Grandma Writes

Toxic Beauty is a 2019 Canadian-American documentary film about exposure to dangerous chemical substances from commonly trusted beauty products such as baby powder. The film investigates the virtually unregulated chemicals in personal-care products and follows a class action lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and the plaintiffs. Toxic Beauty addresses the attitude of silence around carcinogenic and hormone-disrupting substances found in previously approved and popular cosmetic items in the US cosmetics market. The film interviews doctors, lawyers, and scientists to explore how products are made, and compares a long struggle with the cosmetics industry to decades of public pressure for reforms against the tobacco industry in the 1960s. Thousands of dangerous chemicals in popular cosmetic products in the USA are unregulated, not even requiring appropriate warning labels when toxic substances have been identified. Directed by Phyllis Ellis

Pink Ribbons, Inc. is a 2011 National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary about the pink ribbon campaign, directed by Léa Pool and produced by Ravida Din. The film is based on the 2006 book Pink Ribbons, Inc: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy by Samantha King. The film documents how some companies use pink ribbon-related "cause marketing" to increase profits while contributing only a small fraction of proceeds to the cause, or use "pinkwashing" to improve their public image while manufacturing products that may be carcinogenic. For the millions that are raised for breast cancer research by the campaign, the film argues that not enough money goes to prevention or exploring possible environmental factors. Countless women and men walk, bike, climb and shop for the cure. Each year, millions of dollars are raised in the name of breast cancer, but where does this money go and what does it actually achieve? Pink Ribbons, Inc. features interviews with critics of the pink ribbon campaign, researchers and cancer patients as well as cancer fundraisers such as Nancy Brinker, head of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

"Pretty Toxic” is a 2019 documentary about the toxic chemicals used by the $500 billion beauty industry—and the healthy price consumers pay to be pretty. Pretty Toxic is a ground-breaking film that explores what’s inside beauty and personal care products and brings clarity to widespread confusion that drives consumers to make spending decisions based on misunderstanding, marketing gimmicks, and fear. The cosmetics industry in the US is virtually unregulated. Unlike most consumables, which fall under the responsibility of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), personal care products are governed by the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, adopted in 1938, which requires no government review of products before they go to market. Instead, the Act puts companies in charge of ensuring consumer safety, in essence, allowing them to self-police. Directed by Jennifer B. White