Sunday, 30 September 2018
Movie Review: The True Cost (Or the Eye Opening Journey into Fast Fashion Clothing)
During my trip for this past two weeks, my friend told me about a documentary called The True Cost and I decided to give it a go and, while I had an idea of why we had such cheap clothing, this was eye-opening to me so I decided to write about this today instead of my trip. It is a slightly more serious, and perhaps surprising, post than what you're used to seeing here but worry not, there will be plenty of posts about my trip in the Balkans in the next weeks because I have a lot to talk about!
So what's The True Cost about? It's a story about clothing, most specifically fast fashion: the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. The True Cost (2015) is a documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our cheap disposable clothing? On the one hand, consumers, who demand fashionable items at low prices; on the other, exploited workers who manufacture them under extreme conditions. This documentary is filmed in countries all over the world, from the brightest runways to the darkest slums, and invites us on an eye opening journey around the world and into the lives of the many people and places behind our clothes.
We are actually talking about two additional costs here: environmental and humanitary. Cotton represents nearly half of the total fiber used to make clothing today, being responsible, worldwild, for 18% of pesticide and 25% of total insecticide use. The largely untested impacts of these chemicals on both the land and human health are beginning to be questioned, as our skin is the largest organ, these chemicals may pass into the bloodstream of the people wearing these clothes. Leather production is also increasingly linked to a variety of environmental and human health hazards.The amount of feed, land, water and fossil fuels used to raise livestock for leather production come at a huge cost to the health of our world. In addition, the tanning process is among the most toxic in all of the fashion supply chain and workers are exposed to harmful chemicals on the job, while the waste generated pollutes natural water sources leading to increased disease for surrounding areas.
We are increasingly disconnected from the people who make our clothing as 97% of items are now made overseas. They are some of the lowest paid workers in the world and roughly 85% of all garment workers are women. The human factor of the garment industry is too big to ignore; as we consistently see the exploitation of cheap labor and the violation of workers’, women’s, and human rights in many developing countries across the world. As customers in an increasingly disconnected world, it is important that we feel connected to the workers who make our clothes, as well as inform brands that we care about these people and their voice. I mean, is it worth to ignore the ethical questions here? Is it acceptable for someone do die during their working day for this fast fashion clothing?
So after watching about this I went to the movie's site (where you can read more about what I wrote here) and I found their 5 tips for shopping smarter, which is something that we can all do:
1) Will you wear it 30 times? The rapid turnover of trends means clothes are disposable. Along with the deflation of clothing prices this has put the supply chain under unprecedented pressure leading directly to problems like the Dhaka fashion factory fire that killed over 100 people. Just asking yourself if you will wear an item 30 times is a great place to start shopping smarter and more intentional.
2) Break the cycle. 50-100 new micro seasons a year is the new normal. So slow down your fashion cycle.
3) Spread your fashion money. The global fashion industry is worth 2.5 trillion dollars. Shouldn’t this be shared? Look for producer centric brands with Fairtrade standards with longstanding producer groups who get a fair share of the profits.
4) Detox your wardrobe. Fashion is the world’s second most polluting industry after oil. Notably, Azodyes are still the most used synthetic dyes despite being toxic. 10% of the world’s biggest fashion brands have committed to phasing out toxic substances through Greenpeace’s Detox programme. And you can check the list here.
5) Be the change you want to see in your wardrobe. Fashion Revolution represents millions of consumers who want change and put pressure on the brands to increase transparency and empowers consumers to be inquisitive about #whomadetheirclothes.
Will we continue ot search for happiness in the consumption of things? Will we be satisfied with a system that makes us feel rich while leaving our world so desperately poor? Will we continue to turn a blind eye to the millions of lives behind our clothes or will this be a turning point? In the midst of all the challenges facing us today and all the problems that feel bigger than us, maybe we can start here, with clothing. I leave you the movie trailer at the end of today's post and, if you can spare 1h30 of your time, please go watch it (it's available on Netflix).
