Movies-TV

Roger & Me

This is a good video explaining the history behind General Motors and how they treated their employees. What "goes around comes around" as they say. Now it's up to the American people (since we have majority ownership now of GM) to say we want them to use the latest technology in batteries and electric cars to provide a clean-fuel alternative to the polluting vehicles on the market now.

Great film, despite some of Moore's liberties

Easily the funniest documentary
of all time, this film takes a hard
look at the common working man.
So many elements in this film are
excellent, and one gets to see the
tough life these factory workers
experience. From the cross action
between Roger Smith and the workers
getting evicted is one of the most
surreal moments in a film full of
them. While Michael Moore fiddled
with the timeline egregiously, the
tongue-in-cheek attitude most of
the people exhibit is shocking. A
movie for anyone who feels frustrated
with the daily rat race.

Every potential immigrant should watch this!

Every person who is thinking to immagrate to this country should watch Roger and Me. I came from Soviet Union and because of ideological war (which was big part of cold war)we had totally biased view of US. Propaganda in USSR was so primitive that most of people did not believe it, but they trusted veiled American propaganda. (We did not think at that time that both sides can be wrong). We were listening to rock music, watching Hollywood movies and were extatic about gum. If I have seen movie Roger and Me I would never come to this country. I have to admit that I was one among millions of naive believers in "American Dream". I feel very bitter and cheated but it is my fault and I can not blame anybody else.
Image which America projects all over the world is image of an enlightened country and true democracy. Country where people regularly excersize, eat well and all look like Hollywood stars.
Sorry, they will not tell you about epidemic of obesity and 400LB guys who go for gastric stapling in desparate attempt to reduce their weight.
People reading this can ask, if we are so bad why you guys do not go back to your country. The answer is fairly simple: most of the countries we come from are not any better than this one and when you go through so much struggle and abuse to get settled you do not have any energy left to move again. besides, it also issue of injured pride. You do not want to admit that you made a wrong decision.
I highly recommend this movie to any American who is intested to explore alternative views about their country and also to foreigners contemplating to immigrate to US.
If somebody is not holding loaded gun to your head, promising to murder you and your family, think twice before you come here!

Roger & Me---timely and timeless

This is a rare film, as it serves as a snapshot of corporate greed in the late 20th century, yet I believe that 100 years from now, people will still be able to relate to it, just as 100 years ago, Michael Moore could have gone to Pullman Illinois.

Roger & Me (1989)

Michael Moore, who comfortably lives in a 2 million dollar home, shares his Socialist views about how "unfair" corporate America is in this documentary-style movie. Unless the person watching the movie likes to hear about how corporations should have the legal and moral obligation to take care of us from cradle to grave, I wouldn't recommend it. Biased drivel.

What a brave piece of work this is

Only such a talented filmaker such as Michael Moore could have produced this movie. It is a chronicle of Moore's journey to talk to the CEO of General Motors, the company that "downsized" the entire GM staff of Flint, Michigan. With clever satire throughout the movie, he shows us what callous disregard corporations like GM has for its employees. Every American should see this movie.

Moore is to documentaries what Stern is to talk radio

This satire makes fun of the folks who lost their GM jobs in Flint, Michigan due to auto production plant relocations. While only mildly ridiculing Roger Smith, then Chairman of GM, Moore sets about completely discrediting the people of Flint. I left the theatre vowing to never buy another car made by a bunch of whiny incompetents in the Flint, Michigan area.Instead of producing satirical comedy about these poor folks, he could have put his film to good use producing something of value, like how to build good cars so that the plant won't close.The people of Flint were hurting, except one - Moore, who laughed all the way to the bank - after stopping at McD's to feed his fat face with a rabbit-burger.

They were expendable

Business is war and employees are an expendable aspect of it, as the 1989 film ROGER AND ME colorfully illustrates. The documentary depicts General Motors' desertion of its Flint, MI, plant for the lower expenses and cheaper wages of Mexico. Riveting as the bolts that hold Cadillacs and Buicks together, ROGER AND ME tracks journalist Michael Moore's attempts to interview G.M. chair Roger Smith as ex-employees' attempts to build new lives fail. When it comes to the autoworkers' union protection, ROGER AND ME shows how the divide-and-conquer method works so well for General Motors. See ROGER AND ME!

