Power, corruption, exploitation and abuse in the early film industry

By the late nineteenth century, moving image technology allowed audiences to view and experience the world in a new and unique way. It was also at the beginning of its existence as an industry, and so prone to developing characteristics frequently associated with corporate power – corruption, exploitation and abuse. This study examines the evidence for the existence of these qualities, taking into account the unusual nature of the film manufacturing process itself. This evidence is used to explore a key assertion of the Frankfurt School that, during this period, film and other cultural industries contributed to the development of the increasingly totalitarian and Fascistic traits found in Western society. For the Frankfurt School, capital was the driver that steered individuals and groups to act in ways counter to the laws and understandings on which civilisation was predicated. This study considers the proposition of how film, as a commercial industry, was subject to these impulses and therefore how repeatedly examples of corruption, exploitation and abuse can be traced in its history. Breaking the industry down into three components – the corporate, the personnel and the products – the workings of power and profit are explored for their underpinning of strategies that ensured that its profits were routed in the desired direction. First, ownership and domination had to be established. Then, the production line had to be kept working to ensure that films continued to be generated to feed the distribution and exhibition networks. To do this, hierarchies had to be asserted and maintained and there was no room for deviation or dissent. Maintaining this system at times involved overriding the notions of fairness, truth and legality. The results of these strategies ranged across the gamut of criminal and unethical behaviour – from sexual abuse to violence and slaughter.