Documentary Review Assignment –MGMT 3030
Focus Documentary
CBC News. “Made in Bangladesh - The Fifth Estate.” YouTube. October 3, 2014. Posted October 25, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onD5UOP5z_c.
The documentary, Made in Bangladesh, made by CBC, addresses the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh and the increase in awareness that came from the outside. The documentary addresses the lack of care that was put into safety for the workers by both the factory owners and the contracting retail companies, focusing on the years leading up to the Rana Plaza catastrophe, where clothing made for Canadian consumers of Joe Fresh apparel was being made. The documentary discusses the circumstances around the working conditions of the Bangladesh garment industry. CBC, as a Canadian producer and broadcaster, focuses on the production of clothes sent to Canada from the factories in Bangladesh. They use facts and research alongside personal stories of workers and survivors to put interest the viewers from both a pathos and logos approach.
The documentary is structured in a way that presents the factual information first, and uses
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The documentary effectively utilizes a logos and pathos approach to highlight the unsafe working conditions of the Bangladeshi garment workers. The positive aspect of this documentary is the firsthand accounts of the hazardous conditions and the focus on what has been done to better the situation, and where the large retailers are still lacking in their ethical responsibility to ensure safe workspace. Thus, CBC’s documentary is an educational piece that brings forth the current state of the Bangladesh garment factory after Rana Plaza, and implores for heightened responsibility from the government and the retailers in
The Problems of Documentary Producers and the Audience in Jamaica ER and Head on the Block
In this documentary, the conventions and techniques included are; real footage, recorded audio, written codes, montages, use of authority figures/experts, facts and statistics, interviews, bystanders, animation, background music etc. The four conventions/techniques that I will be discussing in this essay will be real footage, use of authority figures/experts, sound and bystanders.
Previous to the fire, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union took a stand with the Women’s Trade Union League to strike against the their working conditions. Unfortunately, even though their voices were heard, many of the sweat shop owners disregarded all basic workers’ rights. Management had no fear from
Is it necessary for companies to abolish their associated sweatshops completely in order to achieve justice for the workers in these factories? Bob Jeffcott, a representative from the Maquila Solidarity network, employs an appeal to pathos in his editorial piece “Sweat, Fire and Ethics” to argue that citizens who are deeply concerned about this issue should go beyond altering their own consumerist decisions or targeting big companies and syndicate for educational and political institutions to establish policies against the operation of sweatshops. Contrarily, Jeffrey D. Sachs, a professor at Columbia University, appeals mainly to ethos in an excerpt from the chapter “Bangladesh: On the Ladder of Development,” in his book The End of Poverty,
In China, Kelsey Timmerman spent time with a couple who worked at the Teva factory, traveled to the countryside to meet the couple’s son, insert name, who hasn’t seen his parents in three years due to his parents working long hours and it being expensive to take a train ride. In the US, the author visited one of a few clothing factories in the US to talk to the workers about his shorts, and the decrease of American garment factories. Timmerman wants the consumer to be more engaged and more thoughtful when mindlessly buying clothes. By researching how well the brands you want to buy from monitor their factories and what their code of ethics details, you can make a sound decision on if this is where you would want to buy your clothes. The author writes about brands that improve employers lives like SoleRebels, a shoe company who employs workers and gives them health insurance, school funds for their children, and six months of maternity leave. Brands like soleRebels that give workers benefits most factory workers have never even heard of help improve the lives of garment workers and future generations. From reading this book, Timmerman wants us to be more educated about the lives of garment workers, bridge the gap between consumers and manufacturers, and be a more engaged and mindful consumer when purchasing our
We have been investigating the Bangladesh factory fire that occurred on November 24, 2012 and have found that managers had exits blocked, doors locked, and refused to let workers escape the factory after the fire alarms began due to a deadline they had for a big order. This big order was partially for Walmart, who claims Tazreen was no longer supplying to them at the time of the fire. Also, the fire hydrants at the factory were not working properly and the factory did not have proper equipment to fight or prevent a fire. This nine-story building was only authorized to be a three-story building. Fire drills were performed in the factory during lunchtime, which is the majority of the workers were outside. The managers did this to avoid cutting into work time. During this fire on November 24, 2012, many died and many were injured. Some had no other choice than to jump out of windows. All the people who are injured and all the families that lost loved ones are not receiving any compensation. Some have to sell their belongings. Many of them cannot afford medical care and can no longer work due to injuries (“Human Rights Watch,” 2014). Now, we need to take action and talk to Tazreen’s consumer companies to hopefully reach agreements and get both sides of the story. We also ne...