I can't believe I didn't see this movie until now (2002)

No wonder this film put Michael Moore on the map. It's brilliantly conceived & executed. Great editing, dialogue, etc. Every CEO in the US should be made to watch this film. For the record, I think corporations should have some kind of responsibility to the community. Otherwise, as MM partly points out in this film, our jobs will just keep going to Mexico or elsewhere.

Agree with it or not, it's a hilarious movie

Michael Moore directed this thought-provoking movie documenting GM's massive plant closures in Flint, Michigan. The ensuing layoffs plunge Flint into a terrible situation - it becomes crime-ridden and destitute and is selected as Money magazine's Worst Place to Live in the US.

Moore is obviously opinionated - he backs the "stakeholder" view of corporations that says that corporations must be obligated to their employees, the community, etc., as well as their shareholders. It's not a view I completely agree with. And many might be turned off watching this movie finding it's got a strong liberal political bent.

Still, Moore isn't making fools of his characters. They're doing so themselves. At a "Great Gatsby" party, the well-to-do give interviews dressed in cashmere sweaters with canes and luxurious furs, calling the poor lazy, while hiring auto workers to play "living statues." Four rich elderly women golfers, none of whom have ever worked in their lives, call the auto workers lazy for not finding new jobs. A lobbyist for GM calls the layoffs necessary and healthy, and is in turn laid off himself. It's hilarious and at the same time very disconcerting. The emnity between rich and poor in the movie is obvious and seems to come from another era.

The town government's solutions to its problems are even worse: Build Autoworld, a $100 million tourist attraction (which closes for lack of interest within a few months)! Build a massive hotel and convention center (which attracts a Scrabble convention, and that's about it)! Retrain the auto workers - with crime exploding, they can be guards in the new jail!

Flint's problems are obviously very real. Moore's question is a very valid one: is this the necessary result of capitalism and corporate cost-cutting? Should we as a society try for a better solution? Could we have done better in Flint? After seeing this movie, it's difficult to justify ignoring the problem.

The question is how to respond. Moore seems to see the movie as a statement of good vs. evil. I find the problem is much more difficult. GM at the time was being killed off by inexpensive, high-quality Japanese imports, and had a cost structure that was too high. Its shareholders clearly wanted higher profits. Was it rational to move jobs to Mexico, which would save costs tremendously? From a corporate and shareholder standpoint, yes. Corporations have to deal with ethical dilemmas like these constantly, since their ultimate obligation is to their shareholders, the owners, and shareholders want their money to make good returns. Corporations risk making themselves look very bad in the process, as GM certainly does here. But is that enough to prevent a company from making such decisions? And is it healthy for the economy as a whole to prevent companies laying off employees domestically (as is done in Germany right now, with often very detrimental effects to its companies)? Good questions, and good of this movie to raise them.

no more a "documentary" than Columbine

I saw this movie 14 years ago. It is not a documentary but a political statement. Michael Moore was born in Flint Michigan and was angry that General Motors had closed auto plants there, throwing some workers out of jobs and, in some cases, out on the streets. The plants were closed because GM couldn't make a profit, partly because the Japanese were designing better cars but mainly because the United Auto Workers' members were making $60-65 per hour including fringe benefits (in today's dollars) and quality was lousy (just look at the workers in the film). So Moore tries to get an interview with Roger Smith, the head of GM, and is turned away (he probably showed up un-announced). If Smith had met with him and explained the situation, there would have been no movie! Now Moore is happy to bank big bucks from his movies and books. I guess capitalism is OK when you are on the winning end. What a hypocrite!

Roger, Moore

ROGER & ME was one of those movies I've wanted to see for years but never got around to seeing until recently. I've read most everyone's opinion of it on IMDb, and the biggest problem detractors have with it is that it's too one-sided. To that I say: So? THE THIN BLUE LINE, for example, is just as subjective, and it's a masterpiece. ROGER & ME was an enlightening experience to watch, to say the least.I can't believe how misguided Flint's mayor was in the 1980s; turning that town into a tourist destination was a laughably misbegotten idea that was destined for failure. Add that poor decision with the other problems stemming anywhere from the ignorant vapidity of Miss Michigan to the anti-American relocation of GM's plants, and we get those who might see Michael Moore as some kind of savior.[And Money magazine's declaration that Flint was the worse city in America makes me wonder if its editors had ever visited Camden, NJ - a city scarred by decades of political corruption, racism, mass resident and commerce exodus (Campbell Soup was Camden's GM), brutal crime rates and stunning poverty - a city that only in the 1990s started to claw itself out its self-inflicted ghetto reputation with new urban growth, including a beautiful aquarium, an outdoor concert venue and a minor league baseball team; they're almost enough to let one not focus on the rather large prison erected right on the Delaware River waterfront.]HOWEVER, while the actions of Roger Smith may seem immoral to some, a case could be made saying that nothing he did was unethical, and neither he nor his corporation had any real obligation to Flint or its citizens. Yes, what he did sucked - and his ensuing indifference was appalling - but, hey, that's business.Another thing: Watching reruns of "The Newlywed Game" reminds me of Bob Eubanks' appearance in the movie - especially his jokes ("Why don't Jewish women get AIDS?"). Is Eubanks' sense of humor based more on anti-Semitism or homophobia? And I wonder if that Rabbit Lady still slaughtering her own meals...

