The New Corporation: ... is a documentary that revisits an earlier documentary by the same filmmakers, which had looked at a legal ruling defining corporations as having many of the same rights as persons. The sequel focuses on how companies are rebranding as "socially responsible", while pursuing goals that undermine democracy. I expected a lot of talk about "greenwashing" (pretending to be environmentally conscious while continuing to ravage the planet), and there was some of that, but the film went further, exposing rampant privatization of not only health care and prisons (US trends I was well aware of), but also education in poor countries, and municipal water systems.
Much of the film was shocking and depressing. At one point we are told that we should be despairing over what is happening. Then the later parts of the film focus on very recent events: the pandemic and the uprising of a movement for justice in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, and we see how everything is connected, with the recent events exposing how the huge transfer of wealth enabled by the policies of privatization have made all of this much worse. There is some hope at the end, as we see some local movements succeeding, and people running for office to make things better.
This is a really important film, and I hope the positive message at the end in an indication that a better future is possible, but it also left us feeling haunted by how much trouble our world is in.
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