Other key participants of note include Barbara A. Brenner, a board member for Breast Cancer Action who, after her own first diagnosis with the disease, became their first full-time executive director. Samantha King is the author of Pink Ribbons Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy, a book that gave the real jump-start to the documentary. A 1981 clip of a Ronald Reagan speech used in the film was a seminal moment, she believes, in the shift from what he considered “excessive government spending” to the entrance of private entities, specifically corporations. Dr. Susan Love is a “founding mother” of the advocacy movement — her book, Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, is considered the bible for proper care. Interestingly, even in the face of fears of toxic pollutions as a real threat, she believes breast cancer could well be a virus. “Slash, burn, poison” is her accusatory motto for the medical profession’s answer to the problem. “That’s what you do when you don’t understand.”

Perhaps the highest profile speaker for the global movement is Nancy G. Brinker, CEO and founder of The Susan G. Komen for the Cure, one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.” A controversial spokeswoman for the cure, she claims her organization has spent $600 million on basic clinical research alone and categorically denies that they have put a pretty pink face on the problem. “If people feel there is no hope, they will not participate; they’ll feel they are in an endless fight.”

Putting a facelift on this insidious disease is not what the Stage IV group sees as helpful. One member wants the public to see that they’re hurting, that they’re human beings and “not just a little pink ribbon.” In the words of another, she sees the difference as “they’re learning to live, and you’re learning to die.” These women are tired of feeling guilty for not being positive enough.

Who can blame them? Even if they don’t feel like joining the party, it’s no fun to be rejected. But in the global-oriented, pull-out-all-the-stops party that the corporations have decided to throw for their pink “fave” cause, nobody wants the nay-sayers, nobody wants the truth that mortality rates have not significantly changed in 60 years.

In frame after frame, Pool gives us the celebrants. There is undeniably power in overkill, if that is her intention. What we see through her lens is a marketing campaign gone hog-wild in love with itself. Carol Cone, vice chairman at Edelman Purpose and recognized for her work in cause branding, builds sustainable partnerships between the companies and social issues. She feels the enormous success of major players that have given us events like the Revlon Run/Walk for Women in New York, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C., and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in San Francisco have encouraged more and more sponsorship.

The possibilities are endless. From mixing bowls to hair dryers, from handguns to rose wine — and don’t forget Kentucky Fried Chicken — Komen’s “warriors” and millions of others are there to buy. After all, over 80 percent of the buying public is made up of women — an animated inset of these ubiquitous products flash by and remind us that it’s “business as usual,” even if the business is the “big C.”

Nothing, and I do mean nothing, is left out of this film. On their race from activism to consumerism, these revelers run, dance, jump (as in sky diving), sing and shout for the “cure.” Evelyn Lauder was instrumental in creating the Global Illumination Campaign to put the world in pink. Thirty-eight global historic landmarks, including Niagara Falls, came thrillingly alive. A new Guinness World Record — “Most Landmarks Illuminated for a Cause in 24 Hours” — was achieved. What it did for breast cancer is anyone’s guess.

The Hangover

It’s not always pretty to wake up, but that’s what this film is asking us to do. The before mentioned Samantha King, the author of the book that blew the warning whistle, worries about the “tyranny of cheerfulness” that has so many otherwise brave and courageous women in thrall.

Dr. Susan Love believes that we’re looking for the reason outside ourselves — that we’re searching for an Osama Bin Laden when the real culprit is a Timothy McVeigh in our own cells. One of the multitudes of impassioned marchers sees, as many others do, environmental links but decries the fact that research is never focused in that direction. Plastics, she claims, have become part of our food chain. The Plastic Focus group had their say too — a handful of women working in the automotive plastics industry took part in a study of possible connections between breast cancer and the workplace. No strangers to chemical odors, smoke, and vapors through their work environment, they spoke willingly of the co-workers they had lost.

Jane Houlihan, the senior vice president for Research at the Environmental Working Group, is the director of Skin Deep, an online cosmetics safety database providing ratings for more than 62,000 products on the market. She decries the lack of any regulations in federal law for beauty products containing petroleum, lead, formaldehyde, and dozens of other carcinogens.

Pool was distressed over the “cynicism of those companies that make both medicine and carcinogens. “You profit from something that makes people sick, and then you profit from treating disease…you don’t think it’s this evil.” It’s this ultimate honesty, this commitment to tell the truth that gives the film a chance for a lasting impact. Whatever diffused, crazy quilt she has managed to weave for her viewers, the documentary has a lasting impact.

“Think before you pink” is the motto of Pink Ribbons. If enough intelligent viewers can wade through a sometimes muddy but sincere color spectrum to get the message, it’s an important one.

First Run Features has partnered with Breast Cancer Action for the U.S. release of Pink Ribbons, Inc. The nationwide roll-out begins June 8th.

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