Deadly Deception - General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment

Oscar-winner! Grassroots activists successfully expose a corporate giant's environmental record
by
Year Released
1991
Film Length(s)
27 mins
Closed captioning available
Remote video URL

Introduction

The Academy Award-winning Deadly Deception juxtaposes GE's rosy "We Bring Good Things To Life" commercials with the true stories of workers and neighbors whose lives have been devastated by the company's involvement in building nuclear bombs. It tells a powerful story of how consumer activists can challenge corporations causing harm.

Featured review

A meticulous polemic that does to General Electric what Roger & Me did to General Motors...infinitely more frightening than anything in Nightmare on Elm Street
Desmond Ryan
The Philadephia Inquirer

Synopsis

Driven by intensely personal testimony and painstaking research, Deadly Deception exposes what GE never wanted its customers to know: a shocking pattern of negligence and misinformation spanning several decades. These tragic stories are answered by the inspiring activism of the GE Boycott, a grassroots campaign run by corporate accountability organization, Corporate Accountability International, to pressure GE out of the nuclear weapons industr. Nine months after this film won the Oscar® for Best Documentary Short Subject, GE pulled out of its work in the nuclear weapons industry, and organizers of the GE boycott declared victory in their grassroots campaign.

Ideal for classes on business ethics, advertising, environmental issues, the arms race, media literacy, and community organizing.

Reviews

Deadly Deception is a prime example of non-corporate, citizen journalism. Its imagery, clean interviews, juxtaposition of advertising fantasy with devastating realities and its no-nonsense, non-sensational style of reporting is a bulwark against an increasingly corporatized and centralized media landscape. Anti-corporate journalism is still a part of our cultural DNA and Deadly Deception will inspire new filmmakers, journalists and activists to produce equally impactful products.
Eric Singer M.Ed.
Ph.D. Educational Outreach Coordinator and Curriculum Developer - Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States
You'll never again be able to calmly view a GE commercial after watching this compelling video....a sickening and powerful story of 45 years of lies and corporate crime.
Utne Reader
Utne Reader
Investigative reporting at its highest level.
American Film & Video Association
American Film & Video Association
It's ludicrous [for G.E.] to say that after this film won an Academy Award that this had nothing to do with the [company's] decision to leave the business three months later," says social investment analyst Amy Domini. "To say it was coincidence stretches the imagination.
Steven Perlstein
Business Ethics
Chilling...enlightening...sharp...succinct.
Betsy Sherman
The Boston Globe

Awards and Screenings

Academy Award, Best Documentary Short Subject
Grand Prize, Ambiente-Incontri International Film Festival on Nature & Environment
C.I.N.E. Golden Eagle
Best of Festival, EarthPeace International Film Festival
Gold Hugo, Chicago International Film Festival
Jury Award, New York Expo of Short Film and Video
Museum of Modern Art Documentary Fortnight

Features and Languages

Film Features

  • Closed Captioning

Promotional Material

Promotional Stills

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