Roger & Me
Director Michael Moore pursues GM CEO Roger Smith to confront him about the harm he did to Flint, Michigan with his massive downsizing.
- Director: Michael Moore
- Genre:Documentary
- Runtime:91 minutes
Cast
James Blanchard : Himself
James Bond : Himself
Pat Boone : Himself
Rhonda Britton : Herself (‘Pets or Meat’)
Anita Bryant : Herself
Official Site:-
Moore begins by introducing himself and his family through 8 mm archival home movies; he describes himself as “kind of a strange child,” the Irish American Catholic middle-class son of a General Motors employee assembling AC Spark Plugs. Moore chronicles how GM had previously defined his childhood in Flint, Michigan, and how the company was the primary economic and social hub of the town. He also points out that Flint is the place where the Flint Sit-Down Strike occurred, resulting in the birth of the United Auto Workers. He reveals that his heroes were the Flint natives who had escaped the life in GM’s gigantic factories, including the members of Grand Funk Railroad, Casey Kasem, the spouses of Zubin Mehta (Nancy Kovack) and Don Knotts, and “Flint’s most famous native son,” game show host Bob Eubanks.
Initially, he achieves his dream of avoiding factory life, working for a magazine in San Francisco, but this venture fails for him and he ultimately travels back to Flint. As he returns, General Motors announces the layoffs of thousands of Flint auto workers, the jobs of whom will go to cheaper labor in Mexico. GM makes this announcement even though the company is experiencing record profits.
Disguised as a TV journalist from Toledo, Ohio, Moore interviews some auto workers in Flint and discovers their strong antipathy to General Motors chairman Roger B. Smith. Moore begins seeking out Smith himself to confront him about the closing of the Flint plants. He tries to visit Smith at GM’s headquarters in Detroit, yet he is blocked by building security as Moore hasn’t made an appointment. A company spokesman comes to the lobby and exchanges contact information with Moore, promising him to discuss an interview with Smith. Over the course of the film, Moore attempts to track down Smith at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club and the Detroit Athletic Club, only to be told either that Smith is not there or to leave by employees and security guards. Read more
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