So what's The True Cost about? It's a story about clothing, most specifically fast fashion: the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. The True Cost (2015) is a documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our cheap disposable clothing? On the one hand, consumers, who demand fashionable items at low prices; on the other, exploited workers who manufacture them under extreme conditions. This documentary is filmed in countries all over the world, from the brightest runways to the darkest slums, and invites us on an eye opening journey around the world and into the lives of the many people and places behind our clothes.
We are actually talking about two additional costs here: environmental and humanitary. Cotton represents nearly half of the total fiber used to make clothing today, being responsible, worldwild, for 18% of pesticide and 25% of total insecticide use. The largely untested impacts of these chemicals on both the land and human health are beginning to be questioned, as our skin is the largest organ, these chemicals may pass into the bloodstream of the people wearing these clothes. Leather production is also increasingly linked to a variety of environmental and human health hazards.The amount of feed, land, water and fossil fuels used to raise livestock for leather production come at a huge cost to the health of our world. In addition, the tanning process is among the most toxic in all of the fashion supply chain and workers are exposed to harmful chemicals on the job, while the waste generated pollutes natural water sources leading to increased disease for surrounding areas.
We are increasingly disconnected from the people who make our clothing as 97% of items are now made overseas. They are some of the lowest paid workers in the world and roughly 85% of all garment workers are women. The human factor of the garment industry is too big to ignore; as we consistently see the exploitation of cheap labor and the violation of workers’, women’s, and human rights in many developing countries across the world. As customers in an increasingly disconnected world, it is important that we feel connected to the workers who make our clothes, as well as inform brands that we care about these people and their voice. I mean, is it worth to ignore the ethical questions here? Is it acceptable for someone do die during their working day for this fast fashion clothing?
So after watching about this I went to the movie's site (where you can read more about what I wrote here) and I found their 5 tips for shopping smarter, which is something that we can all do:
1) Will you wear it 30 times? The rapid turnover of trends means clothes are disposable. Along with the deflation of clothing prices this has put the supply chain under unprecedented pressure leading directly to problems like the Dhaka fashion factory fire that killed over 100 people. Just asking yourself if you will wear an item 30 times is a great place to start shopping smarter and more intentional.
2) Break the cycle. 50-100 new micro seasons a year is the new normal. So slow down your fashion cycle.
3) Spread your fashion money. The global fashion industry is worth 2.5 trillion dollars. Shouldn’t this be shared? Look for producer centric brands with Fairtrade standards with longstanding producer groups who get a fair share of the profits.
4) Detox your wardrobe. Fashion is the world’s second most polluting industry after oil. Notably, Azodyes are still the most used synthetic dyes despite being toxic. 10% of the world’s biggest fashion brands have committed to phasing out toxic substances through Greenpeace’s Detox programme. And you can check the list here.
5) Be the change you want to see in your wardrobe. Fashion Revolution represents millions of consumers who want change and put pressure on the brands to increase transparency and empowers consumers to be inquisitive about #whomadetheirclothes.
Will we continue ot search for happiness in the consumption of things? Will we be satisfied with a system that makes us feel rich while leaving our world so desperately poor? Will we continue to turn a blind eye to the millions of lives behind our clothes or will this be a turning point? In the midst of all the challenges facing us today and all the problems that feel bigger than us, maybe we can start here, with clothing. I leave you the movie trailer at the end of today's post and, if you can spare 1h30 of your time, please go watch it (it's available on Netflix).
Sunday, 9 September 2018
To All the Boys I've Loved Before (Book and Movie Review)
To All the Boys I've Loved Before just got adapted into a Netflix movie and it was so adorable I had to read the book it was based on! It's one of those mushy, funny romantic high school comedies where the actors actually look like teenagers and you don't have to think a lot about it, you just sit back, grab your popcorn and spend a good hour and a half.
