Capitalism: A Love Story

I need to begin this review by saying that I am a fan of Michael Moore. I realise he gets a lot of criticism for what he says and does but I still believe in him. For me he makes a very convincing case. 'Bowling For Columbine' is one of my all time favourite documentaries.

There was a documentary released in 2004 called 'The Corporation', which affected me a lot. I could not believe that corporations were allowed to operate the way they have. But I feel powerless to do anything. The only change I could make would be to go live on a self sustaining farm in the middle of no-where. You basically can't escape corporations and their evil powers. This film does not have the same power as 'The Corporation' but it still proves how evil corporations are. But are they? Society has let this evil flourish and capitalism is what drives this evil. All we care about in society is making money and so we let these corporations do what they do because we are under the illusion that we can share in their wealth. There is a brilliant Australian film called 'The Bank'. In it Anthony LaPaglia plays the chairman of a bank. There is a brilliant scene where he is talking to the board where he explains how the bank does not care about the welfare of its customers or society at large. All they care about is making money for their shareholders. That is who corporations have a responsibility to; no one else. Companies must make money or else shareholders will sell their shares and the company will go broke. They will screw any money they can out of a person or ruin their lives if it means they can make money for their shareholders. That is why they are allowed to get away with what they do. There is a heartbreaking section of this film where Michael explains how corporations will take out life insurance policies on their workers so they can claim when they die and not give any to the family. They basically make money off dead workers and in some cases think of their workers as better off dead than alive. That is how evil these people are. They have to make money and they will do what ever they can.

This film proves all these things and is excellent at doing it. While not as powerful as some of Michael's previous efforts, it is still very interesting stuff. I definitely learned a lot more about the Global Financial Crisis. The film is a little bit too long and drags in some places. Michael has a habit of repeating some things and driving his point home a little bit too much. But despite all the doom and gloom there is a happy moment in the film. To me it shows what we need to do as a society to stop these evil corporations getting away with the evil that they do.

If you want to know why the world is in such a bad shape financially at the moment then go see this film. It helps explain things for you and in an entertaining way.