The film demonstrates the growth of the corporation as a legal entity from its genesis as an establishment engaged by governments to perform certain public works, to the growth of the contemporary foundations entitled to certain lawful rights of a person. A fundamental focus of this documentary is to evaluate the “traits” of the corporate individual by means of the diagnostic standard from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Robert Hare, a Psychology professor at the University of British Columbia as well as an FBI consultant evaluates the sketch of the recent, profit-driven corporation as a clinically diagnosed psychopath. The film revolves mostly around corporations based in North America, in particular, on those in the United States. The film brings forth several literary descriptions probing into corporate practices providing in-depth analysis and criticizes them.
It compares examples of corporate misconducts and the DSM-IV’s indicators of psychopathic behavior i.e. indurate disregard for the way of thinking of others, failure of maintaining durable associations, callous unconcern about others’ safety, guile in the context of being repetitively deceitful, and misleading others for yield, inability to admit responsibility, and failure to accord to the societal rules and disrespect to legitimate conducts. It provides a deep insight into various issues such as the Business Plot of 1933, in which the admired General Smedley Butler uncovered a corporate plotting of coup d’état to overthrow the then United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt; the tragedy of the commons, economic externalities along with many such other topics.
THE CORPORATION is a well-structured and deeply captivating documentary and educates the viewers about the way corporate decisions impact the world.