CORPORATIONS EXPLOIT
BOTH HUMAN BEINGS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
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Massacrinq te megacorp
A new feature length documentary dissects the corporate bodies that have taken over the world. Tom Dawson demands a board meeting with one of the film’s
makers MARK ACHBAR.
‘ c w antcd with our film to makc thc commonplacc sccm strangc. to litcrally alicnatc thc \icwcr l‘rom thc normalc} ol~
corporatc culturc'. sa_\'s (‘anadian l’ilmmakcr .\lark .-\chhar ol' 'l'lit' ('orporution. a scarching. consciousncss-raising critiquc of. thc prcdatory actions of giant husincss institutions around thc world.
.\ collaboration hctw'ccn .»\chhar (picturcd). co- dircctor and cditor .lcnnil‘cr .-\hhott and writcr Prol'cssor .locl Bakan tw'hosc hook ’I‘ltt' ('orporution.‘ 'I'ltt' l’ot/to/ocit'tt/ Pursuit of Profit um/ l’owt'r proVidcd thc l'ilm's intcllcctual hcdrock). this widc-ranging documcntar} took sc‘Vc‘ti _\'cars to complctc. l)i\'idcd into multiplc chaptcrs. and l‘caturing intcnicws with major (‘li()’s. cconomists. acadcmics. journalists. and acti\ists. Tllt’ ('or/torotioit prcscnts Various casc studics. which i‘chal thc ruthlcss manncr in which corporations c\ploit both human hcings and thc cmironmcnt in thcir rclcntlcss drch iot‘ prolit: thcrc‘s thc attcmpt h} Bcchtcl to pri\ati/c thc w atcr stlppi} in a BoliVian cit}. thc swcatshop lahour uscd in thc liar iiast lw .-\mcrican clothing companics. and thc cl'l'orts ol' l-‘ox 'l'\' to pi‘chnt two of thcir imcstigatiyc journalists rcx‘caling dctails ot' a contaminatcd milk product dc\clopcd h)‘ onc of thc nctwork‘s sponsors. (‘orporations ha\'c. wc lcarn. hccn gchn thc samc lcgal status as human hcings sincc thc lh‘tltls. :\s a ps_\ chiatrist ohs'crycs. thc)‘ might hcst hc comparcd to ps_\ chopaths in thcir anti-social pcrsonalitics. which arc conccrncd onl} with sclllintcrcst.
‘Thc film contains as much as it docs and is long as it is‘. cxlilains’ .-\chhar. 'hccausc w'c l‘clt that thc issuc was important cnough. and hccausc thc scopc ot~ thc suhicct
mattcr is so cnoi'motis. lt's hccausc thc institution of
thc modcrn husincss corporation is so pcryasch in c\'ci‘} aspcct ol' our ich‘s that wc w'antcd to show that. in as many \\'tt_\s as w'c could that wcrc intcrcsting.‘
To sct alongsidc thc critical contrilmtions ol' Noam Chomsky. .\iichacl .\loorc and Naomi chin. Achhar and his collcagucs pcrsuadcd many high-ranking cxccutiycs to appcar in 'l’ltt' (‘orpomtion and to arguc thcir casctor hig htisincss. Was it difficult. I ask. to gct such individuals to participatc in a work. which shows thcir companics in such a ncgatiyc light'.’ '\\'c w'crc upfront with thc tact that w'c w crc dcaling with a compch issuc‘. i'CDIiCs .-\chhar. “and that thcrc w crc multiplc pcrspcctiycs on this and that wc wantcd thcirs. Thcrc's a rcmarkahlc candour to thcir answcrs: thcy wcrc \cr) forthright about what thc)‘ do and w h} thc_\‘ do it. it‘s important to rcmcmhcr ('lioiitsk}‘s point about distinguishing hctwccn thc indix'idual and thc institution. (‘crtainly thosc l mct in thc uppcr cchclons ol' pow'cr w'crc charming and smart and intcrcsting. and madc \'cr_\ good salcs-pcoplc.‘
Hcartcningly 'l'ltc ('orpomtion giycs concrctc cxamplcs of how communitics hayc rcsistcd and challcngcd inanil'cstations oi' corporatc pow cr. Thus a town in California has managcd to put a cap on any turthcr chain storcs within its houndarics. whilst a chartcr rcVocation mox'cmcnt in India targctcd thc oil hchcmoth ['nocal. ‘()ur lilm isn‘t prcscriptix'c‘. rcckons .-\chhar. “\Vc’rc trying to start a discussion. and we don't proposc a utopia. Social changc is a gradual proccss. thc point is that othcr dominant institutions in othcr cras hayc crumbled and hccn rcplaccd.‘
The Corporation is showing at the GFT, Glasgow and Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 29 Oct.
Hit
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' Ct' —.1 THE LIST 43