Sixteen-year-old asian Lara Jean Song-Covey keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her but rather ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved - five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control. She likes her sister's ex-boyfriend but starts fake-dating an ex-friend-ex-boyfriend so she can escape her sister's ex-boyfriend questions. Confused? Read the book or watch the movie to see how this ends!
After watching the movie I went ahead and read the book and realised how amazingly well the actor did their parts. They translated the book perfectly on the screen, it's one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I've ever watched! They made some changes in the adaptation and, honestly, I think they made the movie better with that. For example, in the book, Lara Jean's younger sister, Kitty, is the one who mails the letters out of spite but in the movie she does it out of love, hoping Lara Jean finds love somehow. To be honest, I loved movie Peter Kravinsky more than book Peter.
I would definitely recommend you watching this movie, if you're into this kind of stuff (and even if you're not, do give it a try). Netflix did a great job including some diversity in their movies and, even though I saw some blacklash because the male protagonist wasn't asian as well it just seems slightly silly to cast someone asian just because, as the book was written the other way. Like I get the white-washing blacklash but I don't understand the argument that the male protagonist should also be asian. I think the actors were amazing in their roles anyway!
I'm really hoping Netflix decides to make the rest of the series, even though I haven't read the sequels yet. I did love the characters so I can't wait to see where they go from there and I'm planning on reading the books very soon so I'm ready when the movies come out!
Sixteen-year-old asian Lara Jean Song-Covey keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her but rather ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved - five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control. She likes her sister's ex-boyfriend but starts fake-dating an ex-friend-ex-boyfriend so she can escape her sister's ex-boyfriend questions. Confused? Read the book or watch the movie to see how this ends!
After watching the movie I went ahead and read the book and realised how amazingly well the actor did their parts. They translated the book perfectly on the screen, it's one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I've ever watched! They made some changes in the adaptation and, honestly, I think they made the movie better with that. For example, in the book, Lara Jean's younger sister, Kitty, is the one who mails the letters out of spite but in the movie she does it out of love, hoping Lara Jean finds love somehow. To be honest, I loved movie Peter Kravinsky more than book Peter.
I would definitely recommend you watching this movie, if you're into this kind of stuff (and even if you're not, do give it a try). Netflix did a great job including some diversity in their movies and, even though I saw some blacklash because the male protagonist wasn't asian as well it just seems slightly silly to cast someone asian just because, as the book was written the other way. Like I get the white-washing blacklash but I don't understand the argument that the male protagonist should also be asian. I think the actors were amazing in their roles anyway!
I'm really hoping Netflix decides to make the rest of the series, even though I haven't read the sequels yet. I did love the characters so I can't wait to see where they go from there and I'm planning on reading the books very soon so I'm ready when the movies come out!
Sunday, 2 September 2018
A No-Maj Ponders Potter: The Deathly Hallows (part 2)
Yesterday was September 1, and as any proper self-proclaimed Potterhead knows what that means, I thought it was perfect to finish the "A No Maj-Ponders Potter" saga today, just like the epilogue at the end of this movie. Here's the last post of this journey!
“I now come to the end of this wonderful collection of films with the incredible Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 2) (2011). I would like to make an analysis not only of the last chapter but also of the whole series.
At the beginning of the movie, Harry Potter is in a patient's house doing some illegal trading. Turns out he wants to rob a bank and is coercing a poor employee into letting him in. The truth is that not only does he get the little creature's help in exchange for the Gryffindor sword, but he can also enter the bank incredibly easily using only a small amount of charms. For a magic bank, it seemed ridiculously incompetent dealing with magical users. Harry then finds himself in someone's vault and steals a glass of gold, but he doesn't get to laugh because the goblin tries to catch him there, which probably earned him the employee's of the month bonus. But unfortunately, Harry Potter convinces a dragon to give him a ride. He's probably promised him gold, as he had tried to do the same thing with the man at the bank. It's already known that dragons love gold, sometimes even more than Harry Potter himself. Both dragons and crows like to collect shiny things to put in the nest, this is more than known.
