The Corporation Corporations have been around for as long as I can remember. Building up businesses and bringing in revenue. But I never personally understood the corporation. Why did they need to throw advertisements at me all the time even though I know their product is out there? Where did the product ultimately come from and why couldn't I see the jobs it was supposedly producing? These thoughts never passed through my brain I guess because I wasn't interested in knowing how it functioned as long as I could see the results and reap the benefits. The documentary The Corporation gave great insight into the questions I wanted answers to.
The Corporation is a documentary by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott, and Joel Bakan. It was produced in 2004 and has received many awards, one being the Sundance World Cinema-Documentary Audience Award. The makers of the documentary delve deep into the inner workings of the corporation ultimately defining it as a psychopath. It includes many acclaimed writers and corporate insiders to peel away the shiny venier of what we think the corporation is and what it stands for. Mark Achbar has also done other documentaries such as Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media and Two Brides and a Scalpel: Diary of a Lesbian Marriage. Each of his documentaries go into detail about things that are over-generalized by the media and by what people tell us and he pulls them apart to tell us the true story. Jennifer Abbot has also done a documentary called A Cow at My Table which is about western attitudes towards meat production and this goes a long with the animal health issues brought up in this film.
Many themes are present throughout the film; a basic understanding of the corporation, its overwhelming flaws, its impact on society as a whole, and what has been and can be done to try and combat this monster. Throughout the film, the fact that the corporation is a liar and a deceiver is ever present.
The relation to human society is clear; the corporation does not care. Various cases are brought to attention. For example, a case against the Fox Corporation. Two news reporters researched a story against Monsanto concerning bovine growth hormones and how this can impact human health. The Monsanto Corporation was very very upset about this find and this led Fox to some untimely and unprofessional decisions. Leading us again, to the fact that corporations have no interest in what happens to its consumers as long as they keep consuming. There are cases concerning animal welfare, human interest, the future we have to look forward to if we don't stand up to the big giants around us, and what we can do to prevent our inevitable brain washing.
Editing throughout the film was fantastic. The cutaways used gave the viewer a visual reference to what the speaker was saying whether it be sharks, roaches, or social scenes. They also included scenes from older televised materials. The interviewee, however, was in an awkward position, literally staring at you through the screen while being interviewed. This was effective in drawing the viewer in but it was also a little strange to be staring directly at the speaker with nothing but black behind him or her. The film was divided into chapters with each one leading to the next. Human health cases lead to animal health cases lead to cases that delved into each case. The Corporation was shot in a sort of humorous manner but it also included many serious points, each broken up throughout the film with one another. A serious moment in the film was followed by a less serious, more humorous moment. It also included scenes from other documentaries such as Michael Moore's The Big One to emphasize certain stances in the documentary.
The score of the documentary includes:
"The Love Life of the Octopus" by Yo La Tengo
"Riot" by unspoken
""Frio", Late Night Lovin" by Third Eye Tribe
"Page" by Transmo
"The Sand, The Sea, The Stars", "Opal" by Shawn Pinchbeck
"Frontline" by Sean D. Andrews
"It Can Happen" by Scott Morgan
"Named After the Chorus" by Mitchell Akiyama
"Theme for Great Escapes" , "Lo Moan the Night's Pulse" by The Mazeguider
"Revolutions" by Leonard J. Paul
"Hush", "Johny Bear", "LOUDzilla" by LOUD
"Pressure", "Discrete Entropy", "Vapour", "Gymnote", "Mute 3" by loscil
"The Third Chamber", "Tchengo" by Sam Dodson and John Muddyman
"Sentience", "Static One" by Jeremiah
"We'd Like to Hear From You", "We Trust", "The Perfect Coffee", "This Labour", "Enjoy the Fruits" by intermission
"Narrowboat" by Higher Intelligence Agency & Biosphere
"Talu", "Dover", "What I Don't Know", "Plexus" by Granny 'Ark
"Classic Noodlanding", "Chinatown", "Reitschuie" by DoMakeSayThink
"Bad Apple" by David Wilcox
"Mars Type Beat", "Killer Frogs" by Bugbreeder and Freaky DNA
"Missing", "River Mist", "Bhopal", "Surveillance", "Uprising" by Andy McNeill
"Love Song" by Uzume Taiko Ensemble
"Movin' On", "Rock It!" by Accent Music Productions The music was used throughout the film to coincide with the atmosphere of the scene in which it was used. For the slower, more serious scenes, slower and more dramatic music was used while for the more up-beat scenes, faster music was used. It kept the viewer in tune with what the directors wanted him or her to feel in that certain scene and it kept the viewer generally interested.
All in all, this documentary is very compelling to watch and is full of information not generally produced for the public eye. It picks apart the corporations we thought were there for us and our well being to tell us the exact opposite. It includes interviews that the viewer can depend on as good information. The Corporation is a documentary that should be seen by anyone with questions about big business and what it really means to society.
