The Corporation Review
What happens when a bunch of lefties wih access put together a 3 hour documentary analyzing and then psycoanalyzing the history, purpose, and malfunctions of the modern day corporation?
Here is the synopsis from the official website :
THE CORPORATION explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Footage from pop culture, advertising, TV news, and corporate propaganda, illuminates the corporation’s grip on our lives. Taking its legal status as a “person” to its logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist’s couch to ask “What kind of person is it?” Provoking, witty, sweepingly informative, The Corporation includes forty interviews with corporate insiders and critics - including Milton Friedman, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.
[yeah I was too lazy to use my own words :)]
I personally thought the usage of the most popular/powerful leftists out there (Chomsky, Zinn, Moore) was total overkill. If they stuck to the interviews of the industry insiders the documentary would not and could not simply be tinged as leftist propoganda. The intended audience is unclear… is this film supposed to be a startup packet for wanna be hardcore leftists, or is it supposed to appeal to those who just don’t know about the nature of corporations?
The ammount of research and effort which went into putting this film together is pleasantly surprising (unlike most independent films). The quality of artwork and animation are even more surprising. My favorite part of the documentary is when all the traits of a psycopath are attributed to modern day corporations. The idea was borrowed [plug and play] from a book written by Joel Bakan. The most powerful part of the film was definitely the interviews which were done. You can see a list of all the people interviewed and thier backgrounds on the [url=http://www.thecorporation.com]official website[/url]
I didn’t get the DVD yet, but I am thinking about it. It has many extras which may be worth checking out. You can add this to your collection of films to lend to your ignorant Gungho Republican neighbor. Also for those involved in education this would be great for a classroom environment. I am hoping someone does some documentaries on things like the stock market, its culture, its flaws, and weak points and also I would love to see a film about the mysteries surrounding how interest rates work and effect the world. When Greenspan makes a statement it has an immediate impact on the stock market. I am wondering if this is too dry of a subject to do a film on. Afterall ecnomics is boring as hell.
I just want to add that it took me quite a while to finish watching this… because either it was too much info to digest in one sitting, or I couldn’t find three hours to just watch it. So one day at work. I left it playing in the corner of my screen while I did my work.
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