Red-Barracuda
Roger & Me is Michael Moore's first documentary feature film. It's more personal than his other films in that it focuses on his hometown of Flint, Michigan. More specifically on the aftermath of the closure of the General Motors plant that was based there, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs and subsequently led to a steep decline of Flint itself. The town developed such a poverty and crime problem that it was named as 'the worst place to live in America'.It's a blackly comic work which constantly contrasts the people afflicted by the upheaval with the attitude of the town's elite. It also takes a dim view of GM itself and its chairman Roger Smith in particular. The narrative thrust of the film sees Moore pursue Smith to try and get a face-to-face interview. Needless to say, he is successful in this endeavour in only an extremely limited way, only getting a very brief exchange late on in proceedings. Moore's approach to this and the film in general is typically manipulative though, setting up situations where he knows he will be rebuffed and including some unfair interview snippets with some quite innocent people, making them look stupid with editing for cheap laughs. When I viewed Moore's work for the first time, this sort of stuff didn't very much concern me but now I find it a little too underhand for my liking.Having said all this, if you accept that documentaries tend to be biased to some degree, I have to acknowledge that Moore does at the very least shine a light on a situation which otherwise would have been long forgotten by the majority of people by now and does give some disenfranchised folks a platform of sorts. And he is a skilled film-maker so his documentaries certainly are dynamic and entertaining which does help in getting a point across more effectively than a more sober treatment would. Roger & Me may be an attack on corporate America but it's often the smaller, stranger details that remain with you, such as the segment about the slightly unhinged lady who breeds and kills rabbits in her back yard in order to survive. On the whole, this film has all of the same negatives that all of Moore's subsequent work has, yet like those too it hammers home its point in an entertaining enough manner to remain in the memory and it occasionally hits upon an interesting truth every so often.
James Patterson
In case you're not aware, Roger and Me faced significant controversy from essentially political opponents, but also some scholars. Moore was charged with selective editing, shifting time relations (so that events seemed to follow one another when they didn't in reality) and so on. It is, however, a bit of an unfair charge, not least because these are frequently used strategies of narration.As it happens, Moore's interwoven personal narrative of his home town is ripe for such explication, not least because the film is very clearly a very personal project. While Moore is clearly a key protagonist, his presence really does enhance the affectiveness of the film. While the precise sequence of events has indeed been tinkered with, this often happens not just for political affect but also narrative coherence. Either way, what happened to Flint is, by any measure imaginable a human catastrophe, and Moore's capacity to relate this is as powerful as can be.
classicalsteve
The irony of this film is if Roger Smith, then Chairman and CEO of General Motors, had agreed to Michael Moore's request in 1987 when Moore began production, there wouldn't be a film, or at least it wouldn't be half as interesting as it turned out. Moore simply wanted to interview Smith and take him on a day-tour of Flint, Michigian where he and the GM executives decided to close several of their car-manufacturing plants. Instead, Smith avoids the encounter, sending Moore on a kind of corporate wild-goose chase which ends up being both amusing and heart-wrenching.The tragic under-story which is really at the heart of Moore's film is how Moore's hometown of Flint, Michigan, essentially goes down the proverbial sewer once the plants began closing, because in all likelihood, the GM executives did not understand how entwined the plant was with the local economy. Unemployment went up, businesses closed, houses went into foreclosures, people were evicted from rentals, and crime escalated. At one point, Flint becomes the crime capital of the United States. Certainly, to blame all of Flint's problems on the plant closing may be unfair, but most of the people who made the decisions to close the plants, particularly Roger Smith, are unwilling to talk about it. Moore, as far as I can tell, never demanded Smith reopen the plant. He just wanted to talk about how the life of the town had changed as a result. But talking about it would mean having to look at it, and look at it is not what Smith wants to do, which is I think the whole point of the film.At some point, Smith and the execs of GM become aware of Moore, his mic, his cameraman, and his crew, and hide from him at all costs, despite repeated requests for an interview. His employees as well as one of the