The True Cost Review - Movie analysis PDF

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Olive Thompson Prof. Collins PL 431 April 11 2019 The True Cost Review The True Cost is a documentation that explores issues with “fast fashion”. It includes problems such as worker conditions, consumerism, and pollution. The True Cost calls out the fashion industry and how consumer driven it is. I watched it a few years ago in an art class and it really made me rethink where I was buying clothes. As a broke teenager, clothing that was cute and didn’t cost much, was very appealing. I didn’t even stop to think about how they clothes came to be. Because we are so detached from where our clothes come from, it is kind of an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. I believe it is ethically wrong to support fast fashion and buy from companies who have their workers in dangerous conditions. I do believe that some people are simply unaware of what they are supporting. To some extent, I think that this lack of education ethically excuses them from being morally responsible. It is the educator's responsibility to spread the word, and once you are educated, I believe you should be held accountable for what you are supporting. Just like Kant’s Categorical Imperative, we should be acting with a universal moral compass. I don’t want to live in a world where workers are suffering and our Earth is being polluted, therefore, I will not support fast fashion. This also fits with Kant because there is no way to be an exception, even if you believe your purchase isn’t making that much of a difference.The documentary stars by looking at how the majority of clothes Americans wore used to be made in the US. Due to how the fashion industry has changed, they are made in third world countries because the prices can be lowered. Cheap manufacturers mean terrible working conditions. The documentary describes the harsh working conditions of factory workers in Bangladesh. Some are paid as little as $3 a day. The workers who try to stand up for themselves, are beaten. They are forced to work long hours and are surrounded by harmful chemicals. This was something that is unacceptable in the United States. The geographic separation causes a mental detachment, but just because we are not the people doing the beating, we are still supporting the people who are by purchasing from stores such as Forever 21 and H&M. Ethically, we need to be treating these people with value. If you wanted to take a Utilitarian approach, the pollution that these industries are creating is affecting everyone. The film shows the Kanpur river in India which is heavily polluted. The drinking water that has been exposed to chromium 6 is causing extreme health issues. Also in India, farmers are being mislead by the sellers of GMO seeds, they are forced to make poor economic choices which keeps them in poverty. Farmers are also using lots of pesticides which contaminates the area and causes mental and physical defects in babies being born around the area. Qualitatively, the impact is severe. The small dose of happiness that one person gets from buying a cheap shirt, does not outweigh the pollution that was created to make the shirt. This happiness also doesn’t trump the unhappiness of the workers. Joe Fresh, a clothing executive, takes a utilitarian approach by saying that “there are a lot worse things that they (factory workers) could be doing”. He implies that sweatshops is providing the workers the most amount of happiness that they have the opportunity for. The 2013 Rana Plaza collapse which killed 1,000, counters that argument because it proves how extremely unsafe the conditions are. The quantity of people affected is large, even though in America, we

don’t always hear about it. The calculations of a Utilitarian approach is difficult to do, but the workers unhappiness in the dangerous working conditions overpowers American’s unhappiness if they had to pay a bit more for an article of clothing. Therefore, fast fashion remains very unethical. Even after watching this documentary, I sometimes buy from places that support fast fashion. Sometimes I just don’t think about where I am buying from. Ethical Egoism and the idea that one should do what is in their own self interest, justifies this behaviour. I do want to live in a world where people are being treated with respect and have good working conditions, so I do try to support sustainable fashion. I would recommend this documentary to those who want to be educated on where their clothing is coming from. It was really eye opening and is a good reminder to be more conscious about the things that you are buying....