Netflix is courting controversy in Canada not for the usual reasons of hurting public sentiments. The streaming platform’s fantasy epic Bigfoot Family has been targeted by a Government-funded lobbying group of peddling lies about the oil and gas industry.
Featuring a human family whose father is Bigfoot is centered on the nefarious scheme of an energy company to detonate a bomb in Alaska’s pristine valley in order to flood with crude oil.
The Centre’s criticism of Bigfoot Family deals with a plot to blow up a valley in Alaska to release its oil. An article in The Guardian, states that according to a statement emailed to media outlets, Tom Olsen, the Canadian Energy Centre’s head says: “It villainizes energy workers and disparages the industry’s record on and commitment to environmental protection.”
Many were quick to point out that the reel story was not very different from the real one. In 1950s, the Alberta Government had approved a project to detonate a nine-kiloton nuclear device near the town of Fort McMurray to release releasing oil from subterranean bitumen. The plan rebranded “Project Oilsand”, was cancelled in 1962 when the federal government joined a ban on nuclear testing.
Though set in US, the film is being opposed by the Canadian Energy Centre, which is funded by Alberta province as it alleges that the movie “brainwashes” children with “anti-oil and gas propaganda”.
According the article, the Centre has said: “Our children are the key to the future – but they can’t succeed if they’re filled with misinformation.” It also mentions that the Centre claimed that more than 1,000 people have already emailed Netflix over the film.
Alberta background
Alberta’s “energy war room”, created in 2019 by the in power United Conservatives party, is working to combat negative portrayals of the province’s energy sector which has come under scrutiny for high emissions and environmental degradation.
The Centre also took up the issue of how scribes report on the energy industry of the province. Recently, it has been investigating into charges that “foreign-funded special interests” have been spurring the criticism.
