Movie Review: The Corporation
On Sunday I managed to catch The Corporation - the highlight documentary of the Revelation Film Festival. You will be hearing a lot more about this insightful and award winning independent release in the future.
Canadian and Sydney contacts had already told me to catch it and The Corporation didn’t disappoint. The documentary is based on Joel Bakan’s book “The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power which asks the interesting question:
“If the corporation is a person - what sort of person would it be?”
It’s a question no-one asked when 150 years ago we gave the incorporated entity all the legal rights of a natural person, but without the same social or moral obligations. The documentary answers the question with over 40 interviews of leading CEOs, social commentators, psychologists, leadership writers and activists. People like management writer Peter Drucker, nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman, social scientist and critic Noam Chomsky and filmmaker Michael Moore provide insightful views.
For anyone who has ever wondered what the ‘corporate social responsibility’ issue is about, The Corporation candidly illuminates the existence of a blindspot that will eventually mean the social death of some of our largest corporate citizens.
For me the movie highlighted that, having left the question unanswered for so long, many CEO’s feel they no longer have the ability to guide and control the moral personality of the places in which we work. On the other hand, those who understand this movie will probably be the ones who will successfully manage the (inevitable) transition from ‘the Corporation’ to ‘the Corporate Citizen’.
The Corporation is screening on SBS on Wednesday January 5 at 8.30pm as Part 1 of a three part series.
Check it out: Synopsis
July 13th, 2004 at 12:19 pm
Well the Corporation seems a must see. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
As things are evolving the documentary is the new hot thing. At last an alternative to “reality tv”.
As the anthropomorphic drive continues … we can examine the coporate DNA and see what genetic modifaction is required to produce a sustainable self managed personality we can all be proud to be part of … enter Mary Shelley!
Thanks Will
July 14th, 2004 at 6:39 pm
Thanks Will! I have not had much time for the movies lately, but I will definitely MAKE time to see this one!
I so passionately believe that the REAL life of the corporation is the people at the coal face, who serve the corporations’ customers, that it’s great to see this message coming to mainstream cinema!!
July 21st, 2004 at 2:00 pm
Hi Will !
I’ve heard it’s well worth seeing. As part of a research project on the future role of the corporation in society, I found some interesting material on the macro-history of corporations -did you know the proximate cause for today’s corporation may well be the fact that Henry VIII couldn’t have a son by his first wife? As a result we had ‘the reformation’, then the charter system, ‘royalties’ etc. In those times business charters were only granted to companies who operated in the public interest (as interpreted by royalty and parliament which could mean anything from building a road to colonising another country…..).
In response to your comment “no-one asked the question” my research indicates that they did ask but were outvoted – at least in the case of limited liability. It seems to me there were two bifurcation points in the 18th and 19th century that contributed to corporations being the entities they are now: the formation of the American Corporation which took rights away from royalty and nobility and handed over the management of companies to Boards of Directors and management teams; and the introduction of the Companies Act and Limited Liability in the UK, as you say about 150 years ago. The latter primarily to attract funding for a large public works project (the building of the public railways).
The Mercantile Law Commission was established to consider whether or not limited liability should be introduced and the Commissioners were apparently divided on the issue. Hot debate ensued! Whereas many were supportive, others were already concerned at what they saw as the potential for increases in moral hazard and the risk of fraud. Ultimately the supporters won the day.
As Simms says:
It is a lasting historical irony that legislation designed to facilitate public service began a long chain of events that would eventually enable corporations to shrink from public social responsibility.
I guess it’s easy to be wise in hindsight – let’s hope more companies (and governments) choose to be wise in foresight.
July 21st, 2004 at 5:50 pm
.. and as we speak legal practices have sought the right to incorporate in Western Australia to enable them to “compete more effectively with other incorporated entities which are increasingly active in the market for legal services” - (WA Law Society - Discussion Paper on the Incorporation of Legal Practices) - following other states.
Which asks the question - ‘What happens when the protectors of our morals and laws are ‘non-people’ with no personal ethical responsibility?’
While the legal practitioners themselves will still under the same duty of ethics, it is like asking your legs to be responsible for what your mind does. Moral people do not necessarily make moral corporations.
History repeats…
September 16th, 2004 at 7:09 am
Seeing The Corporation for the second time last night I again was struck how at risk we are in the genetic engineering arena. What happened with petrochecmicals will again happen with genetics - we will make it because we can. Just reading Richard Slaughter’s book ‘Futures Beyond Dystopia’ I am reminded what happens when our consciousness (UL) for understanding is diminished in comparison with our technological ability (UR/LR) to act and how this affects our future healthy emergence.
In this diminished capacity state, we as moral, kind and thoughtful human beings are capable of great atrocity. In failing to recognizing that human nature is not fixed and consciousness is stratified we will continue to amaze ourselves at what we can allow ourselves to do, and not understand how movies like The Corporation cannot reach those who it is about, but can only hope to inspire action from those who already understand.
The only question is will the action by those who can see be conscious, moral and respectful of emergence or will it be equally pathological and fearful out of a failure to understand the bigger picture, inspired by preceived crisis.
There are at least two paths we can go down - I am sure the collective ‘We’ will attempt to choose both.
September 21st, 2004 at 7:46 pm
I will not comment on the role of advisers and actuaries in this latest saga and whether what was done was lawful (or at least not criminal) - but witness the social death of James Hardie Industries.
A once proud family of Australian corporate life. Would you want your name there?
The consciousness that made such a decision is beyond ignorant in a world that is more aware than they.
Watch the others follow as ’survivng-well’ ICONs struggle to know what they cannot see.