread his message.
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