From NFL players in pink sneakers to the nonstop parade of Walk/Run for the Cure events, we’re up to our eyeballs in breast-cancer awareness. But to what end? In this thought-provoking critique of philanthropic marketing, documentarian Léa Pool ponders how much the pinkening of America has actually done to help eradicate the disease.
Not nearly as much, she suggests, as it has to line the pockets of “charitable” corporations — including ones that sell carcinogenic products — and pharmaceutical manufacturers. It’s also fostered a “tyranny of cheerfulness”; one Stage 4 support group discusses the rise of “survivor” culture, which effectively brands those who die as failures.
“Pink Ribbons, Inc.” viewers looking for an evenhanded discussion may be disappointed. The president of Susan G. Komen for the Cure is interviewed, but gets scant air time. Activist Judy Brady sums up this film’s unapologetic message: “When I see a pink ribbon,” she says during the end credits, “I see evil.”