Please contact us
with corrections
or breaking news
Overlooked & Underrated Docs & Features
(click on broll or dschwartz for all his posts)
Pink Ribbons, Inc.: The Commercialization of Breast Cancer
Shortly after the beginning of “Pink Ribbons, Inc." the following text appears: “In the 1940s, a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer was 1 in 22. In 2011 it is 1 in 8.”
Why?
Written and directed by prolific narrative filmmaker, Léa Pool, “Pink Ribbons, Inc.” is an indictment of the corporate-sponsored movement to ‘find a cure’ to breast cancer. The film points out the commercial exploitation of the ‘sisterhood of breast cancer’; questions what happens to the billions of donated dollars; the hypocrisy of those corporations who manufacture and market carcinogenic substances while also donating money AND their names to the movement. The film politely points out the noble motivations of the countless thousands of women who buy a seemingly infinite number of ‘pink’ products and who walk, run, climb, and skydive ‘for the cause’.
Based upon the book, “Pink Ribbons, Inc. Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy” by Samantha King – who appears speaking throughout the film – “Pink Ribbons, Inc.” is utterly incendiary and infuriating. It vividly, devastatingly paints a picture of misspent time, money, resources, and passions on an otherwise righteous goal. In addition to this tragic misallocation, the film’s researchers speak of the paucity of research on prevention and on environmental factors – the latter of the two being problematical for the corporations funding the ‘race for the cure’. They also question what appears to be a nearly total lack of coordination amongst the countless medical and clinical researchers which leads to unnecessary redundancy and major gaps in research.
Why have breast cancer rates nearly tripled since the 1940s? The question of rising cancer rates, of course, needs to be asked about all cancers.
(“Pink Ribbons, Inc.” was produced and completed before the Susan G. Komen / Planned Parenthood debacle.)