The incident at Rana Plaza was, in part, the result of the deteriorated political and economic state of Bangladesh itself. However, Marx and Engels positions on global capitalism and the struggle between capital and labour can be used analyse the characteristics of the incident and gain merit from classic theory of contemporary issues.
Bangladesh is being exploited for cheap labor by many big brand companies. Due to the unsafety of these factories many deaths have occurred. A factory collapsed in Bangladesh killing over 1000 people and the big brand companies are being forced to be held accountable for these incidents. This is known as the deadliest disaster that ever occurred in the clothing industry. Accidents like these happen often in Bangladesh. The safety standards in this country are usually never imposed.
“Sweatshops Are the Norm in the Global Apparel Industry. We’re Standing up to Change That.” International Labor Rights Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. .
Ravisankar concludes his expository essay by informing his audience about organizations like the University Students Against Sweatshops who are forcing corporations to source their clothes from respectful factories or they will not purchase their products.
The documentary strived to show us how factories were corrupt that they couldn’t provide good working conditions for the workers until we lost people. This documentary is about the tragic fire that took place on March 25, 1911 in the Triangle factory. We can clearly see through this documentary that these people didn’t matter to the factory owners because their needs were not met. The documentary shows that the year before the fire took place the workers led a strike asking for better working conditions, but obviously their voices were not heard. After the fire took place this is when factories started improving working conditions. It is sad to learn that it took 146 lives of innocent people in order for factory owners to be convinced that they need to improve the poor working
For example, in 2012 a Bangladesh factory producing garments for American and European companies caught fire killing 117 factory workers (Cooper, 2014). Additionally, in 2013 another factory in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1,100 workers, which was caused by foundational issues from the upper floors being built without a permit (Cooper, 2014). These incidents ignited outrage over both unsafe and unfair working conditions as well as the exploitation from MNCs, who had extremely profitable contracts with these factories. Consequently, due to public outcry the formation of enhanced government regulations, oversight, business initiatives, and public efforts have surfaced (Cooper, 2014). Although these issues have not been completely resolved, the question over the extent of which MNCs are responsible for adequate workplace safety remains a controversial topic. However, strategic efforts from these companies indicate the importance and necessity of remaining proactive in a globalized economy. These efforts consist of the formation of minimum workforce standards, compliance regulations, financial support, and long-term contractual
The people of Bangladesh suffer so much from flooding because of the location of Bangladesh, population, monsoon climate, wealth of people/country, lack of emergency services, low amount of food and unclean water and loss of life and injures caused by diseases and flooding. The government have developed a Flood Action Plan, but this plan to reconstruct the whole country will definitely be very difficult because of the inundating amount of problems.
2. Nichols, Bill. ‘Documentary Modes of Representation (The Observational Mode).’ Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Bloomington & Indianapolis; Indiana University Press. 1991. 38-44
Do Western companies that import garments from Bangladesh bear any responsibility for what happened at the Rana Plaza and other workplace accidents? The causes of the weak safety record of the Bangladesh garment industry are because of Western companies that import garments from Bangladesh and the government. The government could utilize their power to improve the conditions in Bangladesh, but instead they sit around and do nothing about it. If the retailers that signed the agreement hold up their side of the agreement, it could be beneficial to both sides.