Roger and Me Essay
Roger and Me Final Essay
SOCY191-02
Stephanie Williams
The movie “Roger and Me” by Michael Moore is a documentary film about Roger Smith’s takeover of General Motors in the late 1980’s. Michael Moore documents the change in the movie from the economy in the city of Flint, Michigan. He attempts to find Roger and meet with him and talk about General Motors and the changes that have been made. He wanted to convince him that the changes were devastating Flint. Michael Moore has a hard time finding Roger because he is a busy man. Throughout the film, Moore goes around Flint and interviews random people on the changes being made. He also shows buildings in Flint and how the looks of Flint changed.
The situation in Flint, Michigan can be seen from many angles. The angles I saw it from were the conflict theorist’s view, social interactionist view and the functional analysis view. The conflict theory view is looking at who has the power, how they’re using the power, and who they’re influencing with it. A conflict theorist would view Roger Smith as using his power to ruin the town of Flint, Michigan. He became the CEO of General Motors and started to make changes right away when he found he had the power to change. He started this by laying off many auto workers at the Flint auto plants so General Motors could make new plants in Mexico. General Motors was making record profits when he decided to do this. The auto workers that were laid off had a hard time finding other jobs because there were none out there. Moore shows those who struggle after they were laid off or affected by General Motors. He stresses that those people have been treated unfairly. He views social classes in the area as Karl Marx would view them. The wealthy are seen as heartless and the poor are seen as innocent laborers. This causes a conflict between the two social classes. When the jobs were destroyed, extreme unemployment rates arose and it let to high crime rates and stealing food and
SOCY191-02
Stephanie Williams
The movie “Roger and Me” by Michael Moore is a documentary film about Roger Smith’s takeover of General Motors in the late 1980’s. Michael Moore documents the change in the movie from the economy in the city of Flint, Michigan. He attempts to find Roger and meet with him and talk about General Motors and the changes that have been made. He wanted to convince him that the changes were devastating Flint. Michael Moore has a hard time finding Roger because he is a busy man. Throughout the film, Moore goes around Flint and interviews random people on the changes being made. He also shows buildings in Flint and how the looks of Flint changed.
The situation in Flint, Michigan can be seen from many angles. The angles I saw it from were the conflict theorist’s view, social interactionist view and the functional analysis view. The conflict theory view is looking at who has the power, how they’re using the power, and who they’re influencing with it. A conflict theorist would view Roger Smith as using his power to ruin the town of Flint, Michigan. He became the CEO of General Motors and started to make changes right away when he found he had the power to change. He started this by laying off many auto workers at the Flint auto plants so General Motors could make new plants in Mexico. General Motors was making record profits when he decided to do this. The auto workers that were laid off had a hard time finding other jobs because there were none out there. Moore shows those who struggle after they were laid off or affected by General Motors. He stresses that those people have been treated unfairly. He views social classes in the area as Karl Marx would view them. The wealthy are seen as heartless and the poor are seen as innocent laborers. This causes a conflict between the two social classes. When the jobs were destroyed, extreme unemployment rates arose and it let to high crime rates and stealing food and