The Insider (1999) is a film rife with ethical dilemmas, suspense and controversy.
It is based on a true story related to a 1994 episode of the CBS news show 60 Minutes
that never aired. The plot puts Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) at odds with Brown & Williamson, the third largest tobacco companies in the country. Wigand was fired from his position as Vice President of Research and Development, at which he was instructed to hide information related to the addictive nature of nicotine. The plot takes off when Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), producer for 60 Minutes, discovers that Wigand has a story to tell. The best way for Wigand to tell that story is with the help of Bergman, via an interview aired on 60 Minutes. However, tobacco companies have a history of viciously defending their profits, by whatever means necessary, and Brown & Williamson does just that. The story hits a climax as the interests and incentives of the television station CBS, 60 Minutes, Dr. Wigand and Brown & Williamson are played out.
Portrayal of Business
The film portrays business in an extremely negative light. It focuses on two
central conflicts – one between Brown & Williamson and Wigand, the other between
CBS Corporation and Bergman.
Brown & Williamson is the primary antagonist. The film is ripe with examples of
the bad things they do. Their principle, most damaging offense is deceit. They are
charged with covering up the addictive properties of nicotine and finding ways to exploit it to increase profits. For example, in Wigand’s interview for 60 Minutes, he says that tobacco companies view cigarettes only as a delivery device for nicotine. He also says they take advantage of the addictive properties by manipulating and adj...
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...ons, the
responsibility that power implies and the responsibility of media as a corporate watchdog.
It seems obvious that large corporations have a tendency to ignore the negative effects of their actions in favor of profit. This example, although sensationalized, still says to me that with power comes responsibility. It affirmed my belief that a corporation’s goal cannot be just to provide profit to shareholders, but there must also be an element of social responsibility.
It also made me think about media’s role in business. I think it should be just as
portrayed in this film. Bergman relentlessly pursued the truth, using a very credible
source. Too often today, media is spoon fed by corporations. Media has a responsibility to objectivity that can be important in keeping businesses honest. But, it’s really up to media to maintain that objectivity.
The changes that the directors made to “The Outsiders” movie were eye opening to fans of the novel, The Outsiders. One of the differences between the two is the fact that Dally’s character and death was not the same as described in the novel. Another difference between the two would be the character’s description and Bob’s roll on drowning Ponyboy. There are some similarities such as the outcome of the church’s fire and the fate of the characters. The film adaption of The Outsiders, share many key points and scenes however, because the film was condensed there are many gaping holes in the plotline.
The story The Outsiders By S.E Hinton is said to be “timeless” because kids can relate to the characters and themes of the story. In my opinion the story The Outsiders is not timeless because kids these days can’t relate to the characters in the story The Outsiders. Kids today aren’t riding in rodeos, roll drunks, jump smaller kids, walk to a stranger's house, or get in a stranger’s car, also they get arrested at the age of 10. Saying the statement “The Outsiders is a “timeless” book “ is an invalid statement. So, Kids today often don’t relate to The Outsiders anymore in many ways.
S. E. Hinton’s argument is given from the perspective of a 14 year old Greaser named Pony boy Curtis who is being raised by his older brothers Darrel and Soda pop. The theme of the Outsiders is no matter what side you may grow up on whether you are a Greaser or a Socs, that you all can still have the same problems, see the same solutions, and dream the same dreams. You are also able to see how his character grows up and matures during the various interactions throughout this book. The two gangs in the book are the Greasers and the Socs (socials) and honestly, even after reading the book the only reason they didn’t like each other is they both had assumptions about each other that really weren’t correct.
The Insider, an award winning film directed by Michael Mann and starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, tells a story about a "whistle blower" that works for tobacco giant Brown & Williamson (B&H) teaming up with a CBS 60 Minutes producer/journalist. Working together they bring to light the fraud and health risks that the Tobacco industry knowingly commits on the general public. Based on a true story, Jeffrey Wigand, a senior scientist originally employed at B&H (played by Russell Crowe), and Lowell Bergman, a respected CBS 60 Minutes producer (played by Al Pacino), take on enormous personal and professional risks fighting their respective corporate employers to bring the truth to the world. Having worked for B&W as Head of Research and Development and as a corporate vice president, Wigand has the key information to bring down the company, and being an esteemed producer of CBS 60 Minutes, Bergman possesses the ability to inform the public of Wigand’s knowledge. However, the journey to reveal the truth is not so easy, as the two men are set against CBS corporate’s unwillingness to air the story and B&W’s ironclad confidentiality
While todays major tobacco producers deny that they market to the youth. However, we still see them subliminally targeting children through magazine advertisements, store posters, and Internet ads. In addition, they continue to use product placement strategies in mov...
To supply the wants and needs of a consumer, society entrusts wealth-producing resources to the business enterprise.” (Santayana, George. Is The Tyranny Of Shareholder Value Finally Ending? So before we go into greater detail on the different perspectives related to social responsibility, one might question the meaning of social responsibility. It is generally agreed that social responsibility is defined as the business obligation to make decisions that benefit society.... ...
