“The True Cost”
(2015)
Directors: Andrew
Morgan
Producer: Michael Ross
Producer: Michael Ross
Starring: (Various)
Genre: Documentary, Social Documentary
Synopsis:
This documentary
is about the true cost of fashion - "true cost" metaphorically referring to the cost incurred on the environment (impact of the industry) and on people (human rights).
Greed VS Free, Power VS Poverty. We communicate who we are through clothing. Clothing and fashion is a fundamental part of how we wish to portray ourselves as, and what we want to communicate to others. But at what cost? Or “who’s” cost? Would you think there is such a ‘cost’ associated with the labor that goes into making our clothes? ‘Of course’ you would say. However, after watching this documentary, you will see that such a ‘cost’ associated with human labor is nowhere near as such a ‘cost’ that we are willing to pay for such famous products produced by Nike and H&M.
Greed VS Free, Power VS Poverty. We communicate who we are through clothing. Clothing and fashion is a fundamental part of how we wish to portray ourselves as, and what we want to communicate to others. But at what cost? Or “who’s” cost? Would you think there is such a ‘cost’ associated with the labor that goes into making our clothes? ‘Of course’ you would say. However, after watching this documentary, you will see that such a ‘cost’ associated with human labor is nowhere near as such a ‘cost’ that we are willing to pay for such famous products produced by Nike and H&M.
Review:
First and
foremost, I would like to acknowledge that I myself am one of these ‘people’
who often (but not always) attempt to communicate/portray a sense of
personality/identity through my clothing and choice of style. And you are
probably too – there is no denying it, its human nature to try and portray your
‘individual identity’. Despite admitting this, I chose to review this
documentary because I would like to raise awareness about this issue. What
really struck me in this documentary is when the narrator explains how advertisement
is consistently aimed at triggering emotions. He states that, “clever
advertising will always attempt to link materialism with happiness” – that
having certain products will satisfy certain emotions/perceptions associated
with status, etc. “The way to solve all your problems is through consumption”.
If you really think about it, ITS TRUE – the extensive impact of this can be
seen through the infinite number of YouTube videos that are used to ‘show off’ items
that one has purchased, how to wear these items, etc. aka ‘fashion tutorials’
or ‘hauls’.
Another interesting thought that triggered me is - if shops can delivery goods at 'reduced' prices, or 'sales' with 50%-80% discounts whilst still making a profit - what is truly the cost of these goods that they are selling with a normal price of about $50, but can still manage to give an 70% discount and still make profit?
Another interesting thought that triggered me is - if shops can delivery goods at 'reduced' prices, or 'sales' with 50%-80% discounts whilst still making a profit - what is truly the cost of these goods that they are selling with a normal price of about $50, but can still manage to give an 70% discount and still make profit?
Last but definitely not least, what I would
really like readers of this blog to take away from this review is this:
Competitive
markets consistently aim to achieve target prices that are more ‘cheaper’ than
the other: one store sells for $8, the other sells for $6 and the next for $5,
and so on. What we need to keep in mind is that – if companies and fashion
businesses can drop their prices as low as $5 in order to promote consumption –
how much can the companies drop the cost of making these garments? (Whilst
simultaneously making large profits that they aim for)
In other words –
how does this low cost of purchasing goods impact the wages of the workers? It
can’t be an increase in wages right? If the purchase of goods is ever
decreasing (getting cheaper) imagine how much the costs of wages are
decreasing?
So who really pays the price?
There is also a website dedicated to this documentary film:
http://truecostmovie.com
So who really pays the price?
There is also a website dedicated to this documentary film:
http://truecostmovie.com
video sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGp5_Sfbss
Shavira Maharani
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