Roger and me film. Documentary Film "Roger and Me" 2022-11-01

Roger and me film Rating: 5,3/10 340 reviews

Roger and Me is a 1989 documentary film directed by Michael Moore, who also serves as the film's narrator and protagonist. The film tells the story of the decline of Flint, Michigan, a once-prosperous industrial town, and its transformation into a struggling, economically depressed community. At the center of this transformation is the closing of General Motors' plants in Flint, which results in the loss of thousands of jobs and the decimation of the city's economy.

Through a series of interviews, Moore tries to confront the CEO of General Motors, Roger Smith, about the impact of the plant closures on Flint and its residents. However, Smith consistently refuses to meet with Moore or even acknowledge the plight of the people of Flint. This serves as a metaphor for the disconnection and lack of empathy that many corporate leaders feel towards the communities that they rely on for their profits.

The film is both a poignant and powerful critique of corporate greed and the devastating impact that it can have on ordinary people. It is also a poignant and poignant portrait of a city in crisis and the resilience and determination of its residents in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Roger and Me was a groundbreaking film that helped to kick off the modern era of documentary film and has inspired countless other filmmakers to tell important stories about social and political issues. It is a must-see for anyone interested in documentary film or in learning more about the impact of corporate greed on communities around the world.

Documentary Critique Roger And Me Essay

roger and me film

Moore is joking at the end when he says, "It was truly the dawn of a new era. Smith: Well, I'm sorry about that. These efforts fail, as the Hyatt soon files for bankruptcy, Water Street Pavilion sees most of its stores go out of business, and AutoWorld closes due to a lack of visitors just six months after the grand opening. The magazine's cover blurb was "Motor Mouth Michael Moore," and portrayed the director with tire treads across his shirt. I would argue that he is on our side, the side of working people and progressives everywhere, even if we sometimes have to admit that he likes to gross us out. Moreover, thousands of people had lost their jobs but this does not mean that all those people should present their own alternative reality. However, an equally important goal is to encourage students to reflect on alternatives.

Next

Documentary Film "Roger and Me"

roger and me film

A British film that complements Roger and Me is Brassed Off, starring the brilliant Pete Postlethwaite. Disguised as a TV journalist from Toledo, Ohio, Moore interviews some auto workers in Flint and discovers their strong antipathy to General Motors chairman Roger B. This is just the way we expect things to be now. It considers one of the real issues in America today -- which is not whether the hero will be able to save the girl from the drug kingpin, or whether the two oddball cops will be able to get along, or whether the other person in bed with you is a slasher, but whether the traditional American ethic of fair play between worker and employer has been replaced by a paganistic corporate worship of the bottom line. GM betrays the American pride by denying the citizens the benefits that come with having a world-class company. What Roger and Me described as a bizarre extreme is now the new normal. This is a film about a city that at one time had a great economy.

Next

Michael Moore's 'Roger & Me' (1989)

roger and me film

All documentaries, they agreed, manipulate factual material in order to make a point, and they imply by their style and tone what kind of a point they are making. For many years she has worked with "Are the critics of this movie seeing a documentary for the first time? The concept of spectacle explains why the film by Moore is accepted by the audience: It is the product of the real life activity, though it is unreal or, it would be better to say, presents an alternative reality created artificially. His look hasn't changed in 25 years, and neither have his ideas. Also met is a former auto worker, angered over the layoffs, who is named James Bond. It was truly the dawn of a new era.

Next

Roger & Me (1989)

roger and me film

The face-to-face encounter between Moore and Smith is shown as this: Moore: Mr. The most famous resident that appears in the film is Rhonda Britton, who sells rabbits for "Pets or Meat". Moore speculates with a bitter wryness that human tragedy is not a major lure for tourists. Prevalent throughout the film is Sheriff's Deputy Fred Ross, who worked at a Flint GM plant for 17 years before accepting his new job as a sheriff's deputy position, whose job now demands that he go around town carrying out evictions on families unable to pay their rent or mortgages on their houses or apartments. He interviews an auto worker named Ben Hamper who apparently suffered a nervous breakdown after being laid off on the assembly line and is currently staying at a mental health facility. The residents play the song " At the film's climax, Moore finally confronts Smith at the chairman's annual 1988 Christmas message in Detroit. But then Pauline Kael, the New Yorker film critic who is powerful enough to set an agenda for the discussion on a film, picked up the Film Comment critique of Moore's facts, and ran with it in a review much more scathingly negative than anything Jacobson wrote.

Next

Roger and Me

roger and me film

I failed to bring Roger to Flint. Retrieved May 18, 2011. It is typical of Moore to combine his personal position and the way as he sees the things around with the factual materials which make the basis for the film under discussion. You'd have to go talk to their landlords. Moore is a satirist. GM refused to allow advertisements to its automobiles to play during television programs promoting the film, including an episode of The film premiered in Flint on December 19, 1989, and was released in New York City and Los Angeles one day later.

Next

"Roger and Me" by Michael Moore

roger and me film

There may be a sense in which people who spend all of their time in the movies are avoiding the politics outside the theater doors -- and resent it when political issues follow them into their womb of dreams. GM as a corporation was in very good shape. I want to mention two documentaries, neither of them particularly famous any more — one on the left and one on the right. Eventually Moore received grant awards from the The Big Boys. Moore confesses that during his early days he witnessed several citizens realize the American dream using GM. He points out that Flint is the place where the 1937 Flint Sit-Down Strike occurred, resulting in the birth of the United Auto Workers. How could he let this happen to a whole city when he had the power to stop it.

Next

Roger & Me

roger and me film

Others might be poetic, elegaic, angry or funny. He does finally get a few seconds at the GM Christmas party. As documentary films are commonly based on well-known facts that cannot be refuted for they have documented materials which affirm the reality of events depicted in the film. Most of the people Moore grew up with ended up becoming employees of GM. However when he gets a turn at the microphone to air his grievances to the board, and even though he is the last one, Smith seems to recognize Moore and immediately shuts him out and has the convention adjourned, despite Moore's attempts to interject him. It uses its leftism as a superior attitude. During the film's marketing GM and some commentators challenged the veracity of the film's claims.

Next

Roger and Me: The Story of a Rebel and His Mike

roger and me film

What effect did the author want to reach? To most people Michael Moore is a nuisance who is out to make a name for himself using GM. Learn More The documentary was made by Michael Moore a native of Flint. . Would you be willing to come up with us to see what the situation is like in Flint, so that people. AutoWorld would reopen the next summer only to close down again, and in the end was demolished, which is seen in Moore's film 'The Big One'. Retrieved March 20, 2012.


Next

'Roger and Me' Economics

roger and me film

This was a small profit to such a big company like GM. We thought—we really believed, only 25 years ago—that the American Dream was not just a scam or a fantasy or a fluke for the fortunate, but a vision of freedom and prosperity to which every American citizen was entitled. Bill Reed produces records and has been cohabitating with David Ehrenstein in unadulterated gay bliss since 1971. Some American based companies use this angle when they are advertising. . I don't think so.

Next