Anyone who thinks that Harry Potter's thirst for expensive gold objects and accessories ends here is well-mistaken because he has the nerve to go ask a ghost for a tiara to and then steals it when everyone is distracted. His friends Hermione and Ron, meanwhile, break the glass to stop Harry's mania from stealing other people's gold, and also because they feel bad about keeping stolen items in their possession. I just don't know why they didn't turn it over to the police or give it back to the owner.
Then Voldemort, who walks around with a pet snake, arrives at Hogwarts with a lot of people and tries to invade it but isn't powerful enough so he meets with Snape and the snake ends up killing the sinister teacher. In his last breath, he can still ask Harry Potter to collect his tears and take them to that pot where they put the spaghetti. When Harry dips his head in the water that he sees the true story of Snape and we all begin to like him very much.
Approaching the end of the film, Harry meets Voldemort in a forest revealing some naivety, as one shouldn't respond to this kind of anonymous invitations. We could totally predict that Voldemort was going to cast an avada kedavra. Harry dies and Voldemort has a big party and invites everyone, but then Harry wakes up and defeats the fearsome wizard in an exciting battle.
As always, here are my thoughts on the characters in this movie:
Harry Potter: In this film, he was clearly the most influential character and one who carried the story forward the most. Also because his friends are more concerned with each other than helping him defeat one of the most powerful wizards ever.
Ron and Hermione: In the last chapters of the film it seemed to me that there is no group of 3 friends and there is a group of 1 + 2 friends. I am not saying that the romance between them is not to be explored but I think it could have been done differently.
Harry's child: Whoever thought that a child thinking he's the most powerful sorcerer in the world was evil and would annoys a lot of people, get ready for the son of the strongest sorcerer in the world who defeated Voldemort. I bet at this time at Hogwarts, they're all fed up with the conversation "my dad is stronger than yours because he beat the bald demon."
Snape: It was difficult to escape the spoilers and I was writing as someone who didn't know the final twist would have as a first thought but the truth is that that mysterious black aura captivates the viewer.
Voldemort: It started out as a teacher's skin disease and ended up with an army behind and almost killed our dear Potter. It's a blatant case in which one could well have cut off evil at the root.
The bad guys: They'd always been one step ahead but when the good guys discovered that Voldemort kept his soul in pieces of costume jewelry, there was a little more balance.
The good ones: at first they helped Harry a lot but by the end they were already hanging a bit in his powers. The peak of the influence of a good character comes after his death, and nothing can get out of my head that if Voldemort had killed half a dozen more people, he would have been defeated more quickly. Sirius Black, Dumbledore and, to some extent, Snape were much more useful after death, although Snape was being useful in life without our knowledge.
To conclude, this is clearly the most serious and dramatic film of them all and so it's difficult to write a more relaxed summary with so many deaths and epic battles. Nevertheless, it doesn't lose its identity and nor deviates from the previous ones. Although it is a battle-filled film and completely subordinate to the war theme, it's brilliant, and incredibly subtle, the effort of the production not to turn these last two chapters into action films. The Harry Potter saga is fantasy, not action, and it's great that they managed to keep that. Summarizing the series, I can say that I liked it a lot and I became a fan.”
Here's the whole "No-Maj Ponders Potter" series for re-readings whenever you want:
“I now come to the end of this wonderful collection of films with the incredible Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 2) (2011). I would like to make an analysis not only of the last chapter but also of the whole series.
At the beginning of the movie, Harry Potter is in a patient's house doing some illegal trading. Turns out he wants to rob a bank and is coercing a poor employee into letting him in. The truth is that not only does he get the little creature's help in exchange for the Gryffindor sword, but he can also enter the bank incredibly easily using only a small amount of charms. For a magic bank, it seemed ridiculously incompetent dealing with magical users. Harry then finds himself in someone's vault and steals a glass of gold, but he doesn't get to laugh because the goblin tries to catch him there, which probably earned him the employee's of the month bonus. But unfortunately, Harry Potter convinces a dragon to give him a ride. He's probably promised him gold, as he had tried to do the same thing with the man at the bank. It's already known that dragons love gold, sometimes even more than Harry Potter himself. Both dragons and crows like to collect shiny things to put in the nest, this is more than known.
