Roger and Me Documentary Paper PDF

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History of the Documentary Professor DeMaio

Tom Sullivan

Roger and Me

In 1989, Michael Moore made his directorial debut with the documentary Roger and Me. The film examines Moore’s home town of Flint, Michigan, and the effect that a massive downsizing by General Motors had on the city. After several factories in the city are closed down due to the outsourcing of jobs, Moore attempts to meet with General Motors CEO Roger Smith to confront him about the consequences of his decisions. The documentary presents a strong anti-big-business position. Although Moore sometimes exaggerates things to further prove his point, through his clever editing, satirization, and participatory documentary style, he succeeds in creating a very powerful film. The film begins with the story of Moore’s own childhood. He paints Flint, Michigan as some sort of utopia, where everybody is happy, the city is lively with parades and music, and “every day was a great day”. Cheerful music plays, including a song called “Teamwork”. While this depiction is clearly exaggerated, it wraps the viewer up in the spirit of the city. But what is very interesting is how the upbeat music changes meaning as the rest of the documentary unfolds. The film closes with the very upbeat song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys. While the happy music at the beginning of the movie signified triumph and joy, by the end of the documentary the music just represents a tongue-in-check sarcasm. The songs are very similar, yet the message is completely different. This shows that Moore did a great job at showing the transformation of Flint as a city.

Moore uses the participatory method of film-making to great effect throughout the film. This method can be deduced simply from the title of the film, as Roger and Me suggests a direct relationship between documentarian and subject. Moore often appears on camera, interviewing civilians and big shots alike, participating in rallies, and tirelessly attempting to corner Smith. This paints a picture of Moore as an every day man, a man of the people, and someone who is truly part of the community. It allows him to present the citizens of Flint on a very personal level, and also brings the viewers right into the midst of all the action. The documentary doesn’t feel like an overview or summary of a time period. Instead, it feels more like an adventure. Moore clearly represents someone who is a reporter-as-documentarian, just like men like Dziga Vertov or Robert Flaherty were years ago. He is very forward in his interviews, and very persistent. This style, along with his participatory and expository method, can create some concerns for a documentary. For instance, one concern is that the reporter or interviewer will manipulate his interviewees, and get them to say things he wants them to say. In Roger and Me, Moore occasionally took a hostile approach to his interviews, rather than staying neutral. Also, although Moore did interview people who held views opposite his, it was much easier to sympathize with Moore because the audience knew his entire backstory. Meanwhile, nothing was known about the interviewee except for the fact that they were an opponent to the “protagonist” of the film. There were points where Moore asked loaded questions. For instance, when talking to a wealthy woman on a golf course, he asked the question “Do you think people are just being lazy?”. It can’t be known whether she would’ve called the people

of Flint lazy if she hadn’t been pushed towards her answer. Questions like this have a negative impact on the sincerity and reliability of a film. But, although Moore did make some mistakes, he artfully combined honest interviews with other footage and narration to prove his points. In this way, he was able to show that while the high-profile people visiting Flint were not hostile, they were completely oblivious to the condition of the city. One of the best moments is when Moore interviews Miss Michigan nervously answering questions about the condition of Flint. She answers that she’s running for Miss America and doesn’t want to make any dumb comments. Moore shows us that Miss Michigan went on to win the Miss America pageant, then immediately cuts to the Sheriff’s Deputy of Flint evicting another family from their homes. It perfectly shows that although Miss Michigan doesn’t mean any harm, she is completely out of touch with the reality of the city. If the interview had been viewed completely on it’s own, it may not have seemed so bad. But Moore’s choice of footage brings the sarcasm and irony to a whole new level. Throughout the documentary, there were two continuous story lines that went on the entire film. These two stories enhanced the main themes of the film, and held the entire story of Flint, Michigan together. The first story was the plight of the Sheriff’s Deputy to evict everyone who fell behind on their rent. The very disturbing segments showed all different types of people getting evicted, even on the day before Christmas. Amid all the humor and satire, it served as a constant reminder of what Flint had become. The second constant in the film was Moore’s quest to question Roger Smith. He follows Smith everywhere, and is continually rejected and denied by security guards, who will never let him come close to Smith, and often get very angry as Moore persists

to argue. This storyline shows Smith and the General Motors bigwigs as people who do not care about who they hurt with their actions, and have no regard for the people who work for them. This, overall, is the anti-corporation message of the film. Satire is best used in one of the final scenes of the documentary, in which editing is used perfectly to show irony. The scene cuts back and forth from Roger Smith giving a speech about the loving spirit of Christmas, to a particularly violent, expletive filled scene of people getting evicted from their home. Smith speaks of “the warmth of human companionship”, as a man carries the family Christmas tree out the front door. The scene powerfully demonstrates the message of the film in something that is both funny and sad. To conclude the sarcastic tone, the final credits end with the statement, “This film cannot be shown in Flint, Michigan... All the movie theaters have closed.” Roger and Me is occasionally one-sided, and clearly an angry and frustrated documentary, just like it’s director. But, through Moore’s use of satire and humor, as well as his appearance as a hardworking, persistent, everyday American, the audience is able to relate to his struggles, and thus relate with the film itself. The documentary conveys a powerful statement in a very informal, even goofy way, but this is what causes the message to resonate so strongly....