I went to the screening of Pink Ribbons, Inc. for CEC, and thought that it actually had an interesting viewpoint regarding the "fight" against breast cancer.
Pink Ribbons, Inc. exposed the detrimental effects of capitalism on the cause against breast cancer, and the related commercialization of the pink ribbon itself. Branding a product with the pink ribbon has been successful in regards to sales, but some companies donate very little to the cause, and only a small percentage of all donations go to researching prevention and causes of breast cancer. The film also points out the further "hypocrisy" of many corporations that support the pink ribbon cause, as many of these companies work with chemicals that are linked to cancer.
I found the commentary on capitalism in Pink Ribbons, Inc. to be very interesting, particularly because of a Literature and Film class that I'm currently in. The first book that we read in the class was The Time Machine, in which the protagonist finds a society in the future destroyed by the class-conflict ever-present in capitalism. Following that, we saw the film Elysium, which similarly showed a dystopian society split by capitalist class-struggle. More recently, we saw Blade Runner, which depicts dystopian capitalism and powerful corporations. Through looking at all of these works (including Pink Ribbons, Inc.), it becomes clear that there is much wrong with capitalism as it is. From a personal perspective, it seems to me - a liberal arts student not particularly well-versed in economics or government - that there is way too much focus on profit and competition, and not enough on humanity. I'm not proposing a socialist "fairness," and I think I understand the motivation behind commercial exploitation, but I don't understand how anyone thinks it's okay to forgo human wellness in the pursuit of profit.
Now I need to apply two details from the film to a fictional scene before the last class. I think I could expand on the concern of capitalism for sure, and perhaps on the importance of cooperation in researching prevention of disease, rather than competitive redundant research. My scene may end up rather bleak.
