Roger & Me
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| Roger & Me | |
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 Movie poster |
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| Directed by | Michael Moore |
| Produced by | Michael Moore |
| Written by | Michael Moore |
| Starring | Michael Moore |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | December 20, 1989 (USA) |
| Running time | 91 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Roger & Me is a 1989 American documentary film directed and reported by independent filmmaker/journalist Michael Moore. With black humor, Moore illustrates the negative economic impact of General Motors CEO Roger Smith's summary action of closing several auto plants in Flint, Michigan, costing 80,000 people their jobs and economically devastating the city.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
Moore begins by introducing himself and his family through 8 mm archival home movies; he describes himself as "kind of a strange child," the Irish Catholic middle-class son of an AC Spark Plug worker. Moore chronicles how General Motors has defined his childhood in Flint, Michigan. He reveals that his heroes were the ones who had escaped the Flint factory life. Initially, he achieves his dream, working for a magazine in San Francisco, but this venture fails for him and he ultimately travels back to Flint. As he returns, General Motors announces the layoffs of thousands of Flint auto workers. Offended by what he perceives as an injustice, Moore begins seeking out Roger Smith to confront him about the closing of the Flint plants. Moore, thrust off by GM security and PR staff, changes course and turns his camera on the Flint Convention and Visitors Bureau [1], who are in the process of response by promoting a vigorously incompetent tourism policy, soon proved to be an embarrassing failure. Moore also exposes what he believes to be the naïve social attitudes of the upper middle class population of Flint and big business' callousness and greed; he's equally harsh towards the union leadership and the governments that helped create the situation in the town. Celebrities are also shown flocking to Flint to help the situation; Pat Boone sticks up for Roger Smith, saying he seems like a "can-do" kind of guy. As these events are depicted, Moore also talks to the townfolk - the "honest, hardworking folks" who are at a loss to think of a way to make ends meet after GM's closures, including a woman who makes her livelihood by selling rabbits as "pets or meat." At the film's climax, Moore finally confronts Smith at the chairman's annual Christmas message. Smith is shown espousing about generosity during the holiday season, concurrently as Sheriff Fred Ross evicts more families. After Smith's speech, Moore bird dogs Smith:
| “ | Moore: Mr. Smith, we came from Flint, where we filmed a family being evicted from their home the day before Christmas Eve. A family that worked in your factory. Would you be willing to come with us to see the situation in Flint?
Smith: I've been to Flint, and I'm sorry for them, but I don't know anything about it. Moore: Families being evicted on Christmas Eve are not able to live their lives... Smith: General Motors didn't evict them. Talk to the landlord... Moore: They used to work for GM. Now they don't work there anymore. Smith: I'm sorry, but... Moore: Could you come to Flint? Smith: No, I cannot. I'm sorry. |
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Dejected by his failure to bring Smith to Flint, Moore proclaims that "as we neared the end of the 20th century", as the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, "it was truly the dawn of a new era."
[edit] History
This film, financed partly by Michael Moore's mortgaging of his home and partly by bingo games, was meant to be a personal statement over his anger not just at GM, but also the economic policies and social attitudes of the United States government which allows a corporation to remove the largest source of a town's income from that town. The film proved to be the most successful documentary in American history at the time in its theatrical run (since surpassed at the box office by Moore's later documentaries Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11) and enjoyed wide critical acclaim. In response, General Motors threatened to pull advertising on any TV show that interviewed Michael Moore.
Roger & Me was the first film to document the following: (1) downsizing of corporations, and (2) outsourcing of jobs to developing world nations. GM's closing of several plants in Flint, Michigan, and opening new plants in Mexico is a prime example of outsourcing.
Michael Moore went on to become a leading left-wing social critic and activist, filmmaker, TV producer, and author based in part on the success of this film. He uses both an expository type documentary and an interactive perspective to demonstrate his opinion in this film.
Moore returned to the subject of Roger and Me with a documentary called Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint (1992), which aired on the PBS show P.O.V. In this film, Moore returns to Flint, Michigan two years after the release of Roger & Me to see what changes had taken place. Moore revisits Flint and its economic decline again in later films, including The Big One, Bowling for Columbine, and Fahrenheit 9/11.
[edit] Criticism
The 2007 film Manufacturing Dissent is strongly critical of Moore's tactics in the making of the Roger & Me. Specifically, it shows footage of Moore holding a lengthy question-and-answer exchange with Roger Smith during a May 1987 GM shareholders meeting. Moore chose not include this footage in his film. The AP reported that "Moore also reportedly interviewed Smith on-camera in January 1988 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York."[1] Moore himself refused to be interviewed or to speak to the filmmakers of Manufacturing Dissent, Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine [2].
Film critic Pauline Kael criticized the film for exaggerating the social impact of GM's closing of the plant and depicting the actual events of Flint's troubles out of chronological order. One such criticism is that the eviction at the end of the film occurred on a different day from Smith's speech, but the two events were intercut for emotional effect. It should be noted that the viewer is directly informed of this, both during the eviction scene and during Smith's speech and the subsequent attempted interview with him.
GM argues that the reason for its downsizing was fierce competition from Japanese auto manufacturers and that the only alternative to the factory closures in Flint would have been major government subsidies or increased protectionism. Moore briefly touches upon these issues, noting that GM and the factories were profitable when they were moved.
Others criticize that Moore did not follow the correct timeline of events (such as AutoWorld's opening in relation to a plant closing) in order to embellish his documentary. Moore addresses this criticism in the DVD commentary, stating that "there are no dates in the film; we'll be going back and forth throughout the decade of the '80s."
Also, in the film, Moore states that "Ronald Reagan" came to Flint, making no mention if he was President or just a candidate (in 1980, when he visited Flint, he was, in fact, a candidate trying to oust Jimmy Carter). On the Laserdisc and DVD liner notes, the chapter title says "President Reagan visits Flint."
[edit] Technical data
- Running time: 91 min.
- Country: USA
- Language: English
- Color: Color
- Sound: Mono
[edit] See also
- Flint Sit-Down Strike
- Six Flags AutoWorld
- Pat Boone, Anita Bryant, Robert H. Schuller, and Bob Eubanks — all visited Flint during its tough times, and all appear in the documentary
[edit] Related books and films
- Final Offer - a documentary film that shows the backroom 1984 General Motors contract negotiations, that would result in the union split of the Canadian arm of the UAW. It also shows how the UAW was more willing to negotiate with General Motors then their Canadian counterparts providing a very interesting look at union negotiation. The film depicts some of the events that would lead to the closing of plants in Flint, and other plants around the United States. GM Chairman Roger Smith is featured in the film.
- The Corporation - shows the history of the corporation and some of its potential downfalls.
[edit] Other documentaries by Moore
- The Big One - Bowling for Columbine - Fahrenheit 9/11 - Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2 (in production) - Sicko (in production)
- See also List of documentaries
