14 DAY TRIAL // Leonardo DiCaprio is a huge supporter of green causes and has invested a great deal of time and money in various conservation projects, so it is a tad odd that an animal rights group has something to hold against him.
Still, it turns out that US-based Friends of Animals does have a bone to pick with both the actor and movie director Martin Scorsese.
According to The Guardian, the organization is not in the least happy about the fact that Martin Scorsese's latest movie, i.e. “The Wolf of Wall Street,” includes scenes featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and a chimpanzee that plays his pet.
The animal rights activists claim that the primate, whose name is Chance, must have suffered tremendous psychological damage after it was forced to put on a pair of roller skates and cruise through an office.
What's more, Friends of Animals maintains that the psychological damage the chimpanzee suffered as a result of its acting experience is no doubt permanent.
Thus, the organization is worried that the primate has lost its ability to interact with others of its kind.
“When The Wolf of Wall Street premieres in NYC on Dec. 17, there is sure to buzz about whether or not Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays real life law-breaking stockbroker Jordan Belfort, will get an Oscar nod,” the organization writes on its website.
“But what likely won’t be talked about is one of DiCaprio’s co-stars, a chimpanzee named Chance who portrays his character’s pet, and the long-term damage that is done to primates exploited in entertainment,” it adds.
Friends of Animals argues that, first off, Leonardo DiCaprio should have known better than to accept to share the movie set with an animal that was surely traumatized, and not ready and willing to perform tricks in order to entertain people.
Besides, it says that director Martin Scorsese has more than enough experience in this field to know that, courtesy of state-of-the-art computer graphics technology, it is no longer necessary to exploit animals to get the perfect scene.
“DiCaprio, who runs a conservation foundation and is known for his passion for saving wildlife, and director Martin Scorsese should know better than to feature a chimpanzee dressed in a suit roller-skating through an office in their movie. With current computer graphics technology, animals no longer need to be exploited in film,” Friends of Animals argues.
The organization plans to confront both Leonardo DiCaprio and Marting Scorsese at the movie's premiere in New York this December 17, and demand that they explain why they have chosen to abuse a chimpanzee when clearly they had other options.
The activists also ask that folks who keep animals close at heart join them and boycott the movie.