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 It's that Old World charm of the Amish that draws 8 million
tourists - and $1.9 billion - each year to Pennsylvania's Lancaster
County, home of the nation's largest Amish community of 31,000.
What the Amish don't do, supporters say, is tote rifles as part of a
violent protection racket - as depicted in the television show
"Amish Mafia" - or regularly defy their religion, like in "Breaking
Amish" and "Breaking Amish: Brave New World." And, Amish horror
stories are not the norm, despite the plot lines of the upcoming
"Amish Haunting."
“This is a false portrayal," said filmmaker Mary Haverstick, who is
leading a push to eject the shows, airing on the Discovery Channel
and related networks, from Lancaster County.
The movement is gathering support because of what some see as a
demeaning, inaccurate portrayal of the gentle, devout group.
Hotels and restaurants are urged to turn away film crews, Haverstick
said.
Last week, more than a dozen state officials, including Governor Tom
Corbett and Congressmen Joe Pitts and Patrick Meehan, issued a
statement citing "bigoted" and "negative, inaccurate and potentially
damaging portrayal of (the) Amish" and demanding an end to the
shows.
The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Convention and
Visitors Bureau, and a regional interfaith coalition of clergy
echoed those comments.
"I’ve lived here for 50 years and know many Amish folks," said
Haverstick. "They are exceptionally vulnerable to this type of
exploitation.”
But some wonder if the hard-edged reality TV approach is that
different from the soft exploitation of the Amish by the local
tourism industry. In both, the Amish are unpaid, costumed "extras."
Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau television ads
feature the Amish and seeing the religious sect is a top reason
tourists give for visiting, said bureau spokesman Joel Cliff.
Tourism dollars generate $363 million in tax revenue and support
24,000 jobs.
Most tourism is respectful of the Amish, who sell their quilts,
furniture, and produce, Cliff said.
“They’ve learned to live with and benefit from [tourism],” he said.
Haverstick says there is no comparison between the two approaches,
as one celebrates the Amish for who they are and the other depicts
them falsely.
“One [Amish] man called me and said they are portrayed like garbage
in the shows,” she said. “There was pain in his voice.”
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MOCKERY OF AMISH
There is no immediate evidence the reality shows have caused harm,
said Tom Baldrige, the Lancaster chamber president, but problems
could surface down the road.
“Long term,” Baldrige said, “it may hurt tourism. They make a
mockery of the Amish.” Heading into its fourth season, "Amish
Mafia" has drawn the fiercest criticism.
“There is no Amish Mafia,” Donald Kraybill, a professor at
Elizabethtown College and co-author of "The Amish," told WITF radio
in Harrisburg recently. “It is an utter fabrication.”
Discovery Channel spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg declined to comment.
The lead producer of all four shows, Eric Evangelista, whose Hot
Snake Media company creates content for the Discovery Channel, did
not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The area has drawn visitors for nearly 60 years, ever since the 1955
Broadway musical "Plain and Fancy," about a sophisticated New York
couple who inherit property in Amish Country. Americans soon found
it an easy day trip from much of the East Coast.
The 1985 thriller "Witness," starring Harrison Ford, was filmed
mostly in Lancaster County, and attracted a new crop of visitors
from Europe and Japan, Kraybill said.
“We still get people asking to see the Witness farm,” said Cliff.
Old and new businesses capitalizing on the Amish sometimes collide.
The Amish Experience in the village of Bird-in-Hand, expanded its
tours in 2013 to include "Amish Mafia" locations, said agency owner
Brad Igou. Almost immediately, Discovery Channel lawyers sent a
cease-and-desist letter, he said.
Tour guides still mention "Amish Mafia," Igou said, but only to
debunk what he calls the show’s many inaccuracies. Their script has
been approved by Amish religious elders, if not by the Discovery
Channel, he said.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Gunna Dickson)
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