Roger & Me¶
303 words on Films
Yesterday, Leif and me went to see Roger & Me, another, older, documentary by Michal Moore that was shown in a local arts cinema – probably due to the popularity of Bowling for Columbine.
With 'Me' being Michael Moore, it remains to say that 'Roger' refers to Roger Smith, boss of General Motors. The film deals with General Motors laying of ten-thousands of workers in their factories in Flint, Michigan – Michael Moore's hometown. In similar but perhaps a bit more innocent style, Michael Moore tries to meet Roger Smith and show him the misery his executive decisions caused in Flint – virtually killing the town.
Of course this doesn't happen. Not only is 'Roger' hard to meet and surrounded by PR and security smokescreens – also a company lobbyist reminds us very clearly of a fact easily forgotten: If well done, capitalism is inhumane. Running a company only implies responsibility for your profits but not for the people working for the company.
To further add a human touch, we frequently see scenes with the local deputy sherriff carrying out evictions of people who couldn't pay their rent anymore – due to losing their jobs at GM, it is implied. The other 'human touch' is from that woman selling rabbits as pet or as meat
to supplement her welfare benefit. Needless to say this caused more gasps in the audience than the family with a couple of little children evicted from their house on christmas eve (along with their tree).
The film could be seen as a reminder that it's not a good idea to let the livelihood of a whole region depend on a single company. Recent comments here suggest that this isn't the only way in which GM used their influence to 'improve' that region of the United States.