The subject of Inside Job is the global financial crisis of 2008. It features research and extensive interviews with financiers, politicians, journalists, and academics. The film follows a narrative that is split into five parts. The five parts discussed are The Foundation, Mortgage Boom, The Crisis, Accountability, Where are we now.
MOVIE REVIEW OF ‘THE INSIDER” The Insider is a compelling and provocative drama, which is a very thrilling tale of what happens when a person is bound by the moral and rational appeals and responsibilities or what we would otherwise be calling deontology. It is very close to the human values and seems very practical in approach. The way the plot builds up truly reflects upon the work of the director and the various actors. It is a true masterpiece and probably one of the best works ever produced by Michael Mann who has other smash hits like “Heat” to his acclaimed credit. Too bad that he was not able to win many Oscars for his masterpiece although he did win a few nominations. But he sure did win the hearts of many viewers worldwide. What makes it all the more interesting that it seems so real that the viewers is kept wondering at times whether it is really a movie or some inspired story where names and figures have been changed. So much so that one is made to think about the complexities in life and a common man can relate to it. It is all about the drives for power, lust and greed and how one has to think about protecting oneself and the family. On one hand we have people who are trying to build a career and to make repute for themselves. On the other hand we have people who have lost their careers and are trying to re-make their careers and are having a start over all again. Eitherway the story is so compelling about the struggles that a well-t-do man might be forced to go through and the efforts that would have to be made in order to get somewhere. Story’s theme line revolves around the tobacco industry, which is prominent in US and dominates worldwide in terms of sales, power and earnings. The characters explore and look ...
The term “ethical business” is seen, by many people, as an oxymoron. This is because a business’s main objective is to make as much money as possible. Making the most money possible, however, can often lead to unethical actions. Companies like Enron, WorldCom, and Satyam have been the posterchildren for how corporations’ greed lead to unethical practices. In recent times however, companies have been accused of being unethical based on, not how they manage their finances, but on how they treat the society that they operate in. People have started to realize that the damage companies have been doing to the world around them is more impactful and far worse than any financial fraud that these companies might be engaging in. Events like the BP oil
Milton Friedman presents a compelling argument in “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits” by arguing that businesses need to focus only on increasing their profits and integrating social responsibility will only hurt them as a company. Since “only people can have responsibilities” (Friedman 52), Friedman argues that businesses as a whole do not have any type of real responsibilities because there is not a singular person for these responsibilities to fall on. Corporate executives are people as well and may feel they have social responsibilities to society but these “are the social responsibilities of individuals, not of business” (51). In terms of corporations, the businessmen are the ones that hold the responsibility of the company. Friedman argues that the only responsibility these managers hold is to those who own the corporation, the shareholders. If the individuals themselves want to contribute to social responsibility they must do it with their own money in their personal lives, but they should not use social responsibility in
To understand this issue from both sides, it is also important to gain a perspective from the corporate finance world. Understanding that the goal of a corporation is to maximize the profits of its shareholders, H.B. Fuller really did not have a social obligation. If, howe...
The arguments for and against corporate social responsibility have captured two points of view. Those who believe that organizations should not be concerned about social responsibility base many of their arguments on the costs involved and whether organizations should shoulder those costs on behalf of society. And those who are in favor feel that organizations benefit from society and, therefore, have an obligation to improve it. Although there is no universal agreement, surveys and other reports express that many organizations are, becoming increasingly active in addressing social
I recently read an article somewhere, in which BBC journalist Sigrun Rottman said that objectivity in journalism is an illusion and the media should think more of being balanced than being objective. According to her, objectivity in the media does not really exist. This hit home for me because before being a journalism student I believed that objectivity in journalism was undoubtedly the focal point of the profession and that the business of every journalist was to be objective. The truth and the reality of this belief as we know it and as I have come to understand is that objectivity in journalism really doesn’t exist or to put it in better terms, it doesn’t exist to the extent that we perceive it should. So, the oft-stated and exceedingly desired goal of modern journalism is objectivity - the ‘disconnected’ gathering and dissemination of news and information; this allows people to arrive at decisions about the world and events occurring in it without the journalist’s subjective views influencing the acceptance and/or rejection of the information. It’s a pity that such a goal is impossible to achieve! As long as humans gather and disseminate news and information, objectivity is an unrealizable dream.
When the problem became serious two main views formed: the “narrow” view and the “broader” view, based on different ideas. The “narrow” view is based on the proposition that corporations have no social responsibility and they have only one main purpose, to make a profit (Friedman, 1970). So corporations should remain socially independent and all conflicts must be solved through the individual responsibility concept. On the contrary the “broader” view states that corporations have social obligations as all existing participants of market, persons and entities are tied together and are mutually dependent. So corporations cannot ignore some serious events or problems, which take place, and must help society, as profit is not their single purpose.
Corporations that place an importance on corporate social responsibility usually have an easier experience when dealing with politicians and government regulators. In compare, businesses that present an irresponsible disregard for social responsibility tend to find themselves fending off various reviews and probes, often brought on at the assertion of public service organizations. The more positive the public insight is that a corporation takes social responsibility seriously; the less likely it is that innovative groups will launch public campaigns and claim government inquiries against it.