Having read a lot of reviews about _The Corporation_ that painted it as a balanced perspective on the institution, I was looking forward to this, but I have to say that I came away from the movie a little disappointed. The movie is slick, to be sure, with cool narration, nice graphics, and smooth editing. But I just couldn't get past the movie's biases.
To be sure, corporations are behind a lot of problems in the world, most of which stem from the lack of accountability that's part and parcel with public ownership. I, for one, am rather in favor of abolition of corporate personhood (and more strict standards for corporate charters). The problem with this movie is that it often goes too far and blames capitalism itself for these issues, when corporations are entities that are dependent on government for their very existence, and they differ fundamentally from privately-held businesses, individual consumers, and other actors in markets.
The movie does interview people from all over the political spectrum, but the most screen time clearly goes to lefties, such as Noam Chomsky (whose academic field - linguistics - is left unstated presumably to give his opinions on this subject more clout), Michael Moore, and Howard Zinn, along with catastrophists like Jeremy Rifkin. Milton Friedman, on the other hand, only gets a few sentences total (in spite of presumably being more qualified to talk on the subject). Some of the interviews even seemed out of place in this movie. A commodities trader goes on at some length about how 9/11 and Operation Desert Storm were seen as opportunities, but the commodities market is not directly relevant to corporations, and I'm betting that if they'd asked stock traders instead, they would have gotten a very different account. Rising oil prices might benefit commodities traders, but most corporations suffer (which is probably part of why the war was fought to begin with).
But ultimately, the worst thing about the movie is that its tone seems to blame capitalism itself for the problems while emphasizing the hypothesis that democratic control over corporations would improve things. Personally, I doubt this. The biggest problem with corporations as I see it is the lack of individual accountability, and putting things to voters to decide has the potential to create a huge mess, since voters are cannot bear full accountability for corporate actions either. Majorities and pluralities can be just as tyrannical as any king.
Having said all this, the movie did raise a lot of good points about the history of corporations and the various issues they introduce to the planet. The presentation was also nice, with its narrator, Mikela Mikael, sounding very much like the voice of a computer from an old sci-fi movie, and with a futuristic-slash-vaguely-ominous look to go along with it. My attention didn't stray from the screen for the entire 3 hours, so I suppose the movie largely succeeded, both as entertainment and as food for thought. Also, I must admit that I got off on hearing a pompous Harvard professor say "usurption" (check a dictionary if you don't understand). I only wish they'd exercised more critical thought and shown a somewhat less biased viewpoint overall.
10/10 for style, 5/10 for substance, 7/10 overall
To be sure, corporations are behind a lot of problems in the world, most of which stem from the lack of accountability that's part and parcel with public ownership. I, for one, am rather in favor of abolition of corporate personhood (and more strict standards for corporate charters). The problem with this movie is that it often goes too far and blames capitalism itself for these issues, when corporations are entities that are dependent on government for their very existence, and they differ fundamentally from privately-held businesses, individual consumers, and other actors in markets.
The movie does interview people from all over the political spectrum, but the most screen time clearly goes to lefties, such as Noam Chomsky (whose academic field - linguistics - is left unstated presumably to give his opinions on this subject more clout), Michael Moore, and Howard Zinn, along with catastrophists like Jeremy Rifkin. Milton Friedman, on the other hand, only gets a few sentences total (in spite of presumably being more qualified to talk on the subject). Some of the interviews even seemed out of place in this movie. A commodities trader goes on at some length about how 9/11 and Operation Desert Storm were seen as opportunities, but the commodities market is not directly relevant to corporations, and I'm betting that if they'd asked stock traders instead, they would have gotten a very different account. Rising oil prices might benefit commodities traders, but most corporations suffer (which is probably part of why the war was fought to begin with).
But ultimately, the worst thing about the movie is that its tone seems to blame capitalism itself for the problems while emphasizing the hypothesis that democratic control over corporations would improve things. Personally, I doubt this. The biggest problem with corporations as I see it is the lack of individual accountability, and putting things to voters to decide has the potential to create a huge mess, since voters are cannot bear full accountability for corporate actions either. Majorities and pluralities can be just as tyrannical as any king.
Having said all this, the movie did raise a lot of good points about the history of corporations and the various issues they introduce to the planet. The presentation was also nice, with its narrator, Mikela Mikael, sounding very much like the voice of a computer from an old sci-fi movie, and with a futuristic-slash-vaguely-ominous look to go along with it. My attention didn't stray from the screen for the entire 3 hours, so I suppose the movie largely succeeded, both as entertainment and as food for thought. Also, I must admit that I got off on hearing a pompous Harvard professor say "usurption" (check a dictionary if you don't understand). I only wish they'd exercised more critical thought and shown a somewhat less biased viewpoint overall.
10/10 for style, 5/10 for substance, 7/10 overall