Anyone who thinks that Harry Potter's thirst for expensive gold objects and accessories ends here is well-mistaken because he has the nerve to go ask a ghost for a tiara to and then steals it when everyone is distracted. His friends Hermione and Ron, meanwhile, break the glass to stop Harry's mania from stealing other people's gold, and also because they feel bad about keeping stolen items in their possession. I just don't know why they didn't turn it over to the police or give it back to the owner.
Then Voldemort, who walks around with a pet snake, arrives at Hogwarts with a lot of people and tries to invade it but isn't powerful enough so he meets with Snape and the snake ends up killing the sinister teacher. In his last breath, he can still ask Harry Potter to collect his tears and take them to that pot where they put the spaghetti. When Harry dips his head in the water that he sees the true story of Snape and we all begin to like him very much.
Approaching the end of the film, Harry meets Voldemort in a forest revealing some naivety, as one shouldn't respond to this kind of anonymous invitations. We could totally predict that Voldemort was going to cast an avada kedavra. Harry dies and Voldemort has a big party and invites everyone, but then Harry wakes up and defeats the fearsome wizard in an exciting battle.
As always, here are my thoughts on the characters in this movie:
Harry Potter: In this film, he was clearly the most influential character and one who carried the story forward the most. Also because his friends are more concerned with each other than helping him defeat one of the most powerful wizards ever.
Ron and Hermione: In the last chapters of the film it seemed to me that there is no group of 3 friends and there is a group of 1 + 2 friends. I am not saying that the romance between them is not to be explored but I think it could have been done differently.
Harry's child: Whoever thought that a child thinking he's the most powerful sorcerer in the world was evil and would annoys a lot of people, get ready for the son of the strongest sorcerer in the world who defeated Voldemort. I bet at this time at Hogwarts, they're all fed up with the conversation "my dad is stronger than yours because he beat the bald demon."
Snape: It was difficult to escape the spoilers and I was writing as someone who didn't know the final twist would have as a first thought but the truth is that that mysterious black aura captivates the viewer.
Voldemort: It started out as a teacher's skin disease and ended up with an army behind and almost killed our dear Potter. It's a blatant case in which one could well have cut off evil at the root.
The bad guys: They'd always been one step ahead but when the good guys discovered that Voldemort kept his soul in pieces of costume jewelry, there was a little more balance.
The good ones: at first they helped Harry a lot but by the end they were already hanging a bit in his powers. The peak of the influence of a good character comes after his death, and nothing can get out of my head that if Voldemort had killed half a dozen more people, he would have been defeated more quickly. Sirius Black, Dumbledore and, to some extent, Snape were much more useful after death, although Snape was being useful in life without our knowledge.
To conclude, this is clearly the most serious and dramatic film of them all and so it's difficult to write a more relaxed summary with so many deaths and epic battles. Nevertheless, it doesn't lose its identity and nor deviates from the previous ones. Although it is a battle-filled film and completely subordinate to the war theme, it's brilliant, and incredibly subtle, the effort of the production not to turn these last two chapters into action films. The Harry Potter saga is fantasy, not action, and it's great that they managed to keep that. Summarizing the series, I can say that I liked it a lot and I became a fan.”
Here's the whole "No-Maj Ponders Potter" series for re-readings whenever you want:
- A No-Maj Ponders Potter: The Philosopher's Stone
- A No-Maj Ponders Potter: The Chamber Of Secrets
- A No-Maj Ponders Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban
- A No-Maj Ponders Potter: The Goblet of Fire
- A No-Maj Ponders Potter: The Order of the Phoenix
- A No-Maj Ponders Potter: The Half-Blood Prince
- A No-Maj Ponders Potter: The Deathly Hallows (part 1)
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