The Corporation
|
|
The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary film critical of the modern day corporation, considering it as a class of person (as in US law it is understood to be) and evaluating its behaviour towards society and the world at large as a psychologist might evaluate an ordinary person. This is explored through specific examples. The film was written by Joel Bakan and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott.
It charts the development of the corporation as a legal entity from its genesis to unprecedented legal protection stemming from creative interpretation of the 14th amendment, that is from its origins as an institution chartered by governments to carry out specific public functions, to the rise of the vast modern institutions entitled to the legal rights of a "person." One central theme of the documentary is an attempt to assess the "personality" of the corporate "person" by using diagnostic criteria like the DSM-IV; Robert Hare, a University of British Columbia Psychology Professor and FBI consultant, compares the modern, profit-driven corporation to that of a clinically diagnosed psychopath.
Other topics addressed include Smedley Butler and the 1933 attempted coup against Franklin Roosevelt, the tragedy of the commons, economic externalities, suppression of an investigative news story about Bovine Growth Hormone on a FOX News affiliate television station, and the Cochabamba protests of 2000 brought on by the privatization of Bolivia's municipal water supply by the Bechtel Corporation.
The film also features interviews with prominent left-wing voices such as Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Michael Moore and Howard Zinn as well as opinions from company CEOs, the right-leaning viewpoints of Peter Drucker and Milton Friedman, and right-leaning think tanks such as the Fraser Institute.
The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power is also the title of a book (ISBN 0743247442) written by Bakan during the filming of the documentary.
External links
- The Corporation official movie website (http://www.thecorporation.tv/)
- Interview with Joel Bakan (http://www.airamericaplace.com/archive.php?mode=display&id=280)
- Template:Imdb title