Roger and Me

            Roger and Me The Modes Moore Employs Roger and Me is the story of Michael Moore's quest to right the wrong done to Flint, Michigan by Roger Smith, CEO of General Motors. GM factories closed down in Flint, resulting in unemployment for of thousands of workers. These laid off auto workers are products of generations of auto workers. GM has been a Flint way of life since the factories first opened. But, finding that operation and labor costs were substantially less in Mexico, Roger Smith filled for bankruptcy and closed the plants down. The consequences of this shut-down were devastating to Flint. The rat population exceeded that of humans, houses were abandoned, and families who couldn't afford the rent were evicted. The citizens who remained in Flint were now residents of the city with the highest crime rate in all of America. These are just a few of the issues which spurred Michael Moore's pursuit for the illusive Roger Smith. Roger and Me, on a basic level falls into the Interactive category with its involved interviews and archival footage. On page thirty-three, Nichols comments on the use of archival footage in the Interactive Mode of Documentary. Writing that old news clips are often appended onto expert and witness interviews as to avoid reenactments and voice of god commentaries. Moore uses archival footage in several different ways. First, he uses it to show the way Flint t used to be. There are shots of a parade used while Moore talks about growing up in Flint. Moore also uses clips from the nightly news when discussing the high crime rate of Flint. The substance of Moore's documentary is made up of interactive interviews. On page fourty-four, Nichols writes of the Interactive Mode: " The filmmaker's voice could be heard as readily as any other, not subsequently in an organizing voice-over commentary, but on the spot, in face-to-face encounter with others. The possibilities of serving as mentor, participant, prosecutor, or provocateur in relation to the social actors recruited to the film are far greater than the observational mode would suggest.