The Corporation: more than 'a few bad apples'

Catholic New Times, Feb 29, 2004 by Jean Smith Cavalluzzo

Directors: Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott. Big Picture Media Corporation 145 minutes. Rated PG.

If a "corporation" could be personified, what psychological characteristics would it have? The Canadian-made documentary, The Corporation, by directors Jennifer Abbott and Mark Achbar, undertakes this challenging question.

In the process, it has won the Sundance Film Festival Award and the NFB Best Canadian Documentary Award, among others. Abbott's first film, A Cow at My Table, won her several awards, while Achbar's landmark Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media earned him international acclaim.

Through many interviews, case studies, research and film clips, the film maker shows that, as a person, the corporation could be diagnosed as a "psychopath." The directors use a fascinating prop to add structure to the content of the film--the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a check list that psychiatrists use in diagnosing behaviour. The film compares the consequences of various corporate actions against these criteria. The screen comes alive with a blur of logos--IBM, Monsanto, Sears, Chevron, General Electric, Nike etc.--as criminal convictions are documented for corporate dumping of poisons into the environment, cheating employees, pensioners and shareholders, illegal trading with repressive regimes, abuses of labour practices, etc.

While capitalist apologists are heard on film referring to these corporate offenders as "bad apples," the evidence suggests the psychopathic behaviour of corporations presents a systemic problem. Indeed, the whole barrel is rotten.

Corporations have a life of their own, since they have become "persons" under the law. Corporations are required by law to place their own interests above the public good, making them prone to exploit others without regard for laws and moral limits. Corporate social responsibility, sometimes yields positive results, but generally serves to mask the corporation's true character, not to change it. The corporation's self-interest victimizes people, the environment, and shareholders, and can cause it to self-destruct (witness Enron and numerous recent corporate scandals). Despite corporate flaws, governments have minimized constraints on corporations through deregulation. Governments have granted corporations great power over society through privatization. Indeed, corporations have evolved from mere structures making money on public projects to all-encompassing global power-holders.

How is it that corporations are able to flout the law? Through historical research and vintage footage, the film explains how corporations used the justice system to obtain legal rights equal to those of humans. Corporations were originally given government charters to undertake specific projects like building a bridge or a canal to make money from them. There was a time limit to the charter. The corporation did not have the capacity to buy other corporations or sue anyone. However, after the American civil war these new entities found a way to extend their power and make their structures permanent. Through legal challenges, corporations won the status of "person" with legal rights equal to those of humans, by using the 14th Amendment, that was meant to protect the equal rights of freed slaves.

Stimulating and entertaining

The Corporation is stimulating, entertaining and informative. The film glides through interviews with over 40 social critics, as well as corporate executives and henchmen. The cast of characters includes Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, Naomi Klein, and right wingers, Michael Walker of the Fraser Institute and Milton Friedman of the Chicago School.

Despite its length of 145 minutes and the droning voice of the narrator, the film brought the Toronto audience to its feet in spontaneous applause. Individuals were overheard asking. each other, "What can we do about these corporations?"

Clips used in the film addressed the damage caused by corporate decision-making on third parties. In Bolivia, where water was privatized, people were even forbidden from collecting water from rivers and streams or gathering rainwater for their own use because the water belonged to an American corporation. In India, Monsanto sold farmers genetically modified seeds that did not reseed themselves, leaving farmers constantly at subsistence level because of the cost of re-buying seeds every season. In Florida, award-winning journalists were dismissed by Fox T.V. and sued by Monsanto for reporting accurately on negative research results from a bovine hormone used to increase milk production in dairy cows. Not only did the chemical cause physical harm to the cows, but evidence showed that the drug passed on in the milk to humans. Not only do corporate decisions assault individuals and the public good, apparently we don't have a right to know about it either.

Can we gain control over the "corporation?" The Corporation ended on an optimistic note by showing successful social actions taken against corporate abuse. Take time to see The Corporation when it comes to your area and log on to www.planetfriendly.net/forum to Question Business to find out more about what you can do.