Pink Ribbons, Inc.

Directed by Léa Pool

(Not rated)

***

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Consider this angry documentary a missed opportunity, said Jeannette Catsoulis in The New York Times. Taking aim at a breast-cancer-awareness industry that has had far more success in raising money and marketing yogurt and cosmetics than in lowering death rates, director Léa Pool “indulges in spraying buckshot” rather than stalking her target. Still, the result “deserves to be seen,” because it’s loaded with thoughtful interviewees and enough fight to inspire viewers to ask better questions. “Viewers looking for an evenhanded discussion” of the subject certainly won’t get it here, said Sara Stewart in the New York Post. As activist Judy Brady at one point puts it, “When I see a pink ribbon, I see evil.” Yet Pool’s indignation “seems justified,” said Mark Jenkins in NPR.org. U.S. breast-cancer rates keep rising, but the pink-ribbon campaign has directed almost none of its billions into researching how its corporate partners might be contributing to potential environmental causes. Mighty as the movement is, it’s “thus far done more for marketing than for medicine.”