Anita Roddick Movies
In the mid-1800s, corporations began to be recognized as individuals by U.S. courts, granting them unprecedented rights. The Corporation, a documentary by filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott and author Joel Bakan, delves into that legal standard, essentially asking: if corporations were people, what kind of people would they be? Applying psychiatric principles and FBI forensic techniques, and through a series of case studies, the film determines that this entity, the corporation, which has an increasing power over the day-to-day existence of nearly every living creature on earth, would be a psychopath. The case studies include a story about how two reporters were fired from Fox News for refusing to soft-pedal a story about the dangers of a Monsanto product given to dairy cows, and another about Bolivian workers who banded together to defend their rights to their own water supply. The pervasiveness of corporate influence on our lives is explored through an examination of efforts to influence behavior, including that of children. The filmmakers interview leftist figures like Michael Moore, Howard Zinn, Naomi Klein, and Noam Chomsky, and give representatives from companies Burson Marsteller, Disney, Pfizer, and Initiative Media a chance to relay their own points-of-view. The Corporation won the Best Documentary World Cinema Audience Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane Akre, Raymond L. Anderson, (more)
Jack Herer, a longtime outspoken defender of legalizing the hemp plant, is known to some as "the prophet of pot" and to others as a central figure in an important environmental cause. This documentary uses interviews, archival footage, and an entertaining style to look at Herer's life -- including his early days as a Goldwater Republican, his stint as a "political prisoner" during the Reagan era, and historic protests and key moments in the controversy over cannabis. Herer expresses a concern that, when hemp was outlawed in the 1930s, the pressure for the ban came from political insiders and wealthy business interests that were focused more on profit and power than on public safety or morality -- which may have imposed an exaggerated negative slant on the use of hemp, in the guise of concern about the use of marijuana as a drug. The film provides background on the effective, practical worldwide use of hemp for manufacture of paper products, rope, and other basic materials -- suggesting that U.S. industry could shift toward using hemp for fiber and oil-based products, instead of relying on timber, petroleum, and less-renewable resources. The soundtrack features music by Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson, and others. Peter Coyote narrates. ~ Alice Duncan, Rovi
- 1993
Tycoons is a 13-part series chronicling the achievements of some of the most ambitious and driven entrepreneurs of the modern world. The biographies provide a personal look at the moguls at work and play, and interacting with their families and friends. The program Anita Roddick presents the success story of the founder of the The Body Shop, a skin and hair care retail business. In 1976, Roddick founded her company on the philosophy that business should operate humanely and be environmentally sound. Before turning entrepreneur, the daughter of Italian immigrants in Britain journeyed around the world and was employed as a teacher. Other programs in the series include Robert Mondavi, Phillip Knight, Richard Branson, Gordon Wu, Dr. Ivo Pitanguy, Karl Lagerfeld, and more. ~ Sally Barber, Rovi
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