The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary film critical of the modern-day corporation and its behaviour towards society. The topics addressed include a Business Plot in 1933 when General Smedley Butler was nearly implicated in a corporate coup against then US President Franklin Roosevelt, the tragedy of the commons, economic externalities, suppression of an investigative news story about Bovine Growth Hormone on a FOX News affiliate television station, and the Cochabamba protests of 2000 brought on by the privatization of Bolivia's municipal water supply by the Bechtel Corporation. Other important topics include: corporate social responsibility, the notion of limited liability, the corporation as a psychopath, and the corporation as a person.

Basic plot

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The film charts the development of the corporation as a legal entity from its genesis to unprecedented legal protection stemming from creative interpretation of the 14th amendment, that is from its origins as an institution chartered by governments to carry out specific public functions, to the rise of the vast modern institutions entitled to the legal rights of a "person." One central theme of the documentary is an attempt to assess the "personality" of the corporate "person" by using diagnostic criteria from the DSM-IV; Robert Hare, a University of British Columbia Psychology Professor and FBI consultant, compares the modern, profit-driven corporation to that of a clinically diagnosed psychopath.

Detailed Summary

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The film starts with modern day corporate logos rapidly flashing across the screen. After the logos begin to flash steadily faster the narrator's voice emerges and starts recounting the history of the corporation. She asserts that the corporation is today's dominant institution replacing bygone monarchy's and other totalitarian regimes. A speech made by George W. Bush starts the discussion about how a few bad apples are bound to be present in the corporate system. The narrator then points out the irony in that a metaphor with apples describes a machine that has and creates great wealth but also causes enormous and frequently hidden harms. Various interviewers then go on to use many other metaphors including a jigsaw puzzle, sports team, family, telephone system, whale, Frankenstein, and most notably Ira Jackson of Harvard universities metaphor to the "majestic eagle" which he scoffs at after he thinks the camera has been turned off. Next, the question of what is a corporation? is asked. Joe Badaracco, a professor of ethics at Harvard business school, defines it as a group of individuals working together to serve various objectives, the principle one being the creation of large, growing, sustained, legal returns for the owners of the business.

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Super Swamper 4You is an authorized retailer of the most recognizable tires by Interco Tire Corporation. - http://superswamper-4you.com/
4wheelparts4you (4Wheel Parts 4You) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:05:28 -0000
Super Swamper 4You is an authorized retailer of the most recognizable tires by Interco Tire Corporation. - http://superswamper-4you.com/
@hariguchi Google is just another American company - as well as Digital Equipment Corporation. The decision making is highly centralized.
kenji_rikitake (Kenji Rikitake) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:49:05 -0000
@hariguchi Google is just another American company - as well as Digital Equipment Corporation. The decision making is highly centralized.
Fonar Corporation, the MRI Specialist , a leading developer and manufacturer of MRI scanners. http://bit.ly/5DwPp3
Leneesha (Leneesha Shyam) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:47:22 -0000
Fonar Corporation, the MRI Specialist , a leading developer and manufacturer of MRI scanners. http://bit.ly/5DwPp3
Rushing to Lavasa Corporation for the big meeting!
drallah (Gautam N Allahbadia) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:46:25 -0000
Rushing to Lavasa Corporation for the big meeting!
@ohiostatehack I am as well, but a MEGA corporation makes me nervous.. I'm not the biggest marvel fun, but OH NOES! and things lol
portsigur (steven chaplinski) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:37:29 -0000
@ohiostatehack I am as well, but a MEGA corporation makes me nervous.. I'm not the biggest marvel fun, but OH NOES! and things lol
The First American Corporation: Portfolio Manager (Denver, CO) http://bit.ly/82SECE #Jobs #TweetMyJOBS
tmj_den_mgmt (TMJ-DEN Mgmt. Jobs) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:33:48 -0000
The First American Corporation: Portfolio Manager (Denver, CO) http://bit.ly/82SECE #Jobs #TweetMyJOBS

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