Do Not Take That Pill
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I recently caught two fascinating documentaries that examined and took to task the pharmaceutical complex industry (a.k.a., straight up pharmaceutical manufacturers). In Orgasm, Inc., Liz Canner details how her contract job making erotic videos for a small pharmaceutical company led her to uncover a less benign end goal - to actually manufacture a non-existent disease that would open up a new market in order to make a handsome profit. If we pretend that Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) is real (and Canner is careful to state that there is a small number of women for whom sexual pleasure can have physiological roots), then the answer is definitely not in the countless products that have been and continue to be tested to treat it. The film’s tone is cheeky, which fits the subject matter. It certainly makes it accessible, and hopefully not titillating.
Marilyn Ness’ journey to make Bad Blood was similarly arduous. Her film is a strong indictment of a profit-driven enterprise that brought about the deaths of thousands of hemophiliacs. Pharmaceutical companies took shortcuts to safety as a cost-effective measure, and medication to treat hemophiliacs—made from blood product—became contaminated with AIDS and Hepatitis B and C. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as the National Hemophiliac Foundation (which advocates for patients), entities that are trusted to protect their constituents, were passive and agreeable with Big Pharma. The results were disastrous. Ness’ film uses a treasure trove of archival footage and interweaves it with the stories of families whose loved ones were victims of this terrible oversight.
Both films approach their subjects differently, but the message is the same. Be vigilant about your body and health, and of those in your community. Question the source. Demand to be heard. Get a second and maybe even a third opinion. Think twice about whether or not you even need that pill.
Orgasm, Inc., opens in New York on February 11th, and Los Angeles on April 1. Bad Blood is screening throughout our communities.
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| Posted on February 4, 2011
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