BGMEA chief Faruque Hassan has written to Netflix to complain to the streaming company about a film that it says contains “derogatory” comments about “Made in Bangladesh” clothing, bdnews24.com reports.
“The Last Mercenary”, a French film that stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, was released on Netflix on Jul 30, and includes a line of dialogue: “Yes, bulletproof tuxedo, Made in France. I’d be dead if it were Bangladesh.”
The president of the Bangladesh garment manufacturing association viewed it as derogatory.
It is tantamount to belittling the “hard work, dedication, quality and on time manufacturing commitment of the 4 million garment workers of Bangladesh who are delivering ‘Made in Bangladesh’ apparel to about 160 countries of the world”, Hassan said in a letter to Netflix CEO Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr.
Not only does this “undermine” the efforts of Bangladesh’s garment industry and its international recognition and appreciation, but it also “dishonours the emotions” of consumers of “Made in Bangladesh” apparel worldwide, he said.
“The apparel manufacturers and workers of Bangladesh put all their dedication and commitments to supply apparel for the top global brands; and they take a lot of pride in what they make. This hard work and pride should be respected by all.”
The BGMEA protested the inclusion of these lines of dialogue and called for them to be expunged from the film.
They also requested that the film be removed from the streaming platform until the dialogue or scene was edited out.