leftist propaganda with-shock here- a sense of humor

This movie was my first exposure to the Leni Riefenstahl of American leftism: Michael Moore. I laughed my a** off at this movie. Michael Moore was just so adroit at setting up a scene- and then delivering the punch line. Michael Moore is such a dumpy fat hog- you have to like him. If you find that kind of hog to your taste, however-you will continue to accept his loser lefty weltanschaung as real. Michael Moore has bigger fat to fry however- and this movie is a calling card for stupid and bigoted intellectual frauds to come. The basic thesis of this movie is that General Motors-GM- is an evil corporation. I suspect GM has many sins. As do I. I suspect Michael Moore expects GM to be a kind of paternal father and spiritual fountain of ethics- like Moses and Buddha and Jesus-wrapped up in a neat little package with a happy-smiley-face. I suspect Moore wishes that GM would be like a maternal fairy grandmother who grants every wish for every little princess and prince-disguised as an auto-worker- could want. I suspect Michael Moore is really p**sed off about things in general. Lefties are just p**sed off about everything. This really helps them live fruitful lives. Just ask a lefty who is now 50 or 60 or 70. Lefties just love Michael Moore because he wallpapers over the failure of their lost years of "activism". Lefties just love to " speak Truth to Power". I think lefties, of which I was one, are now Left-Over and sad regretful people. That is Michael Moore's sad demographic. That said, this is a funny movie and a good film. It is Michael Moore at his finest: a funny and intelligent and sardonic guy who has a gift. He has a way with a microphone and a camera. He perhaps misuses his fine gift. Just my opinion.

What does it mean to be anti-capitalistic?

First off, no one would deny that the CEO of GM was a greedy old white man that only cared about making a profit for his company and shareholders. The thing that irks me about this movie is how poorly it defends the side of capitalism. Essentially, capitalism has no voice. Moore has obviously never taken a course in economics.

Why doesn't he make a movie about a socialist society? Go to Cuba and film how awful the living conditions are there. The people there will never live to see the day of 5% unemployment. In case you didn't know, most European countries have well over 10% unemployment. They'll never have any of the opportunities that even poor people enjoy here. How would it be to live under a politburo where a bunch of old men sit around a table and decide what job you do, where you live, and how you live?

Capitalism gets a bad wrap because it's based on a theory that men will only do what's in their best interest. It's interesting that this crazy theory, when applied in it's most purest form, has resulted in the wealthiest country in the world. Make no mistake about this either, no one cares for their and the world's poor better than the U.S.

I do feel bad about those individuals in Flint that lost their GM job. What's great about this country is how determined our people are to rise up and find better lives for themselves and their families. They also have their freedom to do so.

Too slanted to be worthwhile

Now I'm about as liberal as anyone I know, but I cannot support Moore's blatant bias any more than I can support Limbaugh, O'Reilly or anyone else on the right's bias. Misrepresentations of a situation are lies no matter which end of the political spectrum they come from. Coming from my political position, I also find it insulting that Moore would feel he has to do this manipulative work in order to justify his position. In order to do this he has invented an almost new form of documentary, one that is the complete antithesis to the spirit of the genre, one that is without objectivity. When he gave the statistics about GM and how much money they were worth, that has to do with a) the overall size of the company, not its percentage profits and b) the total net profits of all the plants, not the profits of the Flint plant.Politics should be about open debate attempting to reach a truth, not simply trying to shout across your very-slanted view on an issue without leaving room for the opposing viewpoint. Moore's tactics make him no better than his right-winged opponents who he lambasts, in a way I am embarassed his is "on my side".

