Subscribe to RSSAbsolutely Safe
November 13th, 2008 | by Alive Mind Education | published in Absolutely Safe, Films C-D
Last year nearly 400,000 women in the United States got breast implants. At a time when more women than ever are making this choice, fewer voices than ever seem to be asking “Why?” And fewer still are asking “Are they safe?” Absolutely Safe takes an open-minded, personal approach to the controversy over breast implant safety. Ultimately, Absolutely Safe is the story of everyday women who find themselves and their breasts in the tangled and confusing intersection of health, money, science, and beauty.
At its heart, Absolutely Safe is driven by the experience of the filmmaker’s own mother. Diagnosed in 1974 with breast tumors, Audrey Ciancutti underwent a double mastectomy with silicone-implant reconstruction surgery. A year later, her implants ruptured, and soon after, her health steadily declined. Like thousands of other women, Audrey believes her debilitating illnesses—joint pain, chronic fatigue, scleroderma– are linked to her breast implants; however, most doctors and researchers deny this link. Among the debate by plastic surgeons, toxicologists, attorneys, implant manufacturers, whistle blowers, government officials and activists, Absolutely Safe introduces more everyday women like Audrey who make choices about their breasts in our appearance driven culture.
Even though the FDA recently lifted its restrictions on silicone implants and approved them for wide-scale use, many serious questions remain regarding breast implant safety. However, Absolutely Safe reveals that the conversation on implant safety is far more complex than simple pros and cons. Rather, the real conversation, the most important conversation—with the most difficult and challenging questions—rests with viewers themselves, as all individuals in our culture ultimately face this confusing intersection of choice, risk, money, beauty, and health.
Absolutely Safe sparks this long overdue cultural conversation.
Absolutely Safe Product Information
Grade Level: Grades 10-12, College and University
Subjects: Health, Culture and Society, Identity, Ethnicity and Sexuality, Women’s Studies
Copyright: © 2008 Amaranth Productions. All rights reserved.
Set: DVD Only
Total Running Time: 83 minutes
UPC Number: 7-18122-56457-6
Catalog Number: ALV-DV-17
Educational Prices: (includes Public Performance Rights)
- College / University: $250.00
- Library / High School: $120.00
Note: If you are unable to pay via PayPal, please contact info@alivemindeducation.com or call us at 212-398-3112 to order this title.
For public exhibition inquiries please contact us for more details!
Additional Information & Resources for Absolutely Safe:
- The Film
- Implant Controversy
- Our Choice
- Take Action
Reviews
-Judy Norsigian, Co-Author and Executive Director, Our Bodies Ourselves
“This moving and disturbing film follows the journeys of two women, one seeking to have her leaking implants removed, the other seeking to have breast augmentation. Interspersed with these tales we meet plastic surgeons both for and against the surgery; women who have suffered mightily due to their silicone implants, including the filmmaker’s mother; and members of the FDA committee who decide whether or not to allow silicone back on the market. All along the viewer feels powerfully the impact pressures to be beautiful have and have had on American women. Breast implants clearly “solve” the problem while introducing myriad new ones. Absolutely Safe should be mandatory viewing for every woman considering surgery. Watching the brutal extraction of failed implants from a patient’s chest wall should be enough to give anyone pause. And the young mother who decided to get implants shares with us her loss of breast sensation. A sense of sadness lingers over the scene. This film makes starkly clear that the female sense of inadequacy is not an individual phenomenon. Institutionalized sexism affects all of us. Destroying our health seems to be an acceptable solution. Absolutely Safe bravely challenges the status quo.”
-Diana York Blaine, Ph.D., The Writing and Gender Studies Program, University of Southern California
“Harrowing, human, and persuasive, Absolutely Safe is an important and beautifully made piece that explores the sometimes deadly and disfiguring consequences of breast implants. Full of nuanced observations, the film chronicles the experience of women who are in various stages of either choosing to get breast implants, or to have them removed. Absolutely Safe is a story that must be told and absolutely must be seen”.
-Rob Moss, Director of Secrecy and The Same River Twice
“We were interested in this film as breast implants have become the most popular elective surgery in Israel in the last few years. It has also become affordable to almost everyone. We believe in educating our viewers as to all aspects of these types of surgeries and this film sheds a light on the possible dangers that are involved in these surgeries.”
-Daphna Israeli, YES Network, Israel
“Our screening and panel discussion of Absolutely Safe was the best attended gender-related programming we’ve had in the history of the University of Texas at Dallas, with approximately 120 students in attendance. Our students loved this program. Absolutely Safe explained the science behind the controversy over the safety of breast implants, but put a human face on all those statistics and research. The white-coated doctors and scientists in the film made their points, but students also went along on the journeys of two women—one getting breast implants and one getting her ruptured implants removed. This film engaged our students, who had over an hour of questions and comments after the screening. They left the program (in their own words) “enlightened,” “angry,” “disgusted,” “appalled,” and–above all—wanting to talk some more about women’s health, ideals of beauty, and the health risks of implants. And they did — to their roommates, their girlfriends, their mothers, and their friends, among others. This is just an amazing, powerful film for engaging students with issues of gender, power, and health policy. “
-Erin Smith, Associate Director, Gender Studies Program, University of Texas, Dallas
“Absolutely Safe is an insightful, moving, and necessary look at the effect of silicone implants on women’s lives. By offering a variety of perspectives Carol Ciancutti-Leyva is able to capture the complexity of this controversial topic. Absolutely Safe should be mandatory viewing for any woman contemplating implants.”
-Kimberly Sedgwick, Co-Founder and Director of Red Tent Sisters, Toronto, Canada
“Showing Absolutely Safe on campus was the best thing I did for Boston College students this year. The film is a harrowing warning to the dangers of breast implants, as well as a captivating look at the social and political dynamics that shape the controversy of implants in our society. I applaud Carol for making and sharing such an important film, and I strongly encourage everyone to see it!”
-Lauren Brown, Women’s Studies Program Boston College
March-April 2009, Volume 24 Issue 2
Absolutely Safe
Rating: 3 out of 4 Stars - Recommended!
In this day and age, breast implants are thought to be “absolutely safe,” a claim that filmmaker Carol Ciancutti-Leyva examines in this thought-provoking documentary. As Ciancutti-Leyva notes at the outset, her mother Audrey chose augmentation after a mastectomy in the 1970’s, a time when the procedure carried greater risks (and before saline became an alternative to silicone). Over the years, Audrey experienced ruptures, joint pain, and chronic fatigue, eventually speaking before an FDA Safety Hearing in 2003 (her testimony is included here). Filmed over a 10-year-period, Absolutely Safe looks at five decades of implant technology, while interviewing women such as former exotic dancer Wendi, who has her silicone implants removed after experiencing health problems, and young wife Denee, who gets implants in order to boost her self-confidence–even though her husband thinks she looks just fine (the film includes some graphic operating-room footage of the procedures for both women). As a toxicologist notes here, these “devices” (as the medical profession refers to them) can leak heavy metals–such as tin, zinc, and platinum–difficult for the body to expel. Offering opinions on both sides, other interviewees include plastic surgeons, a Dow Corning executive, an FDA spokesperson (who cautions that “nothing is free of risk”) and satisfied breast implant customers. Veteran documentarian Jennifer Fox (An American Love Story, Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman) served as executive producer for this documentary, which offers an admirable balance between the personal and the scientific. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)