The True Cost
The True Cost
PG-13 | 29 May 2015 (USA)
The True Cost Trailers

Film from Andrew Morgan. The True Cost is a documentary film exploring the impact of fashion on people and the planet.

Reviews
tylerwoodrownichols

The exploitation of wage-slaves in developing countries as a key component of our current economic system is a very important topic, one that I'm deeply interested in, but this film doesn't do the subject matter any justice at all. The collapse of the factory in Bangladesh and the narrative about the mother who tried to unionise but was shut down by the owners, along with a brief but similar story in Cambodia are really the only parts of the film that had anything to do with the premise. The rest of the film is just a mess. The time wasted on following around a woman who works for a "fair trade" clothing company just comes across as a long-winded advertisement, and conveniently skirts the issue that this woman is still a capitalist who is profiting off the labor of people in other countries. She throws the phrase "fair trade" around a whole lot without ever actually defining what it means in respect to her company's business practices. I guess we're supposed to feel good that the poor people in Bangladesh are being slightly less exploited by her company.The non-sequitur in the middle of the film about GM crops and "organic" cotton is where I really started to lose respect for this film. The charlatan known as Vandana Shiva makes an appearance, spouting out her typical disinformation about the "evils" of GM technology. This woman is not by any means a scientist, and is not in any way an expert on biotechnology or agriculture. So many of her claims have been debunked a thousand times (namely the claim that GM crops have led to increased suicide rates in India) that it almost defies belief that people still listen to anything she says. All I can really say is look to actual scientific/public health organisations and they all agree that GM crops are perfectly safe. "Organic" food (and especially clothing, what a joke!) has no health benefits over conventional crops and is actually a hugely profitable capitalist enterprise in itself, despite the wholesomely smug, "we're the good guys" image that these companies use to market their overpriced crops to the worried well. Say what you want about Monsanto trying to monopolise on seeds (which isn't true by the way, there are other companies in the GM market), just realize that the patenting and marketing of seeds was around way before GM and exists in the "organic" world as well. This economic angle has nothing to do with the safety of the crops, their environmental impact, or the fact that we almost certainly will need GM crops to feed the world. The ability to design high-yielding crops to adapt to the catastrophic climate change that's on the horizon, or to remedy nutrient deficiencies in the developing world (just read about how Shiva worked tirelessly to sway public opinion against Golden Rice) makes this technology invaluable to the future of our species.

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shoch-33255

This movie shows the direct impact people can have on people and the environment. It is terrifying that we are allowing such decay of the human body and environment at the expense of a t-shirt or pair of pants. The side effects of the factory works from living in the surrounding factory area's was eye-opening. I have heard about it and seen pictures, but knowing that this film was released just two years ago, very recently, is astounding. I think the film does a very good job of exploring the whole chain from top to bottom, from the VP of sustainability at H&M and Patagonia to the factory workers in India. I am amazed at some of the people trying to make a difference, but the need for support on a larger scale is what is needed and it will take time, but this documentary is very inspiring and progressive. A step in the right direction for healthier people and a healthier planet.

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anonymouse-27283

Nice expose of the global fashion industry, from a clearly biased and non-objective source. The whole movie is permeated with anti-capitalist rhetoric and indictments of the profit motive, materialism, and American companies. At 1:15 when the "economist" comes on, I knew we were in for a snow-job of epic proportions. He talks down to the audience like he's teaching the theory of socialism to kindergarteners for the first time. The film, ironically also focuses on how the local Indo-Chinese factory unions keep getting crushed. Instead of campaigning for stronger unions and police protection of the union reps, they film backs the message that the solution is to try and guarantee a "living wage" to factory workers. Yeah, that's what the whole union protest was about, a hallmark of capitalism that is being crushed by the local governments.Thanks, Karl Marx, I just wanted to see a movie about the fashion industry, not a 90 minute propaganda film telling me how evil I am for buying a t-shirt. The authors are using the suffering of those innocent people to advance their distorted perspective, they are no better than the factory owners.

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justsayinme

It's really an eye opener to the secrets behind the clothing industry. In fact the western corporates and consumers have blood on their hands by choosing to stay ignorant about the clothing and food industry. It's sickening how these "happy commercials of lush beauty and nice clothes" are use to fool the world and making it worse and worse for out planet and third world people....SEE THIS AND THINK AGAIN!Never ever will you buy your clothes without thinking about where it's coming from and what role it played in the environment and the workers behind these clothes. I hope people will start opening their eyes with this documentary

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