Andrew Morgan's Film: The True Cost

In ninety minutes, Andrew Morgan’s documentary, The True Cost, shows the story of the clothes we wear today, the people who make these clothes, and the impact it’s having on the world. The link between the people making the clothes and the consumers who are buying it, is investigated to show the truth behind the fashion industry’s low-costs. The goal of this film is to get people to change the way they think about the things they wear.

Morgan informs the viewer about how in the 1960s the United States make 95% of its clothes. Unfortunately, today the U.S. only makes 3%, and the 97% is outsourced to developing countries. China produces one in six of every dress sold in the U.S.

Every aspect of the clothing commodity chain was covered, from the cotton grown in Lubbock, Texas to the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh where the workers who make the clothe live. One of the first things we learned about in class was commodity chain analysis, and how knowing where your clothes come from is important. This way we can engage and figure out the best way to act towards these situations.

Consequently, as the death toll increased, so did the profits. Rana Plaza, in Dhaka, was the worst disaster in the history of the garment industry. A total of 1129 people died, when the factory collapsed. The fact that the workers were forced back inside to work, even after expressing their concerns displays how profits overrule human life in our current economic system. The year after the Rana Plaza disaster was the most profitable yet. The film invokes a feeling of guilt in viewers, because everyone is guilty of buying an article of clothing, because it was on sale. The tragedies in the factory, like Rana Plaza in Dhaka highlight how