A Hilarious Adventure with Roger and me

If you are looking for a good movie that keeps you laughing from start to finish, but still includes historical significance, Roger and me, starring Micheal Moore is the movie for you. When GMC in Flint, Michigan lays off thousands of workers, the city faces tragety. The majority of city's residents are out of work; except of course the wealthly golfer ladies who can't be bothered with what is going on. People are leaving their homes everyday because either they can not afford the rent and are being kicked out or they are moving to other cities to find work. The condition of the city worsens; soon rats invade and one bizarre woman goes insane enough to raise rabbits and sell them for "pets or meat" in order to make money and survive. Micheal Moore yearns to show Roger, the chairman of GMC, the devestation he put upon the city of Flint. So join Roger and me through an exciting "home video" adventure in Flint, Michigan where although perhaps not intended, a sad time can be striklingly hilarious.

Job Outsourcing

This documentary was made in 1988-1989 by Michael Moore with the ending approximately three years after 1988. It was the documentary that made him somewhat famous you can say. Anyway, this film details the closing of a General Motors factory and 30,000 people being laid off. With this many people being out of a job, Flint becomes a city with a high crime rate, high numbers of eviction notices, people moving out of Flint, and a lot of people getting on welfare. Moore has many interviews with people who discuss the positive side of outsourcing such as Bob Eubanks, some other famous Flint personalities, Miss Michigan, a GM lobbyist and many other people.

Whether you agree that a corporation should or should not outsource, both sides are shown. In news media though, the devastating eviction notices and other things are never shown with such clarity and emotion. When a chairman of a huge company such as GM does donate money or do anything philanthropic, they make sure there are plenty of press and PR people around.

Moore tries throughout this whole movie - over a course of three years to speak with Roger Smith, the chairman of GM. One time he comes close during a shareholder's meeting but I don't want to ruin that part for you.


There is so much that happens in this documentary. Flint tries to survive by becoming a tourist place, a new prison is open where rich people have a sleep over?!? Even though it is 2004, I believe that this movie was very well made for its time and even currently, has wonderful emotion and is a great documentary.

Job Genocide in Flint Michigan

Roger and Me portrays just how cold American big businesses can be and how little they care about the common American worker. Michael Moore produced an amazing documentary of his hometown, Flint, Michigan, in which GM was the primary job source. Although GM was making billions of dollars, it decided to close down its Flint plant, move to Mexico to produce cars cheaper, then use profits to buy up other companies in America and build more plants in third world countries. Somehow Americans have gotten it in their heads that there is nothing wrong with companies using and abusing the American workforce in the pursuit of profits. After 9-11 everyone talks about how united America is but in reality, many US companies have no loyalty to its workers at all. Imagine a company in say, Norway or Sweden, closing up and moving its facilities to Germany, you dont think this would be considered company treason? This country would be a hell of alot better if we really did work together instead of always being out to make more money at any price. GM committed Job Genocide in Flint Michigan. Shame on them!

Movie for Bob

This movie was purchased as a backup to the VHS version for my Economics Instructor at college.

arguably Moore's most honest, personal work

Out of Michael Moore's three feature films ("The Big One" and "Bowling for Columbine" are the others), "Roger & Me" feels less calculated, less strategically-edited to Moore's own lefty viewpoint, and therefore a lot more honest and realistic. The concentration is not on humor or theatrics, but on how a single act of corporate greed devastated an entire city. That it takes place in Moore's hometown--Flint, MI--after the closing of the General Motors plant forced unemployed workers into poverty (one woman sells rabbits for pets OR meat) gives the proceedings an eerie, surreal quality.
The title pertains to Moore's pursuit of Roger Smith, president of GM, who cut 30,000 jobs (shutting down 11 GM factories nationwide) while the company was posting record profits (but see, you can set up factories in Mexico and have people work for 70 cents a day and make even MORE profits!); keep in mind this was in the days before NAFTA and the WTO. Moore not only wants to make the crooks accountable for their actions, but he also draws clear contrasts between the viewpoints of celebrities (such as Pat Boone and Bob Eubanks, both Flint natives) and the struggling citizens of the poverty-stricken city; how the views of the "haves" and "have-nots" differ drastically. Granted, "Roger & Me" doesn't have the lighthearted asides of "Columbine" or the thorough scathing commentary of "The Big One," but it is a chilling, infuriating, and courageous slice of Americana that few have dared to match. [It's also ridiculously rated "R" for a few four-letter words and one scene of bunny slaughter.] 7/10