It has been fourteen years since General Motors laid off 33,000 people and inspired Michael Moore's documentary "Roger & Me." However, many things have yet to change in terms of worker conditions. Perhaps workers have more benefits than they did previously, but in Flint, Michigan today, they are battling some of the same problems they did in 1988. I do not particularly think that conditions have gotten any better since this incident. .
General Motors was established in Flint, Michigan in 1908. However, in the late 1980's, GM president Roger Smith decided to close down some of the plants in Flint and laid off some 33,000 people. This act damaged the city of Flint for many years since most of the city was employed by GM. Although there was a Union, many people thought it inadequate, due to the belief that the people in the Union were becoming too cozy with the upper management, and employees were losing power. To describe the conditions of the city, there were blocks upon blocks of abandoned businesses with boarded up windows. A large portion of the city moved away, and others were quickly being evicted, as many as 24 evictions a day. People were resorting to desperate measures, such as a woman who sold "Bunnies for pets, Rabbits for meat." The city turned into one of the largest crime zones in the country, and was forced to build a new jail. However, these conditions helped various other businesses. UHaul, for instance, had a constant waiting list for trucks, and the Post Office was kept busy with the many changing addresses. .
Oddly enough, GM was going through a very similar situation in 1998, a good ten years later. Once again, Flint, Michigan was facing the threat of plants closing. For half of a year, the company and its workers had been struggling with issues such as safety and health, speeding up productivity lines, etc. Senator Paul D. Wellstone remarked, "GM's hard-line stance and labor-war tactics endanger the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers in the automotive industry and in the industries that rely on auto production for their business.
Roger & Me In 1989, Michael Moore released a documentary that he made called Roger & Me. ... Upon hearing the news, Michael Moore decided to film Roger & Me. ... Michael Moore was set in trying to get in touch with Roger Smith. ... This task took him many places in search of Roger Smith. ... Michael Moore was still on the trail of Roger Smith. ...
Recognize me not, by word, by sign, by look! ... Shouldst thou fail me in this, beware! ... When Roger found out that it was Arthur he was joyous. ... Roger began to thrive on hurting Arthur. ... Ay, ay, you must have known it; for he tells me he is of your party, and a close friend to the gentleman you spoke of, - he that is in peril from these sour old Puritan rulers!" ...
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. ... Roger and Me, on a basic level falls into the Interactive category with its involved interviews and archival footage. ... In Roger and Me, Michael Moore interviews many laid off auto workers, the city council of Flint, Michigan, representatives of upper-class Flint, and in the end, he finally speaks briefly with Roger Smith. ... Moore acts as the narrator/protagonist throughout Roger and Me, ushering the viewer on a g...
Roger & Me by Michael Moore is a documentary that set a new standard and a fresh outlook for a whole genre of films. ... The best moment was when Moore switches between Roger Smith reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and the Sherriff evicting a family and watching the family throw their Christmas tree in the street. There is a moment where you feel all hatred for Roger Smith and GM. ...
Roger & Me This film is billed as a comedy however the life stressors of unemployment are not funny in the true comedic sense at all unless laughter is used instead of crying as a sort of defense mechanism. If any thing Roger & Me is such an extremely dark comedy, you need a microscope to find the humor. This story shows Michael Moore a Flint Michigan native who is looking for Roger Smith the CEO of General Motors after GM closes 11 plants in Flint and lays off more then 33,000 workers. ... Roger Smith but, were comfortable in their lives. ...
Changes in Roger Chillingworth In the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, there is a character by the name of Roger Prynne. ... Roger Prynne changes physically over the course of the book. ... He is the Roger Prynne and changes to Roger Chillingworth to hide form the shame of being Hester's husband. ... Last of all Roger Chillingworth changes spiritually. ... Who made me so?!" ...
Who is to blame - Roger or America? ... The downside to so much freedom is the fact many may have to suffer in order for others to succeed, a situation shown in the events of "Roger & Me". ... Leftward - leaning filmmaker Michael Moore spends nearly three years documenting the demise of his hometown of Flint, Michigan, in his late 1980's documentary, "Roger & Me". "Roger & Me" surrounds the decision, made by the corporation General Motors, to close down 11 of their auto plants in the Flint area, and Moore's resultant pursuit to meet and talk to the man he deemed responsible for...
Roger Chillingworth, for example, had the flaw of seeking revenge. ... Ultimately Roger Chillingworth comes to represent true evil. ... "I must seek this man there is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. ... This leads me to my next point; another affect on Chillingworth's life was how revenge completely consumed him. ... Who made me so?...
Roger and Me Analysis In this film, Michael Moore is satirizing corporate America, specifically the General Motors scenario in Flint, Michigan, during the late 1980's. ... This final sequence involved a scene with Roger Smith delivering a speech at a fancy Christmas party, followed by a scene with a family getting evicted from their home on Christmas Eve. ... The singing was also punctuated by curse words from the family directed at Roger Smith. ... On the other hand, Moore was able to emphasize those scenes even more by juxtaposing them with scenes of Roger Smith living in luxury....
