rating: ★★★★1/2

Pink Ribbons, Inc. emphasizes the realities behind corporate breast cancer awareness campaigns.

Directed by Léa Pool and produced by the National Film Board of Canada, the documentary explores breast cancer culture and what happens to all the funds raised from pink-ribbon products. It focuses specifically on the marketing schemes big corporations use on a public frightened by the realities of the disease and eager to be comforted and reassured that if victims fight hard enough they will beat the odds. At the same time, they irresponsibly imply that those who die of cancer do not try hard enough.

Comforting pink images don’t tell the whole truth about breast cancer.

What pink ribbon campaigns are doing, in essence, is airbrushing the pain and suffering of cancer victims and presenting the public with an alternative reality that acts to profit the companies rather than the victims.

The film argues that pink ribbons soften and feminize cancer. The pink degrades the women suffering by refusing to acknowledge how ugly and painful cancer is. Like moustaches in November, the ribbons are a trend. Though participants may feel better about supporting the cause, ultimately Pink Ribbons, Inc. argues that these methods have been relatively ineffective. Breast cancer campaigns are often used as a modem to give companies a publicity face-lift.

For example, the NFL received criticism for the high rate of criminal activity amongst its players. Realizing that a substantial percentage of their viewers are women, the professional football league began supporting the cause in hopes that it would rehabilitate the sport’s image. Pink Ribbons, Inc. also shows us how the cosmetics company Revlon uses substances linked to causing cancer — such as formaldehyde and petroleum — in their products, and how milk products with growth hormones can be found in Yoplait’s yogurts, also linked to potentially causing cancer.

With many people involved each year and billions of dollars being raised, Pink Ribbons, Inc. asks the viewer to consider why so little progress has been made in finding a cure. These campaigns show numbers in order to distract from lacklustre results. The audience is confronted with more questions than answers.

Why don’t we know the causes of breast cancer and environmental factors? Why do only five per cent of proceeds go towards funding research in prevention? Why are the most popular treatment methods of the “slash/burn/poison” variety used when the condition is not yet understood? If the cancer reaches stage four, the reality is that there is no known cure.

These are the stories of women who have been silenced because their voices are not attractive; they don’t fit within the comforting pink image. Corporations fear that the reality of how hopeless and angry cancer can be will alienate a prospective audience. They want cancer to seem attractive so that people will buy their products — products that sometimes only donate a marginal amount of proceeds and that sometimes include ingredients that are known to be linked to cancer.

In Pink Ribbons, Inc. the viewer is introduced to a support group of women suffering from stage-four breast cancer. It is a rare chance for their perspectives to be shown. These are woman who, after being surrounded by pink images of hope and comfort, are told that this is the end of the road for them. The women interviewed are smart, articulate, confused and angry because they feel the public is being misled and that breast cancer culture may be doing more harm than good.

The problem with the alternative-reality created by breast cancer culture is that the individuals involved are putting money into the hands of corporations to decide how it is divided. These campaigns may motivate otherwise complacent people to become active for a cause, but they are unaware of exactly what their efforts are achieving.

While people may believe they are taking measures into their own hands to reclaim bodies, find a cure and save lives by buying pink products, Pink Ribbons, Inc. argues that breast cancer awareness has become an industry fuelled by the fears of a public that feels powerless and frightened — and that the reassurance that pink ribbon campaigns give back is superficial at best.

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Photo: Supplied