Roger & Me
| Roger & Me | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Michael Moore |
| Produced by | Michael Moore |
| Written by | Michael Moore |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $140,000 |
| Box office | $7.7 million |
Roger & Me is a 1989 American film directed by Michael Moore. Moore portrays the regional economic impact of General Motors CEO Roger Smith's action of closing several auto plants in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, reducing GM's employees in that area from 80,000 in 1978 to about 50,000 in 1992. As of August 2015, GM employs approximately 7,200 workers in the Flint area, according to The Detroit News, and 5,000 workers according to MSNBC. In 2013 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Moore begins by introducing himself and his family through 8 mm archival home movies; he describes himself as 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 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 oppressive life in GM's factories, including "Flint's most famous native son", game show host Bob Eubanks.
Initially, Moore achieves his dream of avoiding blue-collared factory life after being hired by a magazine in San Francisco, but this venture fails for him and he ultimately travels back to Flint. As he returns (in 1986), GM announces the layoffs of thousands of Flint auto workers, whose jobs will go to cheaper labor in Mexico. GM makes this announcement even though the company is achieving record profits.
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Wikipedia