Hollywood’s latest eco-propaganda film thinly disguised as entertainment is out. Ozi: Voice of the Forest is a cartoon film following the journey of a young orangutan who uses the power of online influencing to protect nature from destructive capitalists. This kind of thing would be bad enough coming from Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion or some other pious activism group. At least then its makers’ anti-growth worldview would be ideologically consistent. But this film did not come from a non-profit campaign group. It came from Hollywood. To be more specific, it is the product of a company called Appian Way, whose founder and owner is Leonardo DiCaprio.
The irony of infamous jet-setter DiCaprio using his vast wealth and cultural capital to produce films lecturing us paupers about the importance of saving the planet is galling. DiCaprio’s environmental credentials are limited to handful of green awards dished out at lavish galas for things like ‘raising awareness,’ as if we aren’t all already more than aware enough about the cultural elite’s views on climate change.
DiCaprio once flew 8,000 miles from the Cannes Film Festival to New York to collect an environmental award. Despite taking every opportunity to lecture anyone who will listen about how climate change is “the most urgent threat facing our entire species,” DiCaprio seems relaxed about his own carbon footprint. He has been known to buy diesel-guzzling mega-yachts as presents for his past girlfriends. No doubt, he needs his private jets and boats for his important work as a UN climate change ambassador.
Other big names behind Ozi: Voice of the Forest are no more credible in their claims of environmental virtue. Drag queen RuPaul, who voices a crocodile in the film, endured a PR storm in 2020 after casually revealing in a radio interview that he leases some of the 60,000 acres of land he owns to oil companies. Many of his fans were aghast to discover he appears to be fracking, a big no-no in liberal circles. Much like DiCaprio, RuPaul does not let his hypocritical lifestyle get in the way of his green virtue-signalling.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, DiCaprio and co manage to get their facts totally wrong in Ozi: Voice of the Forest’s environmental messaging. The film’s core message is that palm oil corporations are destroying rainforests. That’s not true. Palm oil, an ingredient used in food, shampoo and much more, is the most efficient product of its kind. It causes much less deforestation than alternative oils like soybean and rapeseed.
Ozi presents a warped narrative wherein palm oil companies have free rein to wipe out masses of forest land and do so gleefully. In reality, deforestation from palm oil is hitting record lows as market innovators discover new ways of making it sustainably. In Malaysia, one of the world’s top palm oil-producing nations (which appears to be Ozi’s setting, although it’s never mentioned) palm oil deforestation is down dramatically. Per Global Forest Watch, it has fallen 70% since its peak in 2014. These days, 93% of the palm oil imported into Europe is certified as sustainable.
If you’re going to make a virtue-signalling film, especially a cartoon one aimed at children, the least you could do is double-check your facts. Unfortunately, DiCaprio and the film’s backers (environmental pressure groups masquerading as charities) had already made their minds up on issues like palm oil, and are undeterred by inconvenient facts in their righteous fight. According to green dogma, either you agree with the liberal groupthink view or you’re complicit in butchering orangutans. Anyone calling for nuance or pointing out improvements thanks to free-market innovation is dismissed as a propagandist for capitalism.
Of course, in truth, it is the leftist environmentalists producing propaganda. Hollywood elites like DiCaprio use their positions as cultural agenda-setters to maximum effect. They have confused wealth and fame with the moral high ground. Sadly, they might be getting through. If polls are to be believed, today’s young people are green in all the wrong ways, embracing eco-socialism and the de-growth mindset.
Having said that, Ozi: Voice of the Forest is unlikely to have any lasting impact on popular discourse. It is not a popular film. Even the Guardian gave it two stars. Its box office figures are underwhelming, to say the least. At its peak, it brought in less than €300 per cinema, suggesting it is failing to charm young viewers. A glimmer of hope, perhaps – not that DiCaprio will notice. He might well be a few thousand feet above you right now, sipping champagne in a private jet. Don’t let him lecture you – or your kids – about the climate.
Jason Reed is a policy analyst and political commentator for a wide range of media outlets around the world. He tweets @JasonReed624