lobbyists for the car industry, most of whom were not making 1% of Smith's yearly income, have to make excuses for him. The few who are willing to talk to Moore on camera rationalize that the decision to close the plants were in the best interests of the company, and that GM has absolutely no civic responsibility whatever, only the responsibility to make lots of money for their stockholders. Because Smith avoided Moore's microphone and camera, the irony itself makes interesting fair for a documentary film. The viewer's first thought is, what's he hiding? Of course, if Smith and his fellow executives made such a good decision by closing these plants right at the height of their profits, they should have nothing to hide and welcome the opportunity to explain their reasonings. Their avoidance of the conversation is quite telling."Roger and Me" was Michael Moore's first documentary and became the prototype for all his later projects. Moore interjects all the elements that will become trademarks for his future films: Moore's voice-over, classic film footage, home-movie footage, interviews with local people, footage of local events, and the most interesting of them all, going to the large executive suites, trying to get interviews. He did the same thing in his most-recent film, "Capitalism: A Love Story" where he used a blow-horn in front of a New York financial firm yelling "Give us back our money!" In Roger & Me he simply tries to get to the 14th floor of the main GM Building. At the time, the security and company managers didn't realize this would be tame by "Moore" standards.One of the more interesting developments is the numbers of celebrities and singers who come to Flint to try to inspire the town, everyone from the televangelist Robert Schuller, Pat Boone to then President Ronald Reagan, and Donnie and Marie Osmond make an appearance. Reagan suggests that the unemployed leave Flint and relocate to another state where there are more jobs. Sort of reminds me when certain politicians in the 1850's suggested African-American slaves relocate back to Africa. It's not only unrealistic, it's kind of insulting. Even Bob Eubanks, a native son and the MC for the Newlywed Game, visits Flint. Eubanks admits he knows nothing of their problems or their politics even though he was born there. The celebrities came and provided inspiration in very contrived live performances; unemployed persons got half off the regular ticket prices! The biggest irony is that aside from the discount, these celebrities who have made millions do nothing to actually help the town. The only attempt is an Autoland theme park, sort of like a Disneyland for cars, which bombs and closes after only six months.People have criticized Moore and his films because they distort the facts. But I don't think Moore is presenting a Frontline-like documentary. He uses humor and irony to make his point. The funniest and most-telling scenes are often the interviews of those on the adversarial side which inadvertently end up making his case. My favorite scene is when he is interviewing a few upper-crust ladies at a golf course, most of whom haven't worked a real day in their lives. With their golf clubs and sun hats, they're saying that these out-of-work people need to get off their duffs and do something. All the while they're swinging away at golf balls in between riding around in golf carts. It's so funny that they don't even see how hypocritical they appear. Of course none of the four women offer to do anything for their fellow Flint townsfolk. It's sad that these women could probably make such a difference in these people lives, but all they do is play golf.Certainly, Moore doesn't try to re-open the plant himself. But what he did was tell the story of Flint, Michigan, and I think that's Moore's main contribution. Again, his initial goal was simply to open a dialog. But of course, the minute people are willing to talk, who knows where it might lead?
pk-2
The best documentary i have viewed. This is a powerful indictment of American Corporate greed and the results to the blue collar worker. Who pay the price by loosing there job with the only trade they knew how to do since joining the workforce. Yes, like the one user mentioned, Govt. has something to do with the way companies function with there laws, tax's, and tariffs. But you can't tell me that these rich companies with allot of political power in Govt. Can't just stand up and say, No. Your hurting our company with these laws. But why would they care. All Ceo's and upper management have there golden parachutes. You can say what you want about all of Moore's movies, but if they were really so full of crap like so many believe, Where are all the lawsuits. There's none, because for the most part he's telling the truth. People who hate Moore are the same, Well off Middle and or Upper class, with no worries. You won't find too many poor people or people who lost there only job they know how to do, calling Moore a fraud and bum. Because they know the truth of what greed does. The Gordon Gecko's of the world still exist. And thats a damn shame.
