[Lancaster Online]

[Amish America]

"Our goal is to make Lancaster a center for the film industry," Ingram said.

Ouch.

Wonder how the Amish population would respond to that?

Twenty years ago, the Amish drew up an agreement in response to Witness, a point of which was that the state 'will not promote any script that uses the Amish and/or its culture as subject matter'.

Is this still valid? Does it even apply here? 'Promote' might be the tricky word in this--am I really promoting the Amish if everyone knows they are here already?

More at http://amishamerica.typepad.com/

[babblu429]

I'm confused by the Amish and their seemingly back and forth views concerning their stances on things. They don't like the attention brought to their way of life but they like the money that their way of life brings to them. They want to be "left alone" (as the link reads) or they threaten to move. Yet, on any given day they can be seen "peddling" their wares to the very tourists and people they want to leave them alone. They have their quilts and wood crafts for sale in MANY public (tourist attractions) places, which only tends to elevate the curiosity surrounding their lifestyle. Public places of sales don't seem to be enough for them as many quilts can also be seen hanging out on clothes lines at private farms, also for sale. When the tourists see those quilts, they stop, they buy and they become more "charmed" by the quaint lifestyle, thus adding fuel to the curiosity bug!! Now it would seem obvious to any reasonable person that they cannot have it both ways. They cannot be "left alone" and still keep relying on the tourist business to supply income into the family. Maybe it all comes down to what benefits them the most. Leave us alone if we don't get an income from it (movies, pictures, etc) but if we do get an income from it (product sales, services, etc) then don't leave us alone!! I guess it really is all about the money. Besides, is it feasible to believe that, if not given their own way, every Amish family will actually pick up and move!!! Yeah right!!!!!

[Amish America]

Some good points.

It probably depends on the family and church--some Amish make a good living from the tourist trade, others would probably rather not have anything to do with it (though these might mostly be the ones with nothing to sell them).

I regret that sounds a bit cynical and is probably not fair to say--I think the Amish have been put in a difficult position, and the Lancaster Amish especially, crammed in as they are between two large urban centers. Thus the explosion of Amish businesses and decrease of the farm. Many Amish worry about the changes and impact on their lifestyle because of it.

Tourism is a 'double-edged sword', and I am truly curious what Lancaster Amish would say about this, as it seems that there have been more than a few films done and more in the pipeline.

Maybe the ones that benefit financially from tourism don't mind, and the rest figure that with 8 million tourists hitting the county each year, another Amish film can't make that much of a difference.

Some will pick up and leave, and Lancaster Amish have done so fairly steadily since the 60's to set up settlements in PA and elsewhere. But everybody going?--yeah, no chance. Amish settlements do go extinct, but this one's way too big and way too established. Tourism industry would not like it too much if it happened though.