The Corporation

Taking as its starting point the idea of corporate personhood – the concept that legally corporations enjoy the same rights as people in the United States – this compelling Canadian documentary by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott diagnoses the corporation from a medical perspective. Using as their basis the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” as well as a range of interviews and historical examples, the filmmakers demonstrate that, judged by human standards, modern corporations are by their nature psychopathic, self-absorbed and manipulative. Subjects include Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, and Ray Anderson, CEO of the world’s largest commercial-carpet manufacturer, who speaks about undergoing a green conversion after having a crisis of conscience.