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While Moore ambushes his corporate subjects like a blue-collar Geraldo Rivera, a guerrilla interviewer who treasures his comic rebuffs as much as his interviews, his portraits of the colorful characters he meets along the way can be patronizing. The famous come off as absurdly out of touch (Anita Bryant appears for some can-do cheerleading, and hometown celebrity Bob Eubanks tells some boorish jokes), and the disenfranchised poor (notably an unemployed woman who sells rabbit meat to make ends meet) all too often appear as buffoons or hicks. But behind his loose play with the facts and snarky attitude is a devastating look at the victims of downsizing in the midst of the 1980s economic boom. This portrait of Reagan's America and the tarnish on the American dream comes down to a simple question: what is corporate America's responsibility to the country's citizens? That's a question no one at GM wants to answer. --Sean Axmaker
| ACTORS: | Michael Moore (II) |
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| DIRECTOR: | Michael Moore (II) |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 20 December, 1989 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Warner Home Video |
| MPAA RATING: | R (Restricted) |
| FEATURES: | Color, Closed-captioned |
| TYPE: | Documentary |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 085392764525 |
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Customer Reviews of Roger & Me
Flintstoning: the Fall of GM and a Community We will express our support for universal human rights and, particularly, those of our employees,the communities within which we operate, and parties with whom we do business.
--Excerpt from GM's Core Values & Guiding Principles
Michael Moore's Roger and Me is the tragic satire of the dismantling of the middle class, blue-collar community in Flint, Michigan. This documentary focuses on the closing of the town's largest employer-General Motors-resulting in the loss of over 30,000 jobs and the destruction of Flint's economic culture.
The film is a litmus to the bitter realities of "business gone bad"-or worse...gone bureaucratic. GM was more than an industrial leader to its employees-it was the cornerstone of life in Flint-an industrial Mecca. Employees believed in the vision of GM, lived the industry's values and devoted their careers to its existence. Those who lost their jobs during the plant closing in the 1980s also lost self-identity, self-respect and integrity for their personal lives.
Terminated GM workers were forced to find any means to make a living: Amway franchises, lint roller factory work, plasma donations, prison guards, Taco Bell line cooks (where most GM workers were terminated because "line work was too fast and stressful"). One woman morbidly resorts to selling rabbits for pets or meat. As Money Magazine dubs Flint "The Worst Place to Live in America," the film is threaded with daily evictions of families who cannot make rent, and the never-ending search for Roger Smith-Chairman of General Motors-as well as an overdue explanation of why GM disenchanted its employees.
From Pat Boone to the Hyatt to Miss America to Auto World, no one could save Flint from its demise. According to a GM spokesperson,"GM has not promised and does not owe employees cradle-to-grave security." Ironically, its guiding principles state something completely different.
The "Other" Suicidal Corporation
In 1988, Paul H. Weaver published "The Suicidal Corporation" about his days at the Ford Motor Corporation's public relations department. Starting with a neo-conservative view, Paul saw that Ford did not practice free enterprise and often pursued suicidal strategies in the marketplace.
In 1990, Michael Moore came out with his film "Roger and Me" showing the same suicidal behavior at Ford's biggest competitor - General Motors. The film lacks Weaver's economic insights, but makes up for it with the best dry humor ever in a documentary that has created its own genre. The British, reknown worldwide for their dry humour, are eating up everything Moore is spitting out.
General Motors closed scores of profitable assembly and parts plants throughout the eighties, while keeping open unprofitable ones. Moore's focus is on Flint, Michigan where GM's best cars were made - the Olds 88 and Buick LeSabre. Moore is a Naderite, but never really analyzes why GM is closing down profitable operations. So the viewer can only suspect that in the context of the increasing corporatism of the eighties and nineties, under the guise of free market rhetoric, that corporate machinations were designed to increase corporate power at the expense of other stake holders in the game. Share holders, too, come across as a low priority in all of this.
In short, an hilarious and timeless film that will always pick one up no matter how blue one feels from his or her daily encounters with the absurdities of life. I strongly recommend this film.
Typical Factless Nonsense
Why not called this movie instead "The Unions Killed Flint, Michigan"? Moore implies that the Flint plant was the best in class. If the plant was so good then why did GM close it? To move the production somewhere that they could produce for a better price? Exactly. Isn't that what capitalism is? Truth is that this plant and many other industrial outfits in America became bloated and expensive because of terribly inefficient union operations. Aren't companies in business to sell products? When they sell more they continue to employ more people otherwise they go under. Do you realize that only 2 of the original 30 Dow Jones companies still exists? These things don't last unless the companies make tough decisions. You always have to get cheaper or the competition kills you. Actually haven't the Germans and Japanese pretty much eaten our lunch in the auto market anyway? I'm sure it would be smarter to continue to make even worse, more expensive cars. That'll put the U.S. back on top in autos. Put blame where it really lies. No one wins when a huge corporation languishes and falls further behind. Would you rather lose some jobs to Mexico or lose 500,000 jobs altogether (yeah, half a million employees). I love the argument that GM had "record profits". Don't most companies have "record profits" every year? You grow 1% - isn't that 1% better than last year and therefore a "record"... yeah, it's a terrible year to grow just 1% but it's still a "record". Most companies grow over time. If they don't they have to lay people off to stay competitive. It is incumbent upon you and I to keep ourselves ready for the job market because we could be ditched at any time, just like we can ditch our company at any time. Has to be that way.
Moore, like most of you, knows nothing about economics. And is it surprising that Roger Smith never meets him? Trust me, this guy is so busy he has no time to make an appearance for this little meaningless film which amounts to little more than a smear campaign. If he took the time to meet him, what critical issues would he be missing. Can you even imagine the demands on a guy at this level? Doubtful that you can.