Director: Léa Pool
Screenplay: Léa Pool, Patricia Kearns, Nancy Guerin
Producer: Ravida Din
MPAA Rating: G
Running time: 97 min.
(4.5/5)As the closing credits rolled on Léa Pool’s excellent documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc., I was boiling with anger. I wasn’t angry with the corporations which use an ugly, deadly illness to grow their bottom line. I wasn’t even angry at the organizations that make it their directive to dispense millions of dollars for cancer research that has yet to yield any major breakthroughs. I was angry at myself that this “pinkwashing” (using cancer to sell goods and services) has been happening right in front of me, that I’ve seen it and even contributed to it and never considered the bigger questions. I blindly bought into the capitalist marketing machine that stands behind cancer research and never thought to make a stink about it because I, in some capacity, thought it great that companies were stepping up to the plate and helping the community at large by investing money and effort to try and save lives.
What a joke.
Based on Samantha King’s book which various sources note as being very academic in its approach to breast cancer philanthropy, Pool’s film takes a much more human and easily accessible approach to the subject. Questions on everything from where the money comes from to where it goes are addressed and Pool doesn’t shy away from the difficult questions. In some cases, we just don’t know the answers and it’s infuriating. How a disease that has been in the public eye since the 1940s with the Women’s Field Army for Cancer Control and for which various organizations have raised billions of dollars, still doesn’t have a cure… it’s staggering. There’s a good reason for this of course: money. It all comes down to money.
While major organizations like the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation are out there organizing walks and raising money for breast cancer research and the eventual eradication of the disease, most of the funding doesn’t go to research on prevention but rather to treatment. Not to say that finding better treatments isn’t important but doesn’t it make more sense to look for prevention methods so that women don’t become sick to begin with? The problem is that much of the funding raised by Komen and other foundations like it, comes from big business and sometimes those same businesses are responsible for women getting sick to begin with.
Alongside the non-profits raising funds for a cure are the billion dollar pharmaceutical companies and their studies into treatments and medications to help suffering women. Co-founders of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month AstraZeneca, one of the big pharmaceutical firms, seems keen on keeping women happy and healthy but by the same token, they manufacture pesticides that have been directly linked to cancer. They’re not alone: food chains, car manufacturers, cosmetics companies – they make millions of dollars a year by pinkwashing when often, the items they sell are direct contributors to illness or contain harmful ingredients.
What’s most apparent, and disheartening, about Pink Ribbons, Inc. is not simply what is says about the search for a breast cancer cure but what it means for anyone, man or woman, suffering from any illness. Medical research has, in many cases, turned into a capitalist game where money is of utmost importance. Sure, there are individuals within big companies that truly believe in raising money for a cure to (fill in the blank) but their bosses, presidents and board members are only interested in fattening their wallets and a cure for breast cancer, or any other illness for that matter, simply isn’t profitable. They’re not in it to find a cure but, as Ellen Leopold so bluntly puts it, to medicate it.
Pink Ribbons, Inc. isn’t all encompassing but it touches on many of the important issues surrounding breast cancer research and the ongoing gong-show that is the search for a cure. This battle has been raging for over sixty years and at this rate, it will be another sixty before we have any clear answers. Someone needs to step up to the plate and put an end to the current state of affairs because throwing money at the problem isn’t producing any answers. In the meantime, see this documentary, share it with the people you love and the next time you encounter a pink product, consider the bigger picture before shelling our your hard earned money. You’re likely better off writing a cheque to the charity of your choice.
Click “play” to see the trailer:
Links:
IMDb profile
Official Site
Flixster Profile for Pink Ribbons, Inc.
You’ve got me sold. This sounds absolutely fascinating. And like you, I’ve never even thought of the implications that happen beyond the surface.
I saw a Twitter comment this morning bashing breast cancer reasearch or something. I overlooked it as quackery as I scratched my head. But now I’m wondering if it was related to this doc?
Might be. There has been a lot of discussion from various forums over the last few weeks as the film’s release approaches.
to get the word out, the best you can do is to see the film – it’s an NFB release across the country and needs as many ticket buyers as possible to give it a longer theatre life
@andrewjames, the talk on Twitter is regarding Susan G. Komen Foundation pulling their grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening due to political pressure from right wing pro-life groups. SGKF also pulled funding for stem cell research last year but also claimed apolitical reasons.
Very interested to see this, those of us in research circles have been talking about the legitimacy of these sorts of popular warm n fuzzy fundraising orgs for a while now, and wondering what their net impact really is. Looking forward to seeing this doc!
Heh. Was just reading a CNN article about this earlier this evening. “Political pressure from right wing pro-life groups” is a little bit misleading. That may ultimately be the case and they’re just trying to cover their tracks, but that foundation has always made a point of not funding groups that are under government investigation. Planned Parenthood is currently under investigation for performing abortive procedures with gov’t money.
I don’t claim for one second to be an expert on this issue. I’m just pointing out one particular aspect of the issue that I’ve read that the comment above skewed just a tad.
Well, if you read a bit deeper into the issue:
- Less than a year ago the very right-wing, anti-abortion, anti-Planned Parenthood, former candidate for Georgia governor Karen Handel became the public policy VP.
- The policy about not funding organizations under government investigation began after Handel became the advisor AND after the investigation of Planned Parenthood began.
- That investigation was launched by a very right-wing, anti-abortion, anti-Planned Parenthood group in Florida.
- No other organizations were affected by this new policy.
Granted, I don’t know the full story and the president of Komen denies there was any political pressure.
The good side? More people are aware of this service by Planned Parenthood now and in these few short days they’ve already raised as much money as Komen donated to them all of last year.
Komen is now apologizing for cutting off PP and is revisiting their policy. Article here.
I’ve often wondered – what would happen if “they” did find a cure for cancer or AIDS or Alzheimers (which my dad has) or dementia? How would it affect the economy? How many caregivers and institutions and care facilities and hospitals and universities would be affected negatively? My guess is that it could be devastating.
Then that makes you wonder. Would the corporations that make billions in the treatments of these diseases want there to be a cure? Would the cancer surgeon who makes millions of dollars per year want there to be a cure? How about the crusader that spends his/her whole life raising money and awareness about the disease? What would their purpose be if the disease was cured?
These are just questions I ask myself sometime.
Chris Rock has a segment in one of his stand-ups where he talks about drug companies. He says that they don’t want the cure, they just want to develop the treatment that you have to come back for.
I’ve heard these sort of conspiracy theories before and they do hold some water I think. Does Tums want to “cure” you of your indegestion? Hell no, they want you to feel some relief and then come back and buy more.
It’s saddening that there may be individuals, factions, companies out there that are of that mentality on a life/death scale.
This film was made a last-minute addition to the Bell Lightbox line-up for the weekend, so I might